How to cut down on food waste at home
- kurtis0196
- Aug 6
- 3 min read
Changing our relationship with food is one of the biggest things we can do
BySara Kiley Watson
Global food waste is a huge social, environmental, and climate problem whose scale is massive. The average household wastes 31.9% of their grocery cart, equal to around $240 billion nationally.1 When that processed, purchased, or prepared grub hit the bin, so too do all of the resources that went into producing it, from farming and transportation to the energy it took to fire up your stove.
Luckily, some of the most potent solutions for combating food waste and its climate impacts start right at home. In fact, deploying a few tips and tweaks to how we buy, store, and cook our favorite meals can dramatically cut down on the food waste we create at home.
Shopping, cooking, and storage tips to reduce food waste
Food waste starts with our shopping lists. For one reason or another, fruits, veggies, leftovers, and pretty much the entire gamut tend to go bad in the back corners of our refrigerators and cupboards. Beyond simply buying too much food, households wind up chucking grub for a wide variety of reasons—from confusion over “best by” dates and spoilage to a lack of inspiration for how to use up what’s already on hand.
There isn’t a single solution to fix household food waste overnight—nor is there a plan that will work for every home. When planning shopping trips, some folks, for instance, might benefit from sketching out a meal plan, while others might fire up an app to help inspire cooking ideas for what’s already in their cupboards before making a grocery run. Berry lovers might find food waste salvation in the freezer aisle if they often find themselves with moldy oldies. Ditto for those plagued by wilted spinach.
When it comes to cooking up your purchases, the key is use what you got—and use every last scrap. According to ReFED, a nonprofit that focuses on food waste solutions, the largest share of household food waste (25.7%) is due to “inedible parts.” But there’s a lot you can do with them.2 For example: Citrus peels can become excellent candy, and the greens atop a bunch of carrots can blitz into a splendid pesto. Something overripe? Things like bananas or zucchini are brilliant in breads (especially at the end of their ripeness). Getting familiar with substitutions can also help you use what you’ve got instead of buying more food you may not need; leftover cauliflower, for example, can stand in for broccoli. Also learning a bit more about turning random bits and bobs into smoothies, stocks, and pickles can give food a longer life.
Proper storage, however, is what brings this all together. Spoilage is the second-most common reason for household food waste, according to ReFED’s data, accounting for 25% of castoffs.3 Learning the best ways to package up fresh produce can squeeze days or weeks more life out of fruits and veggies, but some of the most-impactful storage tips to reduce food waste are even simpler than that. Making sure containers are airtight extends the life of leftovers, designating an “eat me first” zone of the fridge can call attention to nearly-done snacks, and a little thing called labeling can put food’s birthdays front and center. It also helps to get really familiar with what expiration dates stamped on goods actually do—and don’t—mean.