Are you tired of seeing perfectly good food go to waste in your kitchen? Do you find yourself throwing away fruits, vegetables, and leftovers more often than you’d like? If so, you’re not alone. Food waste is a significant problem worldwide, with far-reaching environmental, economic, and social consequences.
But fear not! In this blog post, we’re here to help you tackle this issue head-on with 30 practical tips to help you waste less food.
Think about it: every time we toss out food, we’re not just discarding edible items, but also the resources and energy that went into producing them.
From water and land to fuel and labor, the environmental footprint of wasted food is staggering. Also, food waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions when it decomposes in landfills, exacerbating climate change.
But here’s the good news: reducing food waste is not only beneficial for the planet but also for your wallet and overall well-being. By making simple changes to your shopping, cooking, and storage habits, you can minimize waste, save money, and enjoy fresher, more delicious meals.
Here 30 actionable tips that you can start implementing today to cut down on food waste in your home.
Here’s an insightful infographic showing the food waste per household in 2020.
The cons of food waste
There are a lot of disadvantages to wasting food, not only because you’re losing the money you paid for it, but because wasting food means that you’re also wasting the energy and resources that went into growing, making, and distributing that food.
It also means that the pollution created by growing and manufacturing that food and then transporting and selling it was for pretty much nothing.
And it doesn’t stop there. If uneaten food ends up in landfills, it continues to impact the environment by releasing methane, a greenhouse gas.
All of these negative aspects of food loss don’t necessarily apply to people who compost their food scraps, because most of that food waste can be turned into compost for their gardens.
For people who compost but the compost is picked up curbside by the municipality, it can still feel like wasted money because you’re not the one benefiting from that compost.
And if you’re not composting at all, but just throwing food in the garbage to end up in a landfill, well, there are no benefits whatsoever. There are only losses, for yourself and the environment.
So if you want to start wasting less food to help the environment as well as keep more money in your pocket, you’ll love these actionable tips and tricks.
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Here are 30 easy ways to reduce food waste at home.
Organization Tips to Reduce Food Waste
1. Avoid Clutter
When you have a cluttered refrigerator, cupboard, or pantry, it can be hard to see what food you have to eat.
By not seeing food, you might forget what you have, and therefore risk the possibility of that food going bad. Keep your food organized and decluttered in order to reduce food waste.
2. Put New Groceries in the Back of the Fridge
When you purchase new groceries and load them into the fridge, you should put them in the back, behind other food that needs to be eaten prior.
This is an easy way to reduce food waste because it will allow you to see the older food that needs to get eaten first.
3. Keep Perishables in Sight
Fresh fruits, vegetables, leftovers, bread, or anything that has an expiration date should be kept in sight to remind you that they need to get eaten.
Keep perishables on a shelf at eye level, or somewhere where you will see them multiple times a day.
4. Use Clear Containers
Another great way to remember what food in your fridge needs to be eaten is to store food, especially leftovers, in clear airtight containers.
Oftentimes, we forget what we put in containers, but being able to see right away can help remind you of the leftover food items you still have.
5. Find Alternatives
Take note of the types of food you’re wasting and see if you can find a longer-lasting alternative for it. For example, are you constantly wasting fresh produce?
If you can’t seem to eat produce or fruits in time, consider making the switch to frozen fruits and/or vegetables. Roasted frozen veggies are surprisingly delicious, and frozen fruit is perfect for smoothies.
If you don’t want to buy frozen produce that comes in plastic bags, you can freeze the fruits and veggies you buy in the produce section.
Freezing fruits and veggies yourself is a little bit of a process, but it will definitely help you waste less if you find you can never eat fresh produce in time.
6. Use Labels
If you’re storing food in glass jars and containers, applying labels to them will help you stay organized and reduce food waste.
This is great for people who are visual and need a quick reminder as to what types of food are stored where.
7. Compost
Any food that does go bad, as well as any food scraps, you should add them to your compost bin in order to turn that waste into food for your soil.
Using compost allows nutrients to be returned to the soil, and it also reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
Not only does using compost in your garden promote healthy plant growth, but composting also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by keeping food waste out of landfills.
