28 Clever Food Waste Reduction Strategies

Organize your kitchen

Often, food is wasted because we can’t see it in the back of our shelves before it expires. Having an organized pantry or fridge, where you can easily see everything, with the oldest food in the front, can help prevent this. (Full guide to organizing your pantry here.)

Shop your fridge first

When brainstorming what to fix, always shop your fridge first, your counter second, and your pantry and freezer next. Not only will this give you an idea of what needs to be used up (and ideas for creative combinations), but it will also prevent you from buying something you already have.

Plan your menu strategically

When planning meals, you want to cluster your ingredients. Example: Know you’ll have an excess of herbs, lemon, green beans, and potatoes from Monday night’s Niçoise, plus a stock of yogurt for the week’s breakfast bowls? Plan to make a Scandinavian salmon dish with herbed yogurt sauce and sides as your next meal in order to use up all those elements.

Make notes on your recipes

For that reason, it’s helpful to make notes on your recipes: how much it makes, and which ingredients you tend to have leftover. Notes like “freezes well” or “goes great with” can further guide your food waste reduction strategy.

Keep a seasonal recipe list

Now make it easy on yourself for the future. If you have a week that went well, with minimal food waste, jot down which recipes you made. Over time, you’ll have a complete meal calendar to simply repeat or adjust for next year. It’s almost helpful to include which ingredients are in season so you can take advantage of them when they’re at their most sustainable.

Notice what you toss

Let your garbage be your guide! It’s good to do a regular check of your garbage bin to see what you’re commonly throwing out. Is it spinach that went wilty? An avocado that turned out to be bad? Or leftovers that didn’t get eaten? Patterns will help you determine which areas to focus on most.

It’s helpful to make notes on your recipes: how much it makes, and which ingredients you tend to have leftover

Stock shelf-stable foods

Dry foods can be a major game changer when it comes to preventing spoilage. Additionally, having dry foods stocked in your pantry can make it much easier on those days when you can’t make it to the grocery, helping you avoid ordering waste-y takeout.

Stay stocked on dry foods you know you like to eat, such as dry pastas, legumes, grains, nuts, and other staples. Dehydrated foods like Shiitakes are also helpful to have on hand.

Plant some herbs

If you regularly find yourself buying herbs, consider potting or planting an herb garden. Homegrown foods are always a sustainable option, but herbs might be particularly easy to grow in a small space like an apartment. Clipping herbs as needed will ensure you don’t have a whole bunch of basil threatening to go bad in your fridge.

Buy only what you need

While it’s smart to bulk up on certain ingredients you know you’ll use, like extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, rice, or dry beans, some items may be best purchased in small amounts. That’s the beauty of a tare weight grocery: it allows you to buy exactly what you’ll use—no extra pasta in the box (and no box in the first place).

Buy only what you need at re_ grocery

Buy from local farmers

Buying local, seasonal, organic food that hasn’t had to be shipped is more sustainable by a long shot, and the food will taste better. Why? Many supermarket foods are picked long before they’re ripe: take tomatoes that are often shipped green and later gassed to induce the ripe color.

Our team hand-selects fresh produce from the farmers market so you can do all your sustainable shopping in one convenient place. Because if you want all your veggies to get eaten, it helps if they taste amazing.

That’s the beauty of a tare weight grocery: it allows you to buy exactly what you’ll use

Become an expert at picking produce

Remember the garbage test? If you’re consistently throwing out mealy fruit or overripe avos, it’s time to consult some produce picking tips.

It’s important to note that certain foods never ripen after picking, including: soft berries, grapes, cherries, citrus, pineapple, and watermelon. Other fruits, like avocados, only ripen after they’ve been picked.

Some quick tips: Look for green stems on your grapes, avocados that yield to gentle pressure, heavy watermelons with a hollow sound and a flat “field spot” where it ripened on the ground.

Wash your produce

To remove chemicals and contaminates while making sure your fruits and veggies stay crisp longer, give them a bath beforehand using our Fruit & Veg Wash. We recommend using a generous splash diluted in a big bowl of water to rinse your fruit, ending with the softer fruits like raspberries. Let your fruit dry on a big towel on the counter before returning it to the fridge.

Store produce properly

Storing produce is key to preventing food spoilage. Rinsing and drying your lettuce through a salad spinner helps you prep ahead while keeping your greens crisp longer. Carrots and celery can be kept crunchy for weeks when stored in water, while cut cucumbers and bell peppers last better stored in an airtight container with a paperless towel.

Most shelf-stable foods will stay good for 1-3 years in your pantry.

We feature several food storage tips and tricks on our Instagram page, so be sure you’re following along for more.

