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How To Get Rid Of Food Waste And Save Money?

Tips to reduce food waste and save money

By RHPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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How To Get Rid Of Food Waste And Save Money?
Photo by nrd on Unsplash

Food waste is a major issue for our society. It has been calculated that 1/3 of all food produced in the world ends up being wasted in one way or another, which is an incredibly depressing statistic! This isn't sustainable for our environment and it's not fair to those who are going hungry. Food waste is a major issue for our society. How can you help? We've come up with some suggestions below but please keep your own ideas coming too - we'd love to hear them! The main point of these suggestions is that there is still time to change this situation before it becomes completely out of control.

  • What is food waste?

In the US, 80 billion pounds of food waste is generated every year. Food waste is the single largest component going into landfills. In fact, 50% of food waste comes from restaurants and grocery stores. Even more startling is that food waste makes up 25% of all landfill waste in North America! That’s a lot of wasted money and wasted resources – both natural and human! If you are reading this, then I assume that you have seen the TV commercials or the newspaper ads telling us how to make compost out of our food scraps, food waste, or even food leftovers in our kitchen or pantry for our garden soil or as an addition to your lawn fertilizer to enrich it with nutrients and moisture.

By simon peel on Unsplash
  • Food waste is expensive

Food waste is a huge problem, and the industry spends billions of dollars a year trying to mitigate it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 30–40% of our food supply is wasted. This equates to $160 billion worth of food being thrown away. Why are we throwing away so much food? The reasons are many.

With so many different reasons contributing to the amount of food wasted every year, it’s clear that this problem needs an innovative solution.

  • Food waste can be harmful to the environment

Food waste can be harmful to the environment in many ways. The most obvious is that food waste contributes to climate change by emitting methane during decomposition, though the amount of food wasted globally is much less than the number of greenhouse gases produced by fossil fuels.

Waste can also leach into the soil as it decays and pollute nearby resources such as water, air and ground. A lot of organic waste can be converted into compost for fertilizer, which can be used for growing crops and trees.

The easiest way to reduce food waste is to apply better planning ahead of time and avoid buying more than needed.

By Paul Schellekens on Unsplash
  • How to reduce food waste and save money!
  1. e-think your shopping list and make sure you only buy what you will eat.
  2. Plan your meals in advance; check your cupboards and fridge before going shopping.
  3. Cook only what you will eat and save leftovers.
  4. Create an inventory of what you have and keep track, you can also find helpful recipes to use leftovers. CHECK My previous article about amazing recipes to try.
  • Tips for reducing food waste in your home!

According to the USDA, a family of four can easily throw away an average of $1,484 worth of food every year. This is a staggering amount, and it’s one that you can easily avoid by following some simple tips on saving food that would otherwise be wasted.

For example, if you buy more than you need at the grocery store, you can always freeze your excess food in freezer bags to use later. Another way to cut back on wasted food is to set up a compost pile in your yard so that all of your food waste can be recycled into fertilizer for your garden.

By Margo Brodowicz on Unsplash

These are just a few ways to reduce food waste in your home. If you have any other tips, please share them with people you know! Thanks for reading, please share with others.

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