avoiding waste

Fruit languishing in the bowl? A bunch of fresh thyme in the fridge wasting away? These are problems I face in my kitchen from time to time. I got a lot of ideas from this article about 50 ways to reduce kitchen waste. I really liked some of the suggestions, like freezing herbs in ice cube trays with a tiny bit of water for quick use when cooking later. I didn't know eggs could be frozen as well.


The item we seem to waste most often is old bread. Some weeks we eat loads of toast, other times it seems like last week's bread is sticking around to say hello to the new loaf. From now on I'll blitz the older bits into bread crumbs (to keep in the fridge) or freeze torn-up slices to be whizzed up when I need them.

The biggest way to reduce waste, I think, wasn't tackled in this article: Plan in advance and only buy what you really need and will use. When I'm planning the meals for the week the first step is to make a list of what I have on hand. I look through the fridge, freezer, and pantry, listing everything (well, almost everything). Then I sit down with some cookbooks and try to choose meals that will use up the ingredients I already have. When shopping, I try to buy the amount of meat or dairy that I know we will actually use. At dinner time, we make enough for exactly two meals, and the second meal we either freeze for a lazy night or pack into lunch boxes for each of us for the next day.

Ant and I are hoping to move soon, and one thing I want to start is composting a bit with a little wormery. That will be another way to cut waste and to feed my tubs of growing vegetables on the back patio.