25 ways to reduce food waste: To reduce food waste, use strategies such as saving fruit seeds, planning meals, and having a home garden.
25 ways to reduce food waste
With food shortages due to war and pollution from food waste, it’s time to find ways to reduce food waste. No one should have to endure food insecurity. Especially when supermarkets have to throw away thousands of tons of food products because their expiration date has passed. It’s time we all do our part to reduce food waste. Therefore, in this article, we have brought you 25 ways to reduce food waste. I hope you can find some new ways to try and reduce your food waste today.
1- Check your garbage
Check your trash What’s in your trash? Which food waste? Moldy fruits and vegetables? Write down what you throw away the most. If needed, keep a litter notebook so that you can estimate your litter size. Making smaller meals or freezing more produce can help lighten your waste.
Ways to reduce food waste
2- If you are a restaurant owner, have more variety in the amount of meals offered
Variety in the size of meals such as small, medium, large and family size, in addition to providing customers with more options, will also reduce food waste. This, on the other hand, makes people who have less food also be added to your customer list. These people can pay less for their food and help reduce food waste.
3- Take the remaining food home
Take home leftovers
If you can’t eat all of the food ordered at the restaurant, always ask for a vegetarian disposable container to take home the leftovers. Explain that you are trying to use less plastic to ask the waiter to deliver the leftovers to you in vegetarian dishes. You can use the remaining food for the next meals. Or you can even give them to street animals.
4- Travel with reusable containers
Travel with reusable containers. For example, when you’re on the go and drinking coffee, you can use insulated bottles instead of paper cups. Your coffee will stay hot longer and you can enjoy it throughout the day. Also, in coffee shops that use paper containers to serve coffee, you can ask them to pour coffee for you in your own special glass.
5- Plan for food waste
Plan for food waste When planning meals, think about what you can do with leftovers. For example, after deboning a chicken, you can use it to make chicken broth or chicken stock. Bones and vegetable scraps are also great for making these stocks. Use food recipes in which the chef teaches you to use all parts of the food.
6- Buy organic food
Buy organic food If you plan to use scraps, it is important to use organic food. They contain less pesticides, herbicides (such as glyphosate), artificial additives, antibiotics, growth hormones compared to non-organic food. Of course, you don’t want any of the above in your food.
7- Be a vegetarian sometimes
Be a vegetarian sometimes Animal husbandry requires a lot of land and forest clearing. This industry causes a lot of pollution to the earth and leads to global warming. According to the recommendation of FAO, in order to reach enough food for the entire population of the world by 2050, a sustainable diet must be observed. This means that meat should be replaced more with vegetable protein such as peas, beans and soybeans. Some people find it very difficult to give up meat. Therefore, it is better to start from the beginning by replacing meat in a meal. Then gradually move towards the right balance for you.
8- Try homemade milk
Try Homemade Milk For a more plant-based diet, make your own dairy-free milk. Try small batches so you never waste food. Or make large batches and freeze them in usable portions. For example, coconut milk! Or almond milk! They have an easy recipe that can be combined with oats and consumed.
9- Check your food inventory before buying
Don’t buy too much. Before you buy, make sure you don’t have that food item. Many people completely forget which food item they have. So they over buy a food item and store it. Another good habit is to check the expiration dates on the things you have. It is suggested to separate the food items near their expiration date and put them in a special container. Stick a label on that container and write “Start with me!”
10- Buy what you really need
Make a shopping list by planning meals and scraps. Stick to it as much as you can. Because buying less usually means less food wasted.
11- Buy in bulk and share
Buying in bulk has its advantages. It’s affordable and cuts down on the amount of packaging you throw out (especially plastic).
gives But the food may spoil for you. When buying in bulk, consider dividing up food and freezing food you don’t use within a week or two. Or try sharing parts of your bulk purchase with family or friends.
12. Find zero-waste stores or wholesalers nearby
These stores are popping up everywhere. They usually sell products without plastic packaging. Carrying reusable cloth bags and glasses is one of the basic principles of a sustainable lifestyle that helps reduce plastic pollution. In bulk, you can buy the amount you actually need to make your meals.
