How to Reduce Kitchen Waste
Shop smart., Reuse grey water., Wash vegetables and fruits in containers instead of under running water., Make meals based on what you have., Know when to disregard use-by dates., Eat leftovers., Know how to make broth and stock., Re-purpose food...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Shop smart.
Reducing kitchen waste is best done before food even reaches the home.
Avoid over-packaged food.
In the same grocery display, you may find loose tomatoes and also tomatoes both boxed and packed in non-recyclable cellophane.
The tomatoes that are loose take far less packaging, so it is a better choice for the environment.
Bring your own veggie bags.
You bring your own grocery bags, so it is not so different to assign one as the vegetable bag.
Some people like to have several small bags to keep things like melons from squashing the grapes.
Try to choose recyclable containers.
Whenever feasible, choose packaging that can be recycled.
Buy what you need, not just because it is a good deal.
There is nothing wrong with buying in bulk.
But if you do not use what you buy, or it spoils, it is wasted money and resources.
It may be more sensible to buy a smaller container, even if it is a bit more expensive by weight.
Make food you will eat.
It is easier to reduce waste if the people in your house eat what you purchase.
If your children hate the strawberry cereal, do not buy it even if it was on sale.
Buying in bulk makes a lot of sense if one has a large number of people to cook for: a large family or a backyard barbecue.
Bulk buying also makes sense if it is something shelf-stable.
Salt, sugar, flour, vinegar and so on will last a long time, so unlikely to actually go to waste.
Try buying meat in bulk packaging.
You will have to put in a little effort and time! For example: a 10 pound bulk pack of ground beef is easily turned into 10 1-pound packages of ground beef with some baggies and about 15 minutes.The 1 pound bags are easier to use and you use and defrost as you go.
A big whole package could take forever to work through, increasing the possibility that you will have waste. -
Step 2: Reuse grey water.
Kitchens tend to produce a lot of grey water (which is defined as all the waste water from houses and offices except for that from toilets) and most of this can be reused, thus conserving water.
For our purposes, we are going to divide kitchen grey water into two subcategories: "clean" (such as the water that is left over from boiling vegetables or pasta) and "dirty" (such as the water used to wash vegetables).
Dirty grey water can be used for:
Washing other vegetables or dishes Cleaning counters/floors Adding to swimming pools Watering plants Clean grey water can be used for all of those things plus:
Boiling vegetables/pastas Drinking- although it may have an unusual taste depending on what it was used for , The typical method of scrubbing fruits and vegetables under a running faucet uses much more water than filling a pot or large bowl with water and scrubbing it in there.
This is especially useful (and much easier) when you are washing something like blueberries or grapes, and there are a lot of tiny objects, since you can dump them all in and rub them around. , Try to use what you have before buying more food, or incorporate what you need to use up in your food planning.
Squeezing one more meal out of your pantry and refrigerator reduces waste, saves money, and sometimes inspires new meals! Try using Google.com to find recipes using ingredients you have.
For instance, if you are looking for a meal using spinach and chicken, use the keywords "chicken"
"spinach" and "recipe".
Some meals are time-tested to use up leftovers and odd bits of foods, such as pizza, meatloaf, pasta dishes, and stir-fry. , Contrary to common belief, the dates on food products are not typically government-mandated or regulated. "Use by" dates usually just relate to taste and texture.Your cereal just does not suddenly goes bad at midnight on January 23rd.This means that often products can be used after that date has passed.
Use smell, sight, and your good judgement to decide if something is edible--you can usually tell if the milk has gone bad.
However, some guidelines in eating "expired" food:
Opened cans, jars, and bottles will remain relatively safe a long period of time.
However, once opened the quality will deteriorate.
Never eat from a can that looks "inflated"...this is a sign botulism may have crept in.
Throw out food that is more than a year out of date.
A few things, like salt or honey can remain almost indefinitely edible.
However, there are a lot of variables: how it was stored, the moisture content, preservatives, and so on.
But remember: food poisoning is a real danger, and after a certain point, eating a can of 2 year old pork and beans is not worth your health! , Leftovers make a great lunch, and can mean you do not have to cook the next day if you have enough left! You could even have one day a week, like Leftover Friday, where for dinner you eat the leftovers from the week's meals. , Vegetable stock, chicken stock, and other kinds of stock are all a great reuse of stuff that would be otherwise thrown away.
Chicken stock is made by boiling the bones, and vegetable stock can be made from any of the odds and ends of vegetables you have in the house- celery leaves, parsley stems, broccoli stems, the last of that huge bag of carrots you bought, etc.
