With more food being wasted or discarded for several reasons, food waste has become an enormous worldwide problem. Other than it’s a waste of money, throwing food waste could also cause long-term environmental concerns.
More often than not, they end up in landfills, where they begin to rot and produce gases that could be harmful to the environment. Luckily, whether you’re a homeowner or a business owner who offers food services, some ways can help you manage your food waste while protecting Mother Nature. Read on to learn five environment-friendly ways of managing food waste.
- Compost Food Scraps
One of the eco-friendly methods of handling your food waste is composting. Instead of putting all these scraps in the landfills, you can create a compost pile inside your house. You can do this by keeping earthworms inside a box filled with some soil where you can throw in food waste. From there, the earthworms will work their magic to create a little compost. After a couple of days, you’d be able to produce some rich soil where you can grow your own garden.
- Utilize Your Food Waste
If you can’t handle the composting process on your own, it’s best to dispose of your food waste using other eco-friendly options. This is especially true if you’re running a restaurant, in which you generate large volumes of food scraps on a day-to-day basis.
In such a case, you can manage your food waste without harming the environment by doing the following:
- Offering your waste to local farmers for composting
- Contributing your scraps to a neighbor’s compost pile
- Recycling your waste in your area’s organic waste facility
There are several ways in which you can get the most out of your food waste while being eco-friendly. But aside from the ones listed above, some organizations accept food waste through sustainable programs, like FRED and similar projects, to recycle organic resources and reduce the number of food waste going into landfills.
- Repurpose Leftovers
Typically, a large portion of food waste comes from leftovers. Too much of this can be sent to landfills, causing harm to the environment. So instead of throwing them in the trash, you can be creative in recycling them.
For example, if you have several broccoli stalks or food scraps, you can chop them, then make a soup out of them. Just fill the pot of food scraps with clean water, heat it, and you’d have a delicious broth for lunch or dinner. You can also make raw snacks or other dishes out of it.
As another example, if you love bananas, you can make the most out of the peels and use them as a polishing or tooth whitening agent. All you need to do is rub them on things like your silverware or leather shoes to make them shiny again.
- Know How To Preserve
Food preservation can also be one of the eco-friendly, sustainable ways of managing food waste. Some common types of food preservation can include canning, curing, drying, fermenting, and picking. These methods are designed to make food last longer, thereby reducing food waste and protecting the environment.
For instance, if your household or restaurant has excessive ripe apples and carrots, you can respectively transform them into apple sauce and picked carrots. By learning how to preserve, you can manage your food waste more effectively.
- Reuse Or Recycle Food Packaging Materials
The food you buy makes use of different packaging materials. Instead of throwing them into the trash bins after use, you can reuse or recycle them to properly manage them and divert them from the landfills.
For example, if you have lots of cartons, wrappers, and containers, you can send them to recycling firms to convert them into other valuable products. A typical example of these products is egg trays made from waste paper bags and cartons.
You can utilize different reusing or recycling strategies to make sure your waste doesn’t end up in the garbage. By observing these strategies, you can also help reduce the amount of toxic gases emitted in the surroundings.
Bottom Line
Dealing with daily food waste can be a daunting task. A single decision to bring them to landfills can adversely impact the environment. Therefore, if you want to cut your food waste, keep these environment-friendly ways in mind to boost your good food waste management efforts. With some time and effort, you can create a positive change by learning how to conserve natural resources and keep the environment safe at all times.
