9 tips to reduce food waste

Ten billion people will set foot on our beloved mother earth by 2050. That’s a lot. Thankfully, we are slowly changing our eating habits, otherwise we would need another planet. And while we look forward to human settlement of Mars, we can do a lot better on planet Earth by reducing our food waste. Globally, we waste 1.3 billion tons of food a year. That’s a third of all production! It sounds like we could reduce our footprint, it sounds like we could reduce it a lot.

"How can I help? I live here," you ask yourself. Well, it's your lucky day because we've made a list of 9 helpful and easy tips.

Tip #1. Store your food properly

If you store fruits and vegetables incorrectly, this can lead to premature ripening or, worse, rotting. For example, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, cucumbers and onions should never be refrigerated. These items should be kept at room temperature.

Then there are foods that produce ethylene gas such as: bananas, avocados, tomatoes, melons, peaches, and pears. Ethylene is a gas that loves to ripen foods. So keep your other foods separate from these if you don't want to speed up this process.

Tip #2. Save some leftovers

If you cook a lot and regularly have leftovers, designate a day for “leftovers day.” It’s a great way to avoid throwing out food, and what’s the point of throwing out food when there’s no food fight going on?

You can also freeze leftovers from meals. This way, you can make sure you always have a healthy, home-cooked meal available.

Tip #3 . Eat the skin

Ok ok, easy Hannibal, we are referring to the skin of fruits and vegetables. Many nutrients are found in the outer layer. For example, apple skins contain a large amount of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The outer layers of potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, mangoes, kiwis and eggplants are also edible and nutritious.

Tip #4. Stick to your shopping list

Impulse purchases are not always the best decisions. Because the eyes are bigger than the stomach... that's why it's a bad idea to go shopping when you're hungry. Be especially careful with products with a short shelf life.

Tip #5. Don't judge your food by its cover

Buy food in all kinds of odd shapes or with blemishes. If it's not damaged or rotten, you can eat it. They're often discounted and are also great for smoothies or soups.

 

Tip #6. Haute cuisine food waste

Did you know that you can also save on food and be fancy at the same time? Restaurants like Instock (Dutch Restaurant) are cooking with ingredients that the supermarket can no longer sell. Dishes include pickled red velvet and beer made from bread or potatoes. Bon appetit!

Tip #7 . "Sharing is caring"

Share more, waste less. Share your leftovers with neighbors and friends. If you want to share but don't know who to share with, there's an app called Olio that helps you find the right people.

Tip #8. A good to go app

There are also apps that show stores in your neighborhood with products that are about to expire, like ToGoodToGo . Our beloved Plenny Drink was there once, so nothing went to waste.

Tip #9. It doesn't get any simpler than this

If you're worried about food waste but it seems too complicated, we know just the product for you. With Plenny Shake you can accurately measure calories so nothing goes to waste, it has a 12-month shelf life AND it's easy to store. Let's save some food. 🍴