Earth Day: Reducing Food Waste
by Haley Cooke | April, 22, 2021
Let’s celebrate Earth Day and work to reduce food waste.
1. Upcycle Food
Have you ever thought of using food scraps like veggie peels for veggie stock? Next time you peel carrots, potatoes, onions, etc., save the scraps and freeze them until you have enough to make tasty veggie stock! Check out this link on smart ways to use food scraps!
2. Compost
Can’t get on board with using veggie scraps and upcycling for future food? Try composting! If you love to garden, your plants will enjoy the fertile soil that comes from composting. Learn more about the composting process here.
3. Avoid Buying Too Much
Perhaps one of the best ways to avoid food waste is to only buy what is needed. That means potentially making multiple trips to the grocery store throughout the week and thoughtful meal planning. Take a few shopping trips during the month and see how it reduces your food waste instead of doing your usual grocery trip once or twice a month.
4. Grow Your Own Garden
Gardening is an excellent way to reduce food waste! When you have your own garden, you can plant what you need and use it as your recipes call for it. Plus, you can easily replant veggie seeds like avocados, bell peppers, etc. from store-bought ones to grow your own and pick fresh food from your garden! How rewarding is that? Have extra food that you won’t be able to use – bring it to work and allow your coworkers to enjoy the fruits of your labor!
5. Store Food Correctly
One of the biggest ways to waste food is to not store it correctly. Ensure that your fridge is set at 40 degrees or below to keep food fresh. Eat food within three to five days to avoid spoilage. Check out this link on more ways to store food and make it last longer!
6. Organize Your Food Spaces
Try to always eat the oldest foods first in the fridge. This will keep you from tossing out foods that get shoved into the back and forgotten about. When you store your food correctly (see above), it also makes it easier to organize it and consume it in a reasonable time frame. Take the time to organize your pantry and fridge on a weekly basis (preferably before grocery shopping), to see what you have and what you actually need.
7. Make a Shopping List
It’s always a good idea to plan ahead. That especially goes for reducing food waste. Next time you need to grocery shop, make a list. Most importantly, don’t go food shopping hungry — you will end up buying more than you need every single time.
* If anyone would like to start taking home the peels of the fruit/veggies that I cut each day – let me know!
Reduce Food Waste to Do Your Part for Earth Day!
#3 is SUCH a good tip! I can’t tell you how many avocados/fruit/veggies have gone bad because I didn’t eat them in time or forgot they were in the fridge! 🙁 That’s where meal planning helps!
This is so awesome! When we had chickens, they LOVED to eat our scraps! I’ll have to start freezing scraps for stock now that we don’t have chickens anymore. That’s genius.
#3 is a great tip. Aldi is cheaper and has smaller portions. Or try getting together with others and go in together to go to Sams.
Another good idea is a food scrubby. They make different kinds such as brushes or scrub cloths. I like that I don’t have the extra waste from peeling and it saves a little time too! It helps get dirt off root veggies and the waxy coating off apples and cucumbers.
I love this. I actually did a science fair project in 8th grade on the benefits of using food scraps as fertilizer. The plants grew bigger and quicker when I used coffee grinds, egg shells, and potato peels as fertilizer rather than regular garden soil.
I truly appreciate your technique of writing a blog.