You just have to make sure a good variety is used (or it will end up tasting like just the one vegetable.) You can even make it in the grey water that you get when you boil the vegetables to eat! , Can that salad become burger fixings? Can those leftover vegetables from the stuffed peppers be made into vegetable broth? Can the vegetables from the broth be made into omelette filling, or chicken soup? , Raspberries go bad faster than apples, and the leftovers from Monday will probably spoil before the leftovers from Wednesday. , If you can freeze it, many items last longer— and almost anything can be frozen. This is particularly good if you are going away and need to empty the fridge, and it often means you have an easy meal some day you're too busy to cook! Even some things you may not have thought of can be frozen! Bread Spaghetti sauce Soups and stews Almost any prepared food that needs to go in the oven, before you put it in the oven (like unbaked chicken Parmesan, or baked pasta dishes) , Oil needs to be disposed of in a container- why not the cream cheese container? Need to send your kid on a field trip with an all-disposable lunch? Pack the sandwich in the Cool Whip container! If you do not have a use for it, recycle it! You can keep a recycling bin next to your garbage can, or under the sink to make recycling easy. , Look into what your local food pantries accept, and every once in a while go through your kitchen and take things to them.
There are even some charities that do things like collect Halloween candy to give to underprivileged kids in the winter holidays.
Great things to donate are things you don't really eat, or things that you know will go bad before you would get around to eating them, but could be eaten by other people.
And maybe you're thinking that there shouldn't be food in your house that you don't eat, but it often happens, like:
The buy-one-get-one free sale on a product you rarely use.
The product that you thought you liked but decided you don't.
The thing you bought for a party that no one ever opened.
The thing that your child developed an allergy to. , Bring home your leftovers, and if you can remember to, bring your own reusable containers to use instead of their Styrofoam or plastic ones. , Composting is an excellent way to keep solids out of the waste stream, and make sure that inedible or unwanted food is not wasted.
Consider investing in a composter if you are a gardener.
Compost can help old food become new food.
Many municipalities collect composting materials.
Not all have curbside pick-up, but many have it at recycling or transfer centers. -
Step 3: Wash vegetables and fruits in containers instead of under running water.
-
Step 4: Make meals based on what you have.
-
Step 5: Know when to disregard use-by dates.
-
Step 6: Eat leftovers.
-
Step 7: Know how to make broth and stock.
-
Step 8: Re-purpose food.
-
Step 9: Eat things in the order they are likely to go bad.
-
Step 10: Freeze things.
-
Step 11: Reuse and recycle food packaging.
-
Step 12: Donate food.
-
Step 13: Extend your environmentally healthy habits to when you eat out.
-
Step 14: Compost.
Detailed Guide
Reducing kitchen waste is best done before food even reaches the home.
Avoid over-packaged food.
In the same grocery display, you may find loose tomatoes and also tomatoes both boxed and packed in non-recyclable cellophane.
The tomatoes that are loose take far less packaging, so it is a better choice for the environment.
Bring your own veggie bags.
You bring your own grocery bags, so it is not so different to assign one as the vegetable bag.
Some people like to have several small bags to keep things like melons from squashing the grapes.
Try to choose recyclable containers.
Whenever feasible, choose packaging that can be recycled.
Buy what you need, not just because it is a good deal.
There is nothing wrong with buying in bulk.
But if you do not use what you buy, or it spoils, it is wasted money and resources.
It may be more sensible to buy a smaller container, even if it is a bit more expensive by weight.
Make food you will eat.
It is easier to reduce waste if the people in your house eat what you purchase.
If your children hate the strawberry cereal, do not buy it even if it was on sale.
Buying in bulk makes a lot of sense if one has a large number of people to cook for: a large family or a backyard barbecue.
Bulk buying also makes sense if it is something shelf-stable.
Salt, sugar, flour, vinegar and so on will last a long time, so unlikely to actually go to waste.
Try buying meat in bulk packaging.
You will have to put in a little effort and time! For example: a 10 pound bulk pack of ground beef is easily turned into 10 1-pound packages of ground beef with some baggies and about 15 minutes.The 1 pound bags are easier to use and you use and defrost as you go.
A big whole package could take forever to work through, increasing the possibility that you will have waste.
Kitchens tend to produce a lot of grey water (which is defined as all the waste water from houses and offices except for that from toilets) and most of this can be reused, thus conserving water.
For our purposes, we are going to divide kitchen grey water into two subcategories: "clean" (such as the water that is left over from boiling vegetables or pasta) and "dirty" (such as the water used to wash vegetables).
