Food waste is a severe issue in the modern world. Statistics reveal that we throw away 66 tonnes of food each second, which adds up to one-third of all food produced worldwide throughout the year. While you can’t turn the tide on this by yourself, you can still make lifestyle changes that can ensure you do your part to reduce food waste and help the planet your way.
Stop Overbuying
Overbuying is a problem for a lot of people. They don’t know what they have at home, so they stock up on items just in case. However, this can lead to them having too much of something. It can be challenging to use all of this before it goes bad. If you find that you struggle with overbuying, consider taking a photograph of your shelves, fridge, and freezer to know what you need and what you don’t the next time you need to run to the supermarket. This will stop you from buying what you don’t need, allowing you to focus on healthy eating and keep costs down.
Plan Your Meals
Meal planning is the perfect way to reduce food waste as you know exactly when to use what you have at home. If you know you’re making a large meal, you can also plot what you can do with the leftovers, whether curry or chili from the night before, saved for your lunch. This isn’t just restricted to dinners, and leftover juice pulp is ideal for smoothies or breakfast the next day to add flavor and make your breakfast a little more exciting.
Check The Use-By Dates
Use-by dates are there to guide you when the food is best to eat. Of course, we all know that these dates can be ignored slightly depending on the food (beef is usually okay a day after, but chicken is not). Still, not checking the use-by dates on your food means there’s a serious risk of wasting what you have. If you know when you need to eat your fruit and vegetables, you’ll make more effort to include them in meals. You should also try to keep them prominent in the fridge or on the kitchen counter so that you don’t forget about them.
Use Your Freezer
Your freezer is not just there to keep your favorite ice cream ready for the next movie night, and it’s a fantastic way to prevent food waste if you don’t have the time or space to use all the food in your refrigerator. If you overbuy or prepare too much food, use your freezer to keep the food good until you’re ready to eat them, rather than keeping them in the fridge and forgetting about it until it’s too late.
Waste Not, Want Not
You may not feel you’re doing much by saving your leftovers for lunch tomorrow. But if enough people ju8mp on board, you can help the planet heal just a little bit. It’s also beneficial for you and your wallet, as you’ll spend less each week, which can help you budget your finances more comfortably to help you buy all the food you want without buying too much along the way.