13- Supporting farmers
Farmers need the most support during this period. They always have the freshest fruits and vegetables, perfectly picked without plastic packaging. Buy the amount of product you need. Pick up eggs, honey, and household goods like cheese, oil, jam, bread, and pastries. Try to find places where you can buy farmer’s produce.
14- Make a home garden
You can try your luck to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs. Select them only if needed. There will be no more withered and rotten vegetables! Also, there is no news of plastic packaging anymore! This is a win-win equation. Because food made with fresh vegetables always tastes better!
15- Share your home garden products with your neighbors and friends
Take the amount of product you need for yourself and share the excess. Give fresh vegetables to your neighbors, friends and relatives.
16- Share your experiences for setting up a home garden with others
Hearing such experiences motivates many people to start their own home garden. In this way, you can share more products with each other. It is important that homemade products are more expensive than products that are available in stores. Because store products have spent more time in packaging and arrangement in different stores.
17- Use food waste to reduce food waste
There are many plants that can feed on food waste. For example, don’t throw away leftover lettuce, chives, celery, or mint. Plant them instead. Basil, rosemary and thyme will grow if their thicker branches are used in the soil. Ginger, turmeric and garlic sprout and grow with tiny shoots. Also, if you bury potato skins and sweet potatoes with eyes, they will sprout and become crops. So try your luck!
18- Save fruit seeds
Avoid throwing away fruit seeds. Save them to plant later. For example, tomato seeds, watermelon, papaya, pepper, etc. all have the potential to become crops. Not every seed will grow, so plant several in the same spot. If you end up with a lot of seedlings, share them with your friends or neighbors! Store the seeds in the refrigerator when you are not using them. Label them as well and include the date they were taken. And be sure to use old seeds first.
19- Plant the seeds in the soil and wait for them to sprout
If your organic beans, legumes and grains have been sitting in your storage for a long time and have sprouted, don’t throw them away. Mung beans and soybean sprouts are delicious and you can use them. You can also do this with fenugreek, quinoa, buckwheat, chickpeas, sunflower, broccoli, radishes, and spinach sprouts.
20- Consider foraging and Chinese clustering
This is not about growing food. It mostly seeks to find wild products. Depending on where you live, you may be able to find wild fruits such as edible berries or tree blackberries in certain locations. If the desired product does not belong to a specific person and its harvesting is not illegal, you can harvest and eat these fruits before they rot in nature. In Tehran, in the spring, we see that many people eat berries on the streets. This case refers to such conditions.
21- Have a household detergent
Keep your citrus peels to make your own cleanser! If you add the skin to a bottle of white vinegar, it will smell like acid. Dilute vinegar and use it to clean your fridge (tip #20), kettle and even your leather sofa.
22- Talk to others about ways to reduce food waste
You’ve done everything you can to reduce food waste. What else is left? To get started, convince those around you to join you on your low-waste journey. Share your tips and tricks. Share your food and recipes.
23- Be an advocate for reducing food waste
This takes convincing others a step further. Be an advocate and get educated. Talk about these solutions on social networks so that your followers know and learn about your plan to reduce food waste. Ask your friends to join you. Since so many people are thinking about this issue, maybe you can make a difference.
The Kroger company in the United States is a witness There was a 9% reduction in the footprint of supermarket food waste. And it caused supermarkets around the world to move towards selling products naked and without plastic packaging. People talk about this issue. The more voters support reducing food waste, the more likely people will become involved in reducing food waste and take action.
24- Keep food away from air
Bacteria and mold in your refrigerator need moisture and oxygen to survive and grow. So keep the food dry. If you store food in plastic bags, it is better to vacuum them to remove the air in them. However, we do not consider the use of plastic containers permissible. Plastic containers and plastic bags in turn cause environmental pollution. It is better to use vegetable containers instead of plastic containers. Disposable vegetable containers are freezer and microwave safe and do not leak the chemical into the food.
25- Share this article
Share the solutions in this article with your nearest and dearest. If everyone can do their part to reduce food waste, we will all soon solve this big challenge. There are many ways to reduce food waste. Can you think of another course of action? Let us know in the comments too so we can learn together.
