10 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste
1. Shop Smart
Most people tend to buy more food than they require.
Though buying in mass may be convenient, research has shown that this shopping method directs to more food waste .
To ignore buying more food than you need, make frequent trips to the grocery store every some days rather than doing a bulk shopping trip once a week.
Make a point to utilize up all the food you purchased during the last trip to the market before buying more groceries.
Moreover , try making a list of items that you require to buy and stick to that list. This will support you reduce impulse buying and reduce food waste as well.
2. Store Food Correctly
Improper storage directs to a massive amount of food waste.
As per to the Natural Resource Defense Council, about two-thirds of household waste in the United Kingdom is because of food spoilage .
Many people are not confirm how to store fruits and vegetables, which can direct to premature ripening and, eventually, rotten produce.
For instance, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, cucumbers and onions should never be freeze . These items should be remained at room temperature.
Separating foods that generate more ethylene gas from those that don’t is another great way to decrease food spoilage. Ethylene promotes ripening in foods and could direct to spoilage.
Foods that produce ethylene gas while ripening contain :
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Tomatoes
- Cantaloupes
- Peaches
- Pears
- Green onions
Keep these foods away from ethylene-sensitive produce such as potatoes, apples, leafy greens, berries and peppers to ignore premature spoilage.
During you might think fermenting and pickling are new fads, food preservation techniques such as these have been used for thousands of years.
Pickling, a kind of preservation method utilizing brine or vinegar, may have been used as far back as 2400 BC .
Pickling, drying, canning, fermenting, freezing and curing are all methods you can utilize to make food last longer, thus reducing waste.
Not only will these methods shrink your carbon footprint, they also will save you money . What’s more, most preservation techniques are easy and can be fun.
For example, canning an excess of ripe apples and turning them into applesauce, or pickling fresh carrots from the market will give you with a delicious and long-lasting treat that even children will enjoy.
Did you know that rummaging via a bin of apples until you search the most perfect-looking one contributes to food waste?
Though identical in taste and nutrition, so-called “ugly” fruits and vegetables obtain passed up for produce that is more pleasing to the eye.
The user demand for flawless fruits and vegetables has directed major grocery chains to buy only picture-perfect produce from farmers. This directs to tons of perfectly good food going to waste.
It’s such a big problem that major grocery chains such as Walmart and Whole Foods have started offering “ugly” fruits and vegetables at a discount in an attempt to decrease waste.
Do your part by selecting slightly imperfect produce at the grocery store, or better yet, directly from the farmer.
You’ve potentially heard the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” This rings mainly true when it comes to food.
While having a well-stocked fridge can be a nice thing, an overly filled fridge can be bad when it comes to food waste.
Help ignore food spoilage by keeping your fridge arranged so you can clearly see foods and know when they were purchased.
A good way to stock your fridge is by utilizing the FIFO method, which stands for “first in, first out.”
For example, when you buy a new carton of berries, place the newer package after the old one. This supports ensure that older food gets used, not wasted.
Leftovers aren’t just for day offs .
Although several people save excess food from large meals, it is often forgotten in the fridge, then tossed when it goes bad.
Storing leftovers in a clear glass container, rather than in an opaque container, supports ensure you don’t forget the food.
If you occur to cook a lot and you regularly have leftovers, designate a day to utilize up any that have accumulated in the fridge. It’s a great way to ignore throwing away food.
What’s more, it protects you time and money.
People often detach the skins of fruits, veggies and chicken when preparing meals.
This is a shame, because so many nutrients are situated in the outer layer of produce and in poultry skin. For example, apple skins include a large amount of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
In fact, researchers have identified a group of compounds current in apple peels called triterpenoids. They act as potent antioxidants in the body and may have cancer-fighting capacities .
Chicken skin is packed with nutrients as well, containing vitamin A, B vitamins, protein and healthy fats .
What’s more, chicken skin is an amazing source of the antioxidant selenium, which supports combat inflammation in the body .
These advantages are not limited to chicken and apple skin. The outer layers of potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, mangoes, kiwis and eggplants are even edible and nutritious.
Not only is eating the skin tasty , it’s economical and reduces your food waste impact.
Although most human are moving away from the once-famous low-fat dieting trend, many still ignore egg yolks, selecting for egg-white omelets and scrambled egg whites instead.
Ignoring egg yolks mostly stems from the fear that they improve cholesterol levels. Many people suppose that eating foods high in cholesterol, such as eggs, has a major impact on cholesterol levels.
However, studies have described that in most people, dietary cholesterol only has a small effect on cholesterol levels .
Your liver actually creates the majority of the cholesterol you require and your body closely regulates levels in the blood. When you eat foods that include a high amount of cholesterol, your liver simply compensates by producing less.
In fact, evidence describes that most people, even those with high cholesterol, can enjoy whole eggs risk-free .
What’s more, egg yolks are packed with nutrients, containing protein, vitamin A, iron, selenium and B vitamins .
If you simply don’t love the taste or texture of egg yolks, you can add them to other recipes to mask the flavor. You can even utilize yolks as an ultra-moisturizing hair mask.
Out of the 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins produced in the United States each year, most end up getting thrown away.
During carving pumpkins can be fun for the whole family, there are ways to decrease the waste that comes along with this activity.
Aside from utilizing the tasty flesh of your pumpkins in recipes and baking, a great way to cut waste is to save the seeds. In fact, pumpkin seeds are delicious and packed with nutrients.
They are very high in magnesium, a mineral that is vital for heart and blood health and supports control blood pressure and blood sugar levels .
To save pumpkin seeds, easily wash and dry the seeds, then toss them with a little olive oil and salt and toast them in the oven.
Acorn and butternut squash seeds can be prepared in the similar way.
Blending up a nutrient-packed smoothie can be a delicious way to decrease food waste.
While the stems, ends and peels of produce may not be appetizing in their entire form, adding them to a smoothie is a way to reap their many advantages.
The stems of greens such as kale and chard are packed with fiber and nutrients, creating them a great addition to smoothies. The tops of beets, strawberries and carrots even make great add-ins.
Other items that would otherwise be discarded can even be thrown into a nutritious blend, containing fruit and vegetable peels, wilted herbs, overripe bananas and chopped broccoli stalks.
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