Did you know that if food waste was a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world?
It's shocking, we know. But it doesn't have to be debilitating.
In fact, it's empowering to know that we can be changemakers right at home. With up to 30% of all food getting tossed out every year, there is definitely room for each of us to make a difference.
Since our shoes are made from food waste (what do you think coffee is?), we thought we would share some tips on other ways you can cut down on your food footprint besides buying some fresh sneakers.
So let's get started with some quick and easy tips to help keep the goodies you grab from the grocery store out of the garbage bin.
Ever wonder why your apples go bad in the fruit bowl so fast? Could it be that they are sitting next to a banana?
Most produce is actually pretty picky about where it wants to be stored.
Keep apples, potatoes, leafy greens, and peppers away from ethylene producing avocados, tomatoes, peaches, and bananas.
Some hate the cold, so keep your cucumbers or tomatoes out of the fridge.
Learn where your fruits and veggies are happiest and you'll toss a lot less out.
Eating something a day or two after the "Best before" date will not kill you or make you sick. Promise.
In many countries, the language of the expiration dates is not regulated. This is why you may see "Sell by" or "Best before" or "Use by" printed on your munchies.
Items past the Best-by or sell-by date will likely be perfectly safe to eat a day or ever sometimes weeks after depending on the product.
"Use by" by far the most straightforward as it is literally telling you that it will expire around the given date.
However, common sense is key. Is it past the date on the label? Does it smell good? Well, Bon appetit!
Not just for fro-yo anymore. Almost anything can be frozen. Corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, onions, peppers, celery, and herbs can all be frozen.
All you need to do is quickly drop them in boiling water, then shock them in cold water or an ice bath and let them dry before bagging them up and putting them in the freezer.
This process kills any bacteria or enzymes that may spoil them and preserves minerals and coloring. Easy freezy.
Fruit too, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, peaches, cherries, blackberries, raspberries—all super freezable and no boiling or blanching required. Smoothie time, anytime.
Another quick freezer-friendly tip is to freeze your sliced bread and drop a slice in the toaster whenever you're craving a sandwich to keep the little green monsters from taking your whole-grain away.
Speaking of smoothies, your blender is a food-saving machine. Got a couple of too-ripe bananas? Toss them in with some berries, and boom—that's breakfast.
Grind up your ripening veggies for an awesome blended soup or a trendy, IG-ready green smoothie.
You can also blitz some less-than-fresh herbs and scoop them in an ice tray with some olive oil and freeze them for a quick hit of flavor to your next pasta dish (we told you that freezer is the best).
Best yet, the blender doesn't care what part of the veggie you throw in. Skins, cores, stalks, whatever. It doesn't have to go in the bin when you can blend it.
Did you really think the coffee sneaker people weren't gonna talk about coffee grounds?
If coffee grounds aren't properly disposed of they create nasty, emission-exploding methane gas (32x more potent than CO2!).
That's one of the many reasons why we make our coffee sneakers from the coffee waste of 21 cups of coffee.
But you already know that they make great sneakers but did you know you can also use them around your house? Hell yeah!
Spread them in your yard to help repel mosquitoes or put some in an open container in your fridge to keep odors away. They make an awesome fertilizer for acid-loving plants. Use their natural grit to scour and clean your pots and pans. You can even exfoliate your skin with them!
Coffee really is the gift that keeps on giving and not just the primary reason to get out of bed in the morning.
By making small changes around the house you can help cut down one of the top ten contributors to climate change and get more out of your grocery visits.
The benefits don't stop there, by cutting down food waste, you not only prevent hazardous methane emissions but help cut down on pollution from the unnecessary transportation of the produce, to begin with.
You won't just be saving the planet either. By trimming the amount of food you pitch every week you are literally saving your hard-earned cash from hitting the trash can, leaving you with more money to go buy other things like sustainable sneakers, maybe?
