Reduce Food Waste: Save Money and the Environment
Stop throwing away food. Strategies to use everything and save hundreds per year.
Where Food Waste Happens
Most household food waste happens in a few places: produce that goes soft in the crisper, leftovers that get pushed to the back of the fridge, bread that goes stale, and impulse buys that never get cooked. Every item thrown away is money spent for nothing, so cutting waste is one of the easiest ways to lower a grocery bill.
Planning to Prevent Waste
The best way to prevent waste is to plan meals before you shop and buy only what the plan needs. Check the fridge first and build a meal or two around what needs to be used up. Plan a flexible leftover night each week, and buy delicate produce for the first half of the week and sturdier vegetables for the second.
Creative Use of Scraps
Scraps can become meals. Vegetable trimmings and a chicken carcass make stock. Stale bread becomes croutons, breadcrumbs or bread pudding. Broccoli stems can be peeled and sliced into stir-fries. Overripe bananas go into muffins or the freezer for smoothies. Leftover rice is better for fried rice than fresh rice.
Storage Techniques
Storage makes a big difference. Keep herbs in a glass of water, wrap celery in foil, and store potatoes and onions apart so they don't spoil each other. Keep apples away from other produce because they speed ripening. Don't wash berries until you're ready to eat them, and keep your fridge cold, around 4°C or below.
Proper Rotation System
Use first in, first out: when you unpack groceries, move older items to the front and put new ones behind them. Keep a small "eat me first" bin in the fridge for things that need to be used soon. A quick look at that bin before deciding on dinner prevents most waste.
Rescue Cooking
Rescue cooking turns odds and ends into dinner. Fried rice, frittatas, soups, pasta bakes, quesadillas and stir-fries can all absorb small amounts of leftover vegetables, meat and cheese. Once a week, cook a dinner only from what's already in the fridge before you shop again.
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