We’ve all been there. Leftovers left a little too long, microwave meals with more packaging than protein, forgotten fruit and out-of-season seasonal veg. With these 5 tips, you can clean up your culinary act and minimise kitchen waste.
Local and seasonal food
Those overflowing aisles of multi-coloured fruits and vegetables are hiding a dark secret. From Peruvian mangoes to South African avocados, our produce has often undertaken incredibly long journeys, having a massive impact on our environment. By instead focussing on seasonal, locally-grown produce we can cut out all those CO2 emissions and diversify our diets. Asparagus will only be made more delicious by the knowledge that it is only in season for a short time!
Introduce meat-free days
Meat production is widely considered one of the greatest stressors on many ecosystems, and on the planet as a whole. If you are reluctant to try vegetarianism or veganism, introducing meat-free days to your week can greatly reduce your carbon footprint, saving about 1600L of water per person! It can also be a great challenge to try out some new recipes.
Take a drinking bottle with you
No more plastic bottles! The reduction of plastic usage is an important step for the preservation and health of our oceans, because many types of plastic cannot be completely recycled. Drink tap water out of reusable bottles to save energy, waste and money - and there are so many colours and designs to choose from these days!
Buy organic products
Organic food is produced by farmers who have the environment in mind - usually by using renewable resources, conserving soil and water, and avoiding antibiotics, growth hormones and pesticides. Because of this, organic food can often be marginally more expensive than conventional products - but these kind of decisions have repercussions far beyond your wallet. Be conscious, make comparisons and, where possible, start to make these kind of swaps that are kinder to the planet.
Rinse and reuse jars
Simply wash out your pasta sauce jars, your jam jars, your jars of olives or Nutella - et voila! An environmentally-friendly alternative to Tupperware! Jars are ideal for transporting fresh salads in the summer months. A pro-tip from our Treedom kitchen: To keep the leaves fresh, put the salad dressing in the jar first - then simply shake before eating.
How many of these tips do you use already? Do you have any more for us?
