8 Simple Ways to Reduce Waste in Your Kitchen

Food waste and disposables cause a lot of waste in the kitchen. According to the FDA, food waste in the United States is estimated at 30-40% of the food supply. In California, it is estimated that 5-6 million tons of food is wasted annually. Disposable containers for food and cleaning products also contribute to large amounts of waste from our kitchens that could be avoided.

If we all shift a few habits and make a couple of changes, collectively, these lead to significant environmental benefits! Try one or two things to create a new habit, then move to the next one. Get your family involved too so they can get in on being part of the change.

Shop in Bulk and Use Refill Stations

Shopping the bulk section of the grocery store can cost 1/3 of what the same item is packaged. WHAT?! Shocking, I know! This is especially true with spices.

Prepare yourself for this. Next time you go to your favorite grocery store or food co-op, check out their bulk food and spice section. Take a mental note of items you use often or even ones that you don’t. Then, when you’re meal planning and need these items you can pack your reusable cotton bag or airtight container.

I needed some dried chives for a meal I was making and didn’t need very many and don’t use them often, so I put them in a reusable cotton bag, only got what I needed, and paid so much less than I would have if I bought them in a jar. Save money, save the planet!

Find your nearest refill store and shop there for all of your cleaning supplies, reusable paper towels, and compostable sponges! Some refill stores also carry food where you can save the most. Ditch the disposables and opt for reusables!

Store Food Properly to Reduce Spoilage

Food storage is so important to keep your food fresh longer and prevent food waste.

Have a half an avocado leftover? Keep it in the skin and seed and wrap it up with a beeswax wrap to keep it fresh for days.

After getting home from the farmer’s market or grocery store, store your fresh veggies and fruits in a reusable cotton produce bag. Make sure the bag is slightly damp to keep things nice and crisp and place it inside the fridge in the crisper drawer. These will help keep your cilantro nice and fresh for at least 5 days.

Don’t forget to eat up all the good stuff too!

Plan Meals and Use a Shopping List

Meal planning is so satisfying! You don’t have to think about what you want for dinner which may lead to indecision and eating out or buying too much for just one of your meals.

Plan your meals…it will save you time and money throughout the week. I check the weather for the week, our family calendar to see if there’s any evening events, and then sit down and plan our meals.

Eating seasonally will help you get the freshest, most delicious fruits and vegetables and save you some money. Try and eat seasonally and locally as much as possible.

While planning, use like ingredients. For instance, you are planning to make tacos and want sour cream. Maybe also make something that week that can use up the rest of the container of sour cream. Or make one sauce that can make two different dishes.

Make your list and stick to it! No impulse buys that will cost you extra money or that will be stuck in the back of your pantry for years.

Compost Food Scraps

Composting diverts waste from landfills. Food waste in a landfill rots and produces methane, a greenhouse gas. The EPA estimates that wasted food is responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions. Instead, compost it!

Here in California, we are fortunate to have curbside compost that goes to facilities that can capture the methane and turn it into energy. Then, farmers and locals benefit from good compost.

If you don’t have curbside composting available to you, you can compost kitchen waste in the backyard or in a Bokashi bin.

Simple Kitchen Swaps

Ditch paper towels for reusable not paper towels! 13 billions pounds of paper towels are sold annually…each one weighs nothing so you can imagine what 13 billion pounds might look like.

Choose reusables like not paper towels, Swedish dishcloths, use those dishtowels you have hanging, use old t-shirts or cut up old flannel sheets. These reusable kitchen cloths will save you money and are way more eco-friendly than a disposable paper towel.

I’m not saying get rid of paper towels from your life completely. Just use them sparingly.

Use your used jars to save leftovers, freeze fruits from your summer bounty, or stock from your roasted chicken. Then, donate the rest of the jars you don’t need to your local refillery, we can always use more!

All of these sustainable kitchen swaps will save you money and reduce waste.

Get Creative with Cooking

Use those veggie scraps before composting for delicious meals, stocks, and cleaning products! The Zero Waste Chef has some great recipes and ideas to reduce food waste. Anne Marie calls it scrappy cooking, it also saves money!

Make a scented cleaning vinegar with orange peels!

Eat your leftovers! Have a clean out the fridge night for dinner when you’re too tired to cook.

Use leftovers in other meals. Cook a full chicken on Sunday, use the meat for several meals, and make a stock out of the carcass. Let’s get back to preserving food and eating well instead of eating whatever is easiest.

Ditch Plastic Wrap and Plastic Containers

We have beautiful beeswax wraps to cover your containers. Or use your dishtowel to cover that salad you made ahead of time, wet the towel and cover to keep the lettuce fresh.

Plastic is everywhere, we can reduce it with better food storage in our kitchen. Invest in some glass or metal food storage containers if you can. Buy them on sale or one at a time, but start investing in some. They will last longer too!