4 Simple Ways to Reduce Food Waste
The food waste problem is real and the call to reducing food waste is slowly getting attention.
There are so many benefits to reducing food waste, not just for you, but for the environment you are a part of. Not only will you save money, you will reduce the amount of methane emissions you create (lowering your carbon footprint), and conserve energy and resources that we need to survive.
Wasted resources should not end up in a landfill, as this will only create more problems. Everyone can be a great resource to their community with these 4 simple ways to reduce food waste:
Plan Ahead
At the beginning of each week, plan what you and your family are going to be eating. This can save you a lot of time and money, and will make sure that you are eating healthier as well.
Making a diary of meal plans and their ingredients will save you money when it comes to grocery shopping, as it will allow you to buy no more than what you need. Just be careful of buying in bulk unless you are pretty certain that you will be able to use it before it spoils, which is a mistake that many make in trying to save money.
A food diary can also act as a future reference of all the meals that your family enjoys or those that they are not so fond of, helping you keep track of important information.
Make note of which food still needs to be used and try to plan the following week’s meals around them.
Learn How To Preserve
Preserving is a method humans have used throughout history to extend the shelf life of both raw and cooked food for long periods of time, as it prevents the natural process of decomposition.
There are numerous ways to preserve food such as drying (dehydrating), freezing, bottling with a Fowlers Vacola (some times called canning), vacuum sealing, fermentation, and pickling.
Not only is food preservation a more economical choice, but it can also be a great hobby, which is why it is becoming more and more popular around the world. There are literally thousands of internet blogs and websites that can teach you how to do preserve for free, so you really have no excuse not to learn.
Learn How To Optimally Store Foods
It’s easy to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, only to forget to eat them for a while. But learning how to store these foods for maximum freshness can limit the amount you’ll end up throwing out in the long run.
Optimal food storage will retain more nutrients, and keep food tasting better longer, making it much more likely that you will eat them. Fruits, for example, give off natural gases in the ripening process, and these gases can actually make nearby produce spoil faster.
Make your food storage eco-friendly – Waxed food wraps are an alternative to cling wrap, re-usable bread bags are a much better choice for breads, rolls and other produce than plastic, and a simple air tight Snap On Cap popped onto the top of a Fowlers Vacola preserving bottle is great for storing foods in either the pantry of the fridge.
Take On Composting
Did you know that food waste makes up the biggest part of our trash that could instead be recycled, but just isn’t?
When you do have food that spoils, composting will allow you to separate it from other waste and recyclables, and transform it into something of great value.
More and more grocery stores and households across the country are now practicing this eco-friendly way of saving money while saving their environment. Not only are they creating a valuable resource from the fertilizer that this process results in, but they are also improving the local soil and water quality in their communities.
Even pet waste can be composted! The Ensopet Pet Waste Composter is one example of how you can return the nutrients from your let waste back into your garden.
If you are running a business, consider informing your customers that you practice composting. This can be a great way to show that you are environmentally responsible, and make it much more likely that they will trust you enough to do business with you.
If you don’t have the space or just don’t like the idea of doing composting at home, you can always take it to your local recycling centre as most of them will have facilities or appropriate containers for compost.
There are so many things that we can do on both an individual and business level to reduce our carbon footprints. It is up to all of us to take responsibility and be an example and inspiration for our communities to make these necessary changes. Even doing something as simple as swapping disposable wipes for reusable wipes and towels can save so much in waste as well as money.
This was a guest post by Alsco Group Australia