Reducing Food Waste without a Composter
Veggie broth in progress!
Composting is one of the most popular ways to keep food out of landfills, but what if you live in a small shared apartment or dorm, don’t have the time and energy to compost or simply aren’t interested in composting? In this post, I outline all the ways you can reduce food waste without a composter!
How to Avoid Overbuying Food
Meal plan
Planning your meals before you go to the store can majorly help reduce your food waste. By planning your meals ahead of time and buying only what you need to make those meals, you'll avoid wasting ingredients.
If you end up with any extra ingredients at the end of the week, make sure to include them in the next week's meal plan. This way, your fridge will maintain a weekly rotation that prevents anything from going to waste.
I know this is easier said than done because meal planning requires a lot of time and effort. However, if you get in the habit of meal planning every week, it will get easier over time!
Make a list of staple ingredients
I waste food most often after I've wandered around the grocery store without a purpose, throwing random things in my cart. Although meal planning is the best way to prevent this, meal planning doesn't always happen. When I forgo a meal plan, referring to my list of staple ingredients keeps me from overbuying at the grocery store.
This list includes the simplest and most versatile foods I like to eat. Namely, my list includes peanut butter, eggs, whole wheat bread, two types of fruits, two types of vegetables, yogurt and almond milk — nothing more, nothing less.
I know that if I don't know what to make or didn't have time to meal plan, I can buy these foods and be well-fed all week. Making your own go-to list can help you avoid overbuying when you don't create a meal plan.
Buy small portions
Buying smaller portions of perishable foods whenever possible can also help prevent food waste. I know buying small portions can be difficult depending on where you grocery shop. For example, some places only offer pre-packaged bags full of produce rather than letting shoppers pick out individual pieces of produce.
If your grocery store offers individual pieces of fruits and veggies, taking the extra time to pick out each piece of produce can help you slow down and think about how much you'll actually eat. If you pick out individual items, you'll likely end up buying less than if you bought a whole bag. This way, you'll never have to throw away those dreaded half-eaten bags of carrots and celery again!
How to Use The Food You Have
Organize your fridge
Keeping your fridge in tip-top shape is the most effective way to decrease your food waste once you've left the grocery store. I recommend keeping larger, taller items in the back of your fridge and shorter items in the front. This way, you'll be able to see all the food you have without digging through piles at the back of the fridge.
I also prefer to use clear containers and label containers with their contents and date (masking tape is your best friend here!). These methods will help you remember what you have in your fridge and when you need to eat it. (Tip: most prepared foods last about one week, while many packaged foods can last up to a month or more. Labelling containers with these dates can help keep your fridge organized!)
Reinvent your leftover
If you get bored of leftovers, reinventing them throughout the week can help you eat them all. To do this, try making simpler meals at the beginning of the week and adding to them throughout the week.
For example, if you have a side of simple roasted potatoes one night, you could add those potatoes into a salad with a side of vinaigrette the next day. And the next day, you could turn that salad into a wrap using a different dressing.
Making your leftovers feel fresh every day will require some creativity and culinary skills, but it can prevent you from letting your delicious food go to waste!
Chop and freeze
If all else fails, you've overbought and you've realized you're food is on the edge of going bad, freeze it ASAP! You can easily freeze most fruits and veggies and keep them frozen for up to a few months.
Frozen veggies can be great in stir fries, omelets, casseroles and more, while frozen fruits work especially well in smoothies, quick breads, muffins, cobblers and pies.
Pro tip: don't forget to chop your fruits and veggies before freezing them! It will be tough (and obviously not worth the risk of slicing yourself!) to chop them after they're frozen.
How to find alternate uses for extra food
Make veggie stock
Making vegetable broth or stock is one of my favorite uses for leftover veggies. To make vegetable broth, keep a gallon bag of vegetable scraps in your freezer at all times. Every time you make veggie scraps or rescue old veggies from your fridge, add them to the bag. Once the bag is full, place all the scraps in a pot, cover them with water, add some salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for a few hours for the strongest flavor. Then, use it in your soup of choice!
Carrots, celery and onions make the best broth additions, but mushrooms, corn cobs, herbs and fennel some of my other favorites. Avoid adding broccoli, kale, cauliflower and cabbage, because these can make the broth smell terrible and turn bitter.
Use citrus and herbs to make cleaner
A unique way to use up food scraps is to turn them into an all-purpose cleaner. Citrus peels, some herbs and vinegar have antibacterial or antifungal properties that make them perfect for cleaning your home.
To make an all-purpose cleaner, simply combine vinegar with other antibacterial ingredients and let the mixture sit for a few weeks (or up to 3 months!). After the mixture has thoroughly mingled, transfer it to a spray bottle and clean to your heart's content. Although you can make only a few foods into surface cleaner, this trick can help you make good use of extra herbs and orange peels!
Use colorful fruits and veggies to dye textiles
Some fruits and veggies are perfect for naturally dyeing textiles. Onion skins, pomegranate skins, avocado skins and pits, beets, spinach, blueberries, black beans and more can all color your clothing.
You'll need to thoroughly wash your fabric and follow a few more technical steps before dyeing, but the results can be super cool. Architectural Digest's Clever has a great article on naturally dyeing fabric!
Quick Pickle your veggies
Quick pickling is a great way to preserve veggies for future use AND it makes veggies taste delicious. If you're not familiar, quick pickling involves creating a vinegar and water brine, pouring it into a jar of veggies and refrigerating.
Quick pickled veggies can last in your fridge for up to one month, so it's a great way to add extra flavor to unused veggies without going through the hassle of fermenting or canning them! If you’re looking for recipes, I love TheKitchn’s guide to quick pickling!
Check local garbage disposal uses
Many wastewater reclamation centers give biosolids (the stuff you put down the garbage disposal) to local farmers to use a fertilizer. This means that depending on where you live, putting your extra food down the garbage disposal might not be a bad option.
To find out if your city recycles biosolids (AKA "treated sludge"), visit your local water reclamation center's website or give them a call! To learn more about garbage disposal sustainability read my article Composter, Garbage Disposal or Trash Can!