COMPOST~My son, D started a compost bin a couple of years ago for his garden. Composting is a great way to utilize your food scraps keeping them out of the garbage. Did you know it can take 40 years for a carrot to disappear in a landfill? Rotting food also releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Its a garbage can filled with old leaves, food scraps & some 'starter' from Lowes. There's also worm composting which seems fun!
ORGANIZE YOUR FRIDGE~My fridge was a game of Tetris (if you're too young to know what that is, I may cry). I realize that if I keep it organized I actually know what I have and that right there is less waste-less forgotten food. This goes hand in hand with the next tip.
Picture from my InStyle May 2010 issue.
MENU PLANNING ~ I also think that planning out your meals really helps also. I used to buy random stuff & have no idea what to do with it. I bought it because it looked interesting. Well, very often it would go bad and I would throw it away. Really, its like throwing money in the garbage! Meal planning takes 1/2 hour tops & saves me way more time throughout the week. I can grab staples & fun items from the farmers market on Saturday and sit down on Sunday, figure out what to make & fill in any missing items with a quick trip to the grocery store.
HAVE A PLAN B~ Be flexible Just because you have something planned doesn't mean its carved in stone. If something changes in your schedule having your menu planned out will come in handy, you can just swap days. You all ready have everything you need waiting for you.
FREEZE YOUR LEFTOVERS~You know they're just going to turn into a science experiment anyway. Unless you eat it the next day for lunch, just wrap it up and throw it in the freezer. Or plan ahead, make a double batch of a meal & freeze it. Just don't forget its in there!
SHOP MORE OFTEN~ I am fortunate to have many stores & farmers markets & farm stands close by me. I am able to shop more often & therefore buy better food and use it before it spoils.
RETHINK SIZE~Bigger isn't always better. I know from experience, I bought a 5 lb. bag of organic carrots from Costco. Bad move. Honestly you can only eat so many carrots. But I try to use them as often as possible in smoothies, raw with hummus & my favorite way, roasted. Make sure you buy a quantity that you can use.
All of these tips can definitely help reduce your food waste. An interesting site to check out is http://www.wastedfood.com/ by Jonathan Bloom. He's writing a book of Food in America due out this fall.
