How to reduce food wastage at home

Humans waste one-third of all food that is available for consumption (Shutterstock)

Food waste is a worldwide human epidemic that needs every individual’s action and reaction to contain, if not solve.

According to World Food Day, one-third of all food produced globally is wasted or spoiled, and the organic matter in landfills produce about 20% of all methane emissions. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has considerable contribution to climate change and global warming.

Here are some easy and practical ways you can reduce food wastage in your house:

1.Shopping smart and realistically

When shopping for food, ensure that you don’t buy too much food. You’d rather make more trips to the grocery store and buy less food every time.

If you have to buy food in bulk, you should be thoughtful and careful about what you are buying. While at it, you can also consider buying locally produced foods such as food items from your local farmer’s market.

Also, you need to keep track of what is already in your fridge so that when you go shopping you don’t end up doubling-up on products and ending up not even using them before they go bad.

2.Not over-serving food

Avoid the idea of massive portions as much as possible. Don’t over-serve friends and family. If you have to, you can always consider using smaller plates.

Keep track of what you throw away (Shutterstock)

3.Eat leftovers

In the event that some food is left uneaten, be it home cooked food or food from the restaurant, always save. To help you keep track of your leftovers, you can label them and incorporate them as often as possible in your daily or weekly cooking routine.

4.Store food properly

Don’t underrate storing food in the right places. Know what foods need to be stored in the refrigerator and which ones need to be kept at room temperature. This way you will be able to store your food much longer without risking spoilage.

5.Know what you throw away

You need to keep track of what you throw away so that you can keep an eye on what you are throwing away. Managing a waste log can help you prevent making the same actions in future.

To give it more weight, you can consider adding money value to each thing you throw away as the money will definitely capture your attention.

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