Storage Tips to Reduce Food Waste
Properly storing food is an essential way to reduce food waste since if it’s not properly stored, it’ll expire quicker. Here are some storage tips to help you waste less food.
8. Wrap Greens In Cloth
Some people use tin foil or paper towels to wrap veggies to preserve freshness, but that’s not a sustainable solution.
Instead, rinse your greens like lettuce and spinach, and loosely wrap them in a cloth tea towel.
9. Freeze Food
If you’re consistently losing food by not eating it in time, try focusing your attention on freezing food whenever possible.
Add leftovers to containers and freeze, or freeze things whole like a loaf of bread or hamburger buns. There are a lot of foods that freeze well.
You can also ingredients in smaller portions for easy access and cooking. Use things like ice cube trays and muffin tins to freeze food, and once frozen, transfer to a container.
Portioning ingredients is great for things like drinks, smoothies, teas, and soups.
10. Rinse Berries With Vinegar
Rinsing berries with vinegar can help make the fruit last longer by eliminating bacteria and mold spores.
Add 1 cup of vinegar and 3 cups of water in a bowl and add berries. Drain, and then rinse to remove the vinegar taste. Pat dry or use a salad spinner to remove excess moisture and store.
11. Store Berries in Glass Jars
Storing berries in glass jars is also an effective way to prolong their lifespan.
If you go this route, you want to keep them as dry as possible, so don’t wash the berries or remove the greens. You also want to make sure it hasn’t started molding before you add them to the jar.
12. Track Your Food Waste
Every time food goes bad and has to be composted or thrown away, estimate how much money that thrown-away food costs.
Keep a money jar, or a log on your fridge using a whiteboard or a notepad. Seeing how much money you’re losing will keep you inspired to work on reducing your food waste.
13. Audit Your Pantry
If you have a well-stocked pantry, you may forget what’s actually in there. Non-perishables have expiration dates too, so make sure you’re eating those in time as well.
Set up a schedule like once a month or every two months to take time to audit your pantry to see what needs to be eaten soonest. Move those items to the front of the pantry.
14. Store Food Accordingly
Products such as beeswax wrap and reusable silicone bags are great for prolonging the lifespan of certain foods, while also reducing plastic waste since they replace saran wrap and plastic baggies.
Additionally, storing your produce properly is also important. Fruits and vegetables need to be stored in the fridge, pantry, or on the counter. Storing them properly will ensure their longevity.
READ MORE: best ways to store fruits and vegetables.
Also, did you know that you can store certain vegetables in a glass of water to keep them fresh? For veggies like carrots, broccoli, asparagus, and green onions, add them directly to a glass or bowl of water and put it in the fridge.
Shopping Tips to Reduce Food Waste
15. Buy on Sale
Buying food on sale is a great way to save money and reduce general food waste.
Oftentimes, food is on sale because the expiry date is coming up and the grocery store wants to sell it ASAP so it doesn’t get wasted.
However, should you buy discounted food due to the expiration date coming up, make sure you prioritize it to get eaten first so it doesn’t get wasted.
16. Don’t Rely on Best Before Date
A lot of people throw food away because the expiry or best-before date has passed, but for a lot of food, that date is a guideline, not a rule.
Those dates just mean that the food will be at its highest quality, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s no longer edible, usually.
Use your judgment and your senses to determine if food is still good. Examine it, smell it, or taste it to determine if you can eat it or if it needs to be thrown away.
17. Only Buy What You’ll Eat
It’s important to only buy groceries that you know you’re going to eat so that it doesn’t get wasted.
Don’t buy something just because it’s on sale if you think you may not eat it, or at least have a backup plan of what you can cook with it should you buy something you’ve never tried before.
18. Buy Less, Shop More
If your food tends to spoil before you get around to eating it, try buying less on your shopping trips and go shopping more.
By making smaller trips, you’ll have a better chance of eating all your food before having to go grocery shopping again. Try waiting until your fridge is almost empty.
19. Buy Frozen & Canned Food
If you’re someone who struggles to eat perishable foods in time, consider buying food that’s canned or frozen.
Contrary to what you might think, foods like frozen/canned fruits and veggies have the same amount of nutrients as fresh produce.
