7 Tips To Eliminate Food Waste In Your Home To Help Stop Climate Change

Do you have any eating habits you would like to leave behind in 2023, or perhaps some new, better ones you would like to develop? How about cooking goals you would like to accomplish? Are there any food adventures you would like to pursue?

Once you have decided (which is the hard part), start thinking of ways you can achieve your goal. This way, you can make a plan and hit the ground running when the calendar turns to 2024.

If you are looking for a suggestion, how about tackling climate change…no biggie, right?

It’s a worthy pursuit; just look at all the devastation climate change has caused around the world, from forest fires, to ice storms, flooding, and so on.

If you’re keen on doing your part, a good place to start is by reducing the food waste in your own home. Begin with food scraps. Toss them into the compost or green bin instead of into the regular garbage. This will help minimize methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas and contributor to climate change.

Organic materials such as food scraps need oxygen to break down, which is why they are handled differently than other household garbage, and should be separated.

I confess, I’m guilty of throwing food waste into the regular garbage can sometimes. It’s sad, but true.

Well, that is, until my husband caught me doing the deed. You see, I hate touching icky messes. So, I occasionally throw the gooey, moldy, rotten veggies in flimsy plastic bags found at the back of the refrigerator crisper directly into the garbage can. However, once outed…I now leave it on the kitchen counter and it all magically disappears.

Another way of reducing greenhouse gases and food waste is to only purchase the food you plan to eat.

As an example, let’s look at the life cycle of a simple head of iceberg lettuce. It starts with the farmer using his tractor (which typically runs on non-renewable fossil fuels and emits CO2) to get the soil ready. The seeds are planted and then watered(a dwindling resource in some parts of the world).

Then, there is fertilizer to help it grow, pesticides to keep away pests, and herbicides for weed control. Overtime, these chemicals deplete the soil of the nutrients necessary in the growing process.

The lettuce is then picked, cleaned, and held in a refrigerated storage facility. It’s then transported in a refrigerated truck to a refrigerated warehouse. Then, driven to a store before landing in your veggie crisper.

That little head of lettuce has already used a lot of valuable resources and contributed to our changing climate, even in its short life cycle. So, if we buy the lettuce and forget about it, and then throw it in the green bin…that’s a lot of wasted energy and greenhouse gases just sitting in our trash can.

If you’re onboard to tackling food waste in 2024, here are 7 Tips to eliminate food waste in your home to help stop climate change.

1. Meal plan.

When you plan out what to cook for one week, you will only need to buy the food you require. This cuts down on food waste and saves you money.

2. Learn about best-before dates.

I talk about best-before dates in this video here from the online course Cook Healthy Foods. Learn to Meal Prep for a Healthier Family! Being informed about best-before dates helps to reduce food waste and keeps you and your family safe.

3. Shop with a grocery list.

Buy food that’s only on your list. Avoid impulse buys of food that could potentially end up in your green bin.

4. Store food properly.

Put veggies in your crisper, your onions in a dark, cool, dry place, and your bread in the freezer if you aren’t able to use a whole loaf before it goes stale or moldy.

5. Eat your leftovers.

Enjoy them for lunch or dinner the next day, or freeze them. When you do have leftovers, store them in the refrigerator in the front so they won’t be forgotten.

6. Write the date on the food opened in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.

Use our date stickers or use a permanent marker to add the date on perishable foods This is a fantastic way of staying on top of the food in your home and using it before it goes bad.

7. Rotate your pantry.

Bring older food to the front of the shelf so you use it first. Avoid throwing stale food out in the garbage.

These simple steps can help eliminate climate change by reducing food waste in your home.