Dirty grey water can be used for:
Washing other vegetables or dishes Cleaning counters/floors Adding to swimming pools Watering plants Clean grey water can be used for all of those things plus:
Boiling vegetables/pastas Drinking- although it may have an unusual taste depending on what it was used for , The typical method of scrubbing fruits and vegetables under a running faucet uses much more water than filling a pot or large bowl with water and scrubbing it in there.
This is especially useful (and much easier) when you are washing something like blueberries or grapes, and there are a lot of tiny objects, since you can dump them all in and rub them around. , Try to use what you have before buying more food, or incorporate what you need to use up in your food planning.
Squeezing one more meal out of your pantry and refrigerator reduces waste, saves money, and sometimes inspires new meals! Try using Google.com to find recipes using ingredients you have.
For instance, if you are looking for a meal using spinach and chicken, use the keywords "chicken"
"spinach" and "recipe".
Some meals are time-tested to use up leftovers and odd bits of foods, such as pizza, meatloaf, pasta dishes, and stir-fry. , Contrary to common belief, the dates on food products are not typically government-mandated or regulated. "Use by" dates usually just relate to taste and texture.Your cereal just does not suddenly goes bad at midnight on January 23rd.This means that often products can be used after that date has passed.
Use smell, sight, and your good judgement to decide if something is edible--you can usually tell if the milk has gone bad.
However, some guidelines in eating "expired" food:
Opened cans, jars, and bottles will remain relatively safe a long period of time.
However, once opened the quality will deteriorate.
Never eat from a can that looks "inflated"...this is a sign botulism may have crept in.
Throw out food that is more than a year out of date.
A few things, like salt or honey can remain almost indefinitely edible.
However, there are a lot of variables: how it was stored, the moisture content, preservatives, and so on.
But remember: food poisoning is a real danger, and after a certain point, eating a can of 2 year old pork and beans is not worth your health! , Leftovers make a great lunch, and can mean you do not have to cook the next day if you have enough left! You could even have one day a week, like Leftover Friday, where for dinner you eat the leftovers from the week's meals. , Vegetable stock, chicken stock, and other kinds of stock are all a great reuse of stuff that would be otherwise thrown away.
Chicken stock is made by boiling the bones, and vegetable stock can be made from any of the odds and ends of vegetables you have in the house- celery leaves, parsley stems, broccoli stems, the last of that huge bag of carrots you bought, etc.
You just have to make sure a good variety is used (or it will end up tasting like just the one vegetable.) You can even make it in the grey water that you get when you boil the vegetables to eat! , Can that salad become burger fixings? Can those leftover vegetables from the stuffed peppers be made into vegetable broth? Can the vegetables from the broth be made into omelette filling, or chicken soup? , Raspberries go bad faster than apples, and the leftovers from Monday will probably spoil before the leftovers from Wednesday. , If you can freeze it, many items last longer— and almost anything can be frozen. This is particularly good if you are going away and need to empty the fridge, and it often means you have an easy meal some day you're too busy to cook! Even some things you may not have thought of can be frozen! Bread Spaghetti sauce Soups and stews Almost any prepared food that needs to go in the oven, before you put it in the oven (like unbaked chicken Parmesan, or baked pasta dishes) , Oil needs to be disposed of in a container- why not the cream cheese container? Need to send your kid on a field trip with an all-disposable lunch? Pack the sandwich in the Cool Whip container! If you do not have a use for it, recycle it! You can keep a recycling bin next to your garbage can, or under the sink to make recycling easy. , Look into what your local food pantries accept, and every once in a while go through your kitchen and take things to them.
There are even some charities that do things like collect Halloween candy to give to underprivileged kids in the winter holidays.
Great things to donate are things you don't really eat, or things that you know will go bad before you would get around to eating them, but could be eaten by other people.
And maybe you're thinking that there shouldn't be food in your house that you don't eat, but it often happens, like:
The buy-one-get-one free sale on a product you rarely use.
The product that you thought you liked but decided you don't.
The thing you bought for a party that no one ever opened.
The thing that your child developed an allergy to. , Bring home your leftovers, and if you can remember to, bring your own reusable containers to use instead of their Styrofoam or plastic ones. , Composting is an excellent way to keep solids out of the waste stream, and make sure that inedible or unwanted food is not wasted.
Consider investing in a composter if you are a gardener.
Compost can help old food become new food.
Many municipalities collect composting materials.
Not all have curbside pick-up, but many have it at recycling or transfer centers.
About the Author
Debra Ford
Experienced content creator specializing in cooking guides and tutorials.
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