Every week, one of us will have food leftovers in the refrigerator or pantry.
Let’s discuss food waste and simple strategies to reduce it. Food waste accounts for over 50 per cent of all fruit and vegetable waste worldwide and 8 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Food waste should be discouraged not just because it could have fed those who are hungry or in need, but also because it wastes the resources used to generate it. Food products are made using a lot of resources, including land, water, energy, labour, money, and love, but an alarming proportion is wasted.
Here are FIVE easy, original, and practical methods for reusing food scraps and minimizing food waste:
- LEMON
Slice any leftover lemons you haven’t gotten around to using and store them in your freezer to serve as a zingy, delicious ice cube in your favourite beverage!
- SCRAPS AND PEELS OF VEGETABLES.
In your freezer, you may store vegetable peels and off cuts like onion skins, corn cobs, and even cheese rinds until you have enough to produce flavorful stock or broth. Offcuts can easily be simmered for at least 45 minutes after being thrown into a pot of boiling water. Put your vegetable scraps through a strainer and into your compost.
- GROW NEW VEGETABLES
Some vegetables can be produced again after usage with little work or expertise in gardening. All you need is a little patience and some fresh water. After 1-2 weeks, many vegetables can grow new roots; some can do so even sooner. Celery, scallions, and other lush green vegetables also perform nicely with this technique. Ginger, celery, fennel, and lemongrass are also effective.
We often cut these vegetables rather generously around the root end when preparing them in the kitchen.
This component is frequently discarded, yet you need it to cultivate these vegetables at home. Don’t anticipate any amazing growth right now. This strategy probably won’t allow you to grow enough vegetables to meet all of your needs. However, there is a chance to at least give the greens one more use rather than discarding them.
- MAKE HOMEMADE HOUSEPLANT FERTILIZER
Chemical and non-chemical pricey fertilizers available at nurseries and garden centres are not always recommended as the first option. Instead, we must stay natural and feed our plants using items we already have at home.
Eggshells, coffee grounds, and banana peels are all you need to provide your plants with the essential nutrition. They contain beneficial compounds that are very useful for fertilizing green plants.
- CARE FOR YOUR SKIN
Additionally, you can make natural skin care products from a variety of kitchen scraps.
Coffee grounds are excellent for more than just nourishing plants; they also work well as an exfoliant for your hands, face, and body. It can also be added to shower gel to create a fantastic body scrub at home.