Earth Day: 4 Tips to Reduce Food Waste and Save Money

Every April 22nd, people and organizations across the world come together to celebrate Earth Day, an annual event that demonstrates support for environmental protection. Usually, the celebration involves various Earth Day activities, as well as lectures on the importance of nature and wildlife conservation. Ultimately, the goal is to remind everyone that we need to take care of our planet — it’s the only one we have, after all.

So, how can you take part in this global event? Even if you can’t participate in a large cleanup or plant trees, smaller actions still count. For instance, you can become more mindful of your daily practices and think of ways to make them more eco-friendly. Then, by slowly changing your routines, you’ll contribute to our planet’s protection all year long, not just on Earth Day.

And to help you take your first steps into a greener lifestyle, we’ve prepared a few tips on reducing food waste you can easily incorporate into your daily life. Read on if you want to save both the planet and your budget!

1. Shop Carefully

The first thing to reflect on is your grocery shopping habits. Do you visit grocery shops once a week and buy items in bulk? How often do you make shopping lists? Before getting new groceries, do you use up all the food in your fridge?

Believe it or not, even just a slight change to your grocery shopping habits can drastically reduce the amount of food waste in your household. For instance, if you go shopping more frequently and buy fewer items, you’re less likely to purchase things you don’t need. Thanks to that, you won’t end up throwing them out when they spoil.

Shopping lists can also make a lot of difference. If you use them regularly, you’ll buy less unnecessary food and save money as a result. The important thing is to stick to the list, though — it won’t have any effect if you still purchase items that aren’t on it.

Finally, don’t purchase new groceries if you still have the old ones in your fridge. That way, you’ll be forced to use up the items you already have first, not allowing them to spoil. And when there’s no spoiled food in your household, there’s also far less food waste.

2. Save Leftovers in Clear Containers

After a large meal, you probably put the excess food in the fridge and save it for another day. That way, you don’t have to cook — just heat up the leftovers, and you’re set. On top of that, saving leftovers significantly reduces food waste.

But leftovers can’t stay in the fridge forever. It’s best to eat them within a few days after storing them before they lose their freshness or spoil. Unfortunately, though, it’s not too unusual for people to simply forget they even have them.

That frequently happens when you store your leftovers in an opaque container. Since you can’t see what’s inside, you’re likely to stop thinking about it in a few days. And when you finally decide to check, it might already be too late.

The solution is simple — store your leftovers in glass containers. That way, you’ll see them every time you open the fridge, which will serve as a reminder to eat them. Designate a day to use up all the leftovers in your fridge. It’s a perfect chance to rest from cooking too!

3. Preserve Food in the Freezer

Even if you think you won’t be able to use up some of your leftovers anytime soon, don’t throw them out. Put them in the freezer instead. In fact, almost all foods can be stored there, and they often retain their freshness for months.

There are, of course, some exceptions. Some foods will lose all their flavor and become practically inedible if they spend any time in the freezer. Those include:

Eggs
Milk
Fully cooked pasta
Fried foods
Potatoes
Condiments
Jelly

Aside from that, be careful when freezing meat. It’s fine to do it once, but refreezing it could be dangerous due to the bacteria that might grow on it.

4. If You Can, Compost

Composting is a great way to avoid throwing out food even once it’s no longer edible. Instead of ending up in a trash bin, your leftovers and scraps can provide nutrition for plants in your garden. And the process itself isn’t particularly complicated!

Basically, you need to collect your fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, grass trimmings, and other leftovers first. Then, add them to a pile of tree branches, fallen leaves, cardboard, and newspaper. Make sure to water this pile regularly, but don’t go overboard — just sprinkling is enough. As time goes by, the materials in the pile will decompose and turn into a dry, brown, crumbly mass. That’s a sign your compost is ready.

Make sure to check what foods can’t be used for compost, though. Some don’t decompose properly but rot instead, which is the opposite of what you want.

In Conclusion

While Earth Day is a beautiful way to celebrate our planet, it only happens once a year. And if you genuinely want to protect the environment, you should strive to do so every day. Start by making minor adjustments to your habits, such as the ones we’ve outlined here. Over time, you’ll be ready to take bigger steps and perhaps even inspire others to do the same.