11 Tips for Reducing Food Waste & Living a More Sustainable Life

As the focus on sustainability continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to think of how you can help the environment. From installing solar panels through companies such as All Seasons Energy to doing your bit with recycling, there are many ways you can make an impact. In this post, I explore how you can reduce food waste and live a more sustainable life in this area. I always feel so guilty when we waste any food, and despite trying our best not to, we do still sometimes let things go to waste. So there are some things we are trying to do to lower our food waste even further.

It is estimated that 40% of all food produced in the world is wasted, equating to $1 trillion worth of food every year. I think it is shocking that not far off half of all food that is produced is wasted, meaning that money and resources are also wasted.

Thankfully, we are all starting to become more aware of the things we do in our daily lives that have an impact on our planet and reducing our food waste is something we can all do to help. There are a lot of ways you can reduce your own personal contribution by following these tips.

Plan Your Meals

It’s always a good idea to have a list of what you need when you are shopping, but it can be especially important if you know what recipes will make up for your weekly dinners. By checking the grocery store flyers and having everything on hand before heading out of the door, you can save time and money in the kitchen.  You’ll also be less likely to throw things out that you bought on a whim and didn’t end up using before the due date.

Freeze Leftovers

A freezer is a great way to save all the healthy stuff you get from farmers’ markets or your friend’s garden. You can use it for meal prep, stews, and even making easy but tasty soups at home.

Cook the Right Serving Amounts

If you’re cooking for two, consider cutting the recipe in half to avoid wasting your time with leftovers. Alternatively, plan ahead and save some of those homemade dinners for a quick and easy dinner another day.

Buy the Reduced and Wonky Veg

Supermarkets always have some reduced food, so every time you go to the supermarket have a quick look to see if you can get a bargain and reduce food waste at the same time. Lots of shops also now do that ‘wonky veg’ that isn’t perfectly shaped or a standard size, at a much cheaper price so it’s worth checking what you can get.

Use the Old First

As you put food away, make sure to use the old items before using the new ones. For shelf-stable foods like mayonnaise that are not refrigerated until opening them, keep them out of the fridge and consume them within a week’s time so they don’t spoil!

Have a Leftover Day

The idea of a leftovers night is genius. There are so many tasty dishes that you can enjoy even just with what’s leftover from the week before, and cooking all those delicious meals at once will give you more time to spend on other things.

Conduct Inventory Regularly

You’ll save money and time by making a list of your favourite dishes or your meal plan for that week, noting what ingredients are needed for each dish and then going through the fridge and pantry to see exactly what you have and what you will need to buy.

Use Scraps Wisely

A good way to reduce your waste is by composting food scraps. If you do not have a backyard, there are still options for reducing the amount of trash that goes into landfills like making broth with your leftover vegetable scraps or even turning it into compost and using it as fertiliser.

Learn Proper Storage Techniques

There is a right way and a wrong place to store each item that you purchase. Get the most use out of what you buy by being informed about how your items should be stored correctly from day one so they don’t get ruined before their time.

Preserve Your Own

You might think that cabbage is only for salads. But have you tried making it into sauerkraut? It is a great way to preserve and make the most of vegetables before they expire! You can preserve, can, or pickle lots of different foods to extend their shelf life and make new and interesting dishes with them.

Eat Expired Food

It’s not uncommon for fresh food to be good well past the date it was made. A lot of people don’t know this, but most expiration dates are more about when stores need to sell by than any sort of safety warning.

Many foods indeed have an “expiration” or a “sell-by” date on their packaging and cans; however, these labels refer specifically to retailers who must remove them from shelves if they remain unsold after some prearranged amount of time has passed. What lots of people don’t realise is that just because something expires doesn’t mean you should throw out your groceries! Most canned goods will keep safely in storage at cool temperatures until as long as 7 days after their original sale day.

Managing food waste

With a little planning and thought, you can eliminate most food waste. If somehow you end up with more than you need or something that you won’t use in time then donate it to someone else.