Every household and organization should have a proactive plan for recycling to divert more materials away from the waste stream. The keyword is not only to recycle more, but we must use less and recycle! The old cliche expression of “less is more” is the mindset we should be telling ourselves in order to make a change in the zero waste movement. One of the biggest concerns towards environmental issues is food waste. We love food and it is a necessity in order to survive. We might not realize it until someone mentions how much edible food goes to waste.
Plan Ahead
Plan what you want to eat, like a weekly menu and shop for what you only want to eat. Plan your meals for the next few days or see what is left over and create a recipe that is with the remaining food items, before they go bad! Planning ahead is always good. We plan for doing general tasks, working out, spending time with friends, why not plan for reducing the amount of food wasted? We tend to buy more than we need! Mega grocery stores offer bigger packaging, making us buy more than we need, even though it may be cheaper to buy in bulk. It is important to check the fridge before going grocery shopping, make a list of what you need, and think twice before buying too much.
Watch and Take Advantage of the Expiration Date
Buying less food reduces the amount of waste, however it is hard to predict how much you will need. Usually recipes say how many servings it makes, or previous cooking teaches you the amount. If you are a couple, plan for only two! It is beneficial for date night to go shopping the day off or before, getting the discount priced goods for cheaper value and not going past expiration. Even some stores display the 50% off items to encourage us to eat those before the new stock. As a large family, it is very important to plan meals and keep an eye on expiration dates. Frozen food items can last a while but the fresh ones need to be eaten quick.
Don’t Overcook
Don’t cook too much, if you are not going to pack away the leftovers. It is crucial to eat the leftovers to reduce food waste. Save it for lunch the next day or mix it with another meal, but don’t throw away, unless it went bad. It is important to motivate yourself to use up your ingredients and food items at home, either by making a new recipe, how many people are eating, and just overall being aware of what goes in your stomach and in the compost.
Store and Organize Food Properly
We don’t store food correctly, making the shelf life reduced. Try sorting them in the right place, by organizing your fridge and freezer to prioritize what needs to be eaten first. We are human, and just simply can’t always remember what is in our fridge. It’s best to categorize your refrigerator and even try to take pictures from time to time to remember what’s in it. Otherwise, food will go beyond the expiration date and become rotten.
Compost
Compost your extra scraps! Composting is a natural process of recycling organic material in a rich soil. With compost, you can turn it into precious new nutrients. If you have too much food on your hands, try sharing it with your friends and neighbors. There are very helpful apps and organizations that take advantage of bad food. It’s not “bad” it is just reaching expiration, simply not going to be used, or excess from restaurants and other companies, where these amazing organizations take initiative to help reduce food waste. Remember to feed food waste to compost piles not landfills.
Fruits
Vegetables
Uncooked Grains
Eggs shells
Coffee grounds
SOME Coffee Filters
Tea bags
Flowers
Plants
Too Good To Go
Imperfect Foods
Lovin’ spoonfuls
Swiss Organizations
Thank you for reading my blog and stay tuned for the next post!
Bibliography
“Aus Liebe Zum Essen.” Foodwaste.ch, 2020.
LeBlanc, Rick. “How Long Will It Take That Bag of Trash to Decompose in a Landfill?” The Balance Small Business, The Balance Small Business, 22 Oct. 2019.
“REAL Recycling Entsorgung Abwasser Luzern.” REAL Recycling Entsorgung Abwasser Luzern, 16 Mar. 2020, www.real-luzern.ch/.
Hi Victoria, nice blog post! I really like how you remind us how we can easily reduce our food waste. Especially in these times, when people feel existential fears, it is good to be reminded what is necessary and what is not. Looking forward to your next post!
Hi Victoria, again love your post!! I’ve recently discovered a Nespresso compatible coffee pod company called “My Coffee Cup” (available at Migros and Coop) – not only is their coffee great but you can actually compost the capsules! Also, I try to never go shopping hungry, as this has lead to overshopping in the past for sure lol.
Planning is such an important step no matter what we are talking about. My weakness is that I am always cooking fresh food, reason why I end up exhausted but healthily nurtured at the end of the day. It hurts my heart and pockets when I see that I have to throw away food, so I am trying as much as I can to buy exactly what I need, but still diversifying. Thanks for the article!
I love freshly cooked and healthy. Once I tried to eat only freshly cooked food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for about a year. It was crazy – i just cooked and went shopping all the time. Now I try to find a balance and cook maybe once per day or two.
Thank you for providing some links to other companies using out-of-date food – I think I’ll sign up too ^^