10 Tips to Reduce Kitchen Waste at Home

Considering the investment that goes into creating our food dishes, it is too valuable a resource to simply just throw away. “Reduce, reuse and recycle” is a phrase that we have all heard before, but where to start when it comes to reducing overall consumption, finding ways to efficiently reuse articles, and recycling our trash?

We have adopted a few appropriate and sustainable approaches to manage our waste here at Source.  We separate our waste and decide what items can be recycled, and what items could be reused.  Food-wise, we often use leftovers from events for delicious in-house office lunch.  If we have large amounts of leftover food & items, we donate to local charities or organisations.

We thought it would be useful to give our readers a few tips on how to reduce kitchen waste at home.

10 tips on reducing kitchen waste at home:

1.Compost your food waste.

Composting foods that can be organically disposed of at home is a great way to reduce the amount of food you throw away. A great benefit of composting your own food at home is that the compost will help fertilize your garden soil.

2.Do you compost already?

Sprinkle coffee grounds liberally, and regularly to keep the pH levels in your compost heap balanced. The coffee will degrade the food faster and help with the smell that could seep out of the compost container.

3.Repurpose your leftover scraps.

Use vegetable and meat scraps in homemade stocks, and use citrus rinds and zest to add flavour to other meals.

4.Simple smoothies and soups.

Don’t throw out fruits and vegetables because they are nearing the end of their peak. Fruits can be turned into delicious smoothies, and vegetables can be used in a yummy soup.

5.Pot and pan to the freezer.

If you know that the food items in your fridge are nearing the end of their peak, cook them and then freeze them. You can defrost them and reheat them for a quick and simple meal.

6.Get rid of fridge odours.

Fill a cheesecloth with dry coffee grounds and leave the bag in the fridge.

7.Keep your outdoor dumpster fresh.

Fill some old tights with dry grounds and hang them inside the bin for an instant air freshener.

8.Rid your hands of cooking smells.

There is little that can remove the powerful smell of cut up onions or garlic. Take some coffee grounds, add a small amount of water and run the mixture into your hands. Rinse with cool water and you will be back to smelling like you.

9.Do you have a vegetable garden?

Sprinkle a liberal amount of dry coffee grounds around you plants to keep those persistent, pesky, pests away from them. Coffee also has the added benefit of providing your vegetables with the perfect amount of acidity to help them grow.

10.Shop the fridge before going to the store.

Use the food you have at home before buying more. Designate one meal weekly as a use-it-up meal. Move older food products to the front of the fridge, cupboard, or freezer and just-purchased ones to the back. This way it is more likely that foods will be consumer before they have the chance to go bad.