Buying frozen and canned foods is one of the best ways to reduce food waste because they last for so much longer compared to buying fresh.
20. Buy Smaller Portions
If you’re buying in bulk because it’s cheaper, you may actually still be wasting money if you aren’t eating it all in time.
Consider buying smaller portions of food like potatoes, apples oranges if you find them going bad before you get around to eating them.
21. Meal Plan
If you seem to buy food that you don’t even eat and it gets wasted, try meal planning and making a grocery list, and only buy ingredients needed for your meals.
Meal planning will ensure that you won’t buy any food you don’t need, reducing food waste.
Either make a shopping list before heading out to the grocery store or plan directly at the store, which is what I do since I decide my meals based on what’s on sale.
If you want the meal planning done for you, and where you’ll only have the ingredients you need, opt for a meal kit delivery service such as HelloFresh which provides fresh ingredients with recyclable and compostable packaging.
HelloFresh is also a carbon-neutral company which means they offset their carbon by funding environmental projects.
Cooking Tips to Reduce Food Waste
22. Don’t Over-Serve Food
Struggling to finish your plate of food? Try serving less food on plates to ensure it will all be eaten. This helps save more food for leftovers for another day.
23. Eat Your Leftovers
Ensure you’re eating the leftovers that you’re putting back in your fridge.
As previously mentioned, storing leftovers in clear containers and jars so you can see them is a great reminder to eat your leftovers.
If you think you might not get around to eating the leftovers in time, pop them in the freezer to save them for another day.
24. Use Scraps for Fertilizer
If you don’t compost or don’t feel like waiting for your compost to be usable, you can bury certain types of food scraps directly in the soil to act as a fertilizer.
- Sprinkle clean eggshell powder on the soil for calcium.
- Add dried coffee grounds for acidity and to attract worms and deter slugs and snails.
- Add diced banana peels for potassium.
- Use citrus peels as a cat deterrent.
25. Learn to Preserve Food
Pickling, canning, drying, fermenting – these are all ways to preserve foods so that they last longer and can be stored in the pantry.
Choose a method that interests you and start learning how to preserve your own food.
26. Eat the Seeds
When prepping vegetables like pumpkins and squash, you may be throwing away the innards thinking they are scraps. But you can roast pumpkin and squash seeds for an awesome snack.
27. Plant the Seeds
A lot of vegetables have seeds, which means that you can regrow almost any type of fruit and vegetable you get your hands on.
Extract seeds from tomatoes, squash, peppers, etc. so you can regrow them and plant them in your garden.
28. Use Overripe Food
If fruits and veggies have become overripe, you don’t have to throw them away. There are various uses for overripe food.
- For overripe vegetables, consider making a soup, pasta sauce, salad dressings, or pickling them.
- For overripe fruits, add to smoothies, squeeze for fresh juice, or make a jam.
29. Reuse Produce Scraps
Instead of throwing away fruit scraps, use them for further cooking. For example:
- Eat apple peels by adding cinnamon sugar and roasting for a snack.
- For citrus peels, grate to get zest and freeze for future meals.
- Keep vegetable scraps in a bag or container in the freezer to make homemade stock.
- Potato peels with seasoning and cheese can be roasted for a delicious snack.
- For green carrot tops, make a pesto or add to soups, smoothies, or salads.
30. Regrow Food From Scraps
Vegetables like celery, lettuce, green onions, and cabbages can be regrown from the bottoms. It’s as simple as inserting the bottoms in water and transferring them to the soil when appropriate.
Learn more about regrowing vegetables from scraps.
Final Thoughts on Reducing Food Waste at Home
Throwing away food that has expired, especially expensive food, isn’t a great feeling.
With these easy tips, you’ll waste less food, benefiting both the planet and your wallet. Everyone likes to save money, and you’ll reduce your carbon footprint, which is always a great goal to strive for!
And bear in mind, you don’t have to implement every single one of these tips in order to reduce food waste. Focus on the areas or types of food that you’re struggling with and start with small changes.
Reducing food waste is an important part when creating a kitchen that’s sustainable and zero-waste. Read more tips to help you create a zero-waste kitchen.
Do you have any other ideas to help reduce food waste that I haven’t mentioned here? Leave a comment down below!
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