Waste Watcher

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” John 6:12

After living in Thailand for a short time, I returned home only to notice the normal wasteful practices of American culture. With everything a convenient drive or finger-click away, society has lost its need for good stewardship and resourcefulness. Convicted by my habits, I decided to do some diggin’ to find easy ways to reduce waste and repurpose scraps. 

The Scary Facts: Food Waste

1.  $1,300… the average dollar amount of food wasted yearly by a single American. 
2. Wasting food is worse than the total emissions from flying (1.9%), plastic production (3.8%) and oil extraction (3.8%). Food rotting in landfills releases methane – 28x stronger than carbon dioxide.

1. COMPOST: A compost bucket not only reduces how many trash bags you use but is also the best microbiome and microorganism fertilizer for your garden or flower pots. If you have a bucket and some soil… you should be composting… and don’t forget the add your coffee grounds, egg shells, and tea bags. Learn more about the easy process here! 

2. PUP CUPS: A fun way to make treats for your animal companions while reducing food waste! I save food scraps, stew juices, bone broth bones, or other fridge foods, and blend them in our Ninja blender. After blending, I can bake the liquid into dog treats or freeze them into PUPsicles. We alllll know how expensive dog treats are but these recipes help you save money and know what goes into your dog’s diet. More Recipes and Information.

PUPsicles: Frozen
roast fat scraps, *reuse the bag and liners

Dog Treats: Bone broth byproducts, blended, baked, frozen for preservation

3. BONUS BROTH: Don’t trash the onion, garlic, carrot peels, or corn cobs, potato skins, celery ends, chicken bones, or beef bones! After cooking your main dishes take these byproducts and place them in a crockpot or pressure cooker with water and seasonings to make a nutrient-dense, homemade, protein-rich, gut microbiota-building, joint-supporting bone and vegetable broth. $6 for a quart in the grocery store or make it yourself for practically free… it’s a no-brainer! Rice Water Hack: I save the first and second rinses when cooking rice. Rice water is great for hair rinses, window polishing, or watering plants.

Vegetable scraps and steak bones

Easy storage **next goal: durable reusable bags

Strained chicken bone broth

Rice water for hair rinses, mirror polishing, and plant fertilizer

4. FREEZER FUN: Think of all the fruit and bread products that mold before you get around to finishing them. Your freezer is the best place to break up large servings of food and preserve freshness. Fruits can be blended and frozen in ice trays for a fun fruit flavor for your drinks or smoothies (recipe instructions here). This weekend I invested in reusable storage bags and silicone ice cube trays to help organize and reduce food waste… or save ripening produce for my kombucha and apple cider batches. 

Vegetable scraps: broths
Apple scraps: kombucha, apple cider vinegar

Smoothie ready bananas from ripened produce, **reuse baggies

5. ETHYLENE: Do you ever notice that your produce spoils faster when stored near bananas??? Fun Fact: ethylene is a natural gas that many of our fruits and vegetables release during ripening. This gas may help ripen your avocados faster, but usually, it creates over-ripened moldy produce that ends up in the trash. A general rule is to separate fruits from vegetables and learn what should be in or out of your fridge. 

To learn about proper fruit and vegetable storage: EatingWell

Foods that release high amounts of ethylene: stone fruit, bananas, tomatoes. Foods sensitive to ethylene: onions, potatoes, squash.