Bring a container when eating out

You can still reduce food waste even when you’re not at home by simply bringing a container with you when eating out. Keep one in a bag by the door or in your car to help you remember.

Use your freezer

We’ve said it before: your freezer is your best friend. Not only can you save extra meals and baked goods into portions for later (like putting money in the bank), you can also freeze almost any ingredients, from condiments to yeast.

When you need to use up spinach, kale, or other leafy greens, blend them up with a cup of water and freeze into cubes

Our best hacks: use an ice cube tray to freeze small items like tomato paste, minced garlic, lemon zest and leftover coffee. Use a muffin tray for ingredients like buttermilk or spinach. Flash freeze berries and cut fruit on a sheet pan for 15 minutes to avoid clumping before storing them in a Stasher Bag.

Mark your items

Mark your items with a date so you remember when to use them up by. Most shelf-stable foods will stay good for 1-3 years in your pantry. Spices will retain the most flavor within a year, while chocolate is best used within 6 months. Most things will last in your freezer for another 3 months, depending on the food.

Make preserves

Our ancestors knew that one of the best ways to use up a crop was to put it up for later by making pickles, jams, tomato sauce, etc. If you’re a hobbyist, consider investing in some basic canning tools and maybe even gathering some friends together to make preserves.

If you get tired of eating the same thing two or three nights in a row, it can help to switch up the sauce

Keep the peel

One common food scrap: peels from carrots, potatoes, peaches, apples, kiwis and more. Not only does that create avoidable waste, but there are so many nutrients contained in those peels, so why not use them?

Share with others

Next time you have too much food, consider finding a community fridge in your neighborhood that accepts home cooked meals. Is there a new parent in your life? You might freeze aside some extra portions of whatever you’re having. You may even want to start a neighborhood meal swap with another family, each owning one night a week. Less cooking for everyone!

Have a plan for leftovers

Many leftovers or leftover ingredients are suited well to going in tacos, loaded nachos, fried rice, stir fries, curries, tray bakes, soups, smoothies, salads, snack boards, frittatas, or in a discovery taste tray for little ones.

Stale bread’s a bummer, but there’s an easy fix...

Switch the sauce

Not everyone is a leftovers person. If you get tired of eating the same thing two or three nights in a row, it can help to switch up the sauce or dressing component—voila! New dish. The same goes both ways—if you’re trying to use up a sauce, try it on a sandwich or as a dip for veggies.

Revive stale bread

Stale bread’s a bummer, but there’s an easy fix. Simply run it through water and reheat it in the oven at 450F uncovered for 10 minutes. Or, blend it into bread crumbs or enjoy it in a panzanella or breakfast casserole.

Have more bread than you need? We recommend freezing our House Loaf sourdough by the slice. No need to thaw: just pop it in the toaster and add your favorite toppings.

Upcycle used ingredients

Many food ingredients can be used for other household purposes and DIYs. For instance, used lemon halves make a great vinegar infusion for your cleaning sprays, or as scrubbers with some baking soda for your sink or with salt for your wooden cutting board. Used coffee grounds go well in lip and body scrubs, while used tea leaves can be lovely in a homemade soap or bath.

Regrow scraps

Certain foods, like heads of lettuce, can be regrown in your kitchen using just water. This works exceptionally well with green onions: save a few inches of the white parts with the root attached, and store standing up in a small glass of water by your window sill. Change the water every few days.

Make your own stock

One of the best ways to get scrappy with your cooking is to make a bone broth or concoct a veggie stock using onion skins, corn husks, vegetable ends, and more. Add equal parts water, salt, peppercorns and bay leaves to a pot with your scraps and simmer for an hour

Feed your pets

If your vet gives you the go-ahead, let your dog lick up food spills or have the last of your empty jar of peanut butter. Many household pets, like rabbits and turtles, will also appreciate certain produce scraps.

Certain foods, like heads of lettuce, can be regrown in your kitchen using just water

Impose a garbage limit

Some countries give you a garbage limit, or charge you for the amount of garbage you produce. You can follow suit by giving yourself your own garbage goal per week, and sticking to it. This might even be by switching your garbage bin for a smaller one so that you’re forced to comply.

Compost

Finally, compost. By composting, you give food back to the cycle of the earth, helping fertilize the soil and bring about new life. You can save food scraps in a bowl in your freezer to avoid the smell before composting at home or through a municipal pickup system.

We hope these food waste reduction strategies sparked some helpful ideas. We started with what happens before you eat, during the planning process, and went all the way up to using your leftovers. Choose which tips work for you, and as always, subscribe to our email newsletter for more!