Our kitchens can produce tons of waste. Food scraps, packing, plastic bags, used napkins, and paper towels. Unfortunately, all this waste just ends up in a landfill somewhere, after being hauled away, of course.
If you have any kind of desire to be more self-reliant, off-the-grid, and self-sustainable, waste removal is going to be an issue. So reducing waste in the kitchen is a great way to get started addressing this issue, and get you thinking about long-term waste solutions for your home or homestead.
Here are some ideas for quick and simple ways you can reduce waste in your kitchen.
1. Compost
So much of what we throw away in the kitchen is food scraps of all kinds. Spoiled food, vegetable trimmings, egg shells, etc. Building a small compost pile or worm bin is a great way to harness all of these scraps for your garden.
2. Get pigs or goats
Pigs and goats will help you reduce kitchen waste as well, as they’ll eat virtually any food scraps, pigs especially! Pig slop is perfect for all those awkward portions of leftovers you don’t know what to do with or rotten food you hate throwing away. If you raise pigs or goats for meat, this is like recycling your food!
3. Opt for cloth
Getting or making reusable cloth towels, napkins, shopping bags, and produce bags is a great way to reduce waste. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get by with dish rags rather than paper towels, cloth napkins rather than paper, reusable shopping bags rather than plastic, and cloth produce bags rather than plastic as well.
4. Buy in bulk
Not only does it save money to buy in bulk, it requires less packaging as well! Dry goods and meat can be purchased in large amounts, and you can divvy out into glass containers or reusable vacuum-seal bags for storage.
5. Cook from scratch
The less processed, packaged foods you use, the less waste you will produce. Not to mention you’ll probably lose weight and be much healthier as a result! Cook using whole ingredients like fresh produce, whole grains and meat from the butcher.
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