10 Creative Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste

The average American spends hundreds of dollars a month on groceries, but studies reveal about 40% of the food in our kitchens gets thrown out rather than consumed. If you want to reduce your personal food waste, here are a few creative ways to use scraps you may otherwise toss in the trash.

1. Save vegetable scraps for homemade broth

Simple, easy and frugal, saving vegetable scraps to make broth is probably one of the best ways to reduce food waste in your home kitchen. You can save everything from carrot tops and herb stems to garlic and onion skins to make a rich, nutrient-dense vegetable broth. You can basically toss anything left on the cutting board into a large pot of water to simmer for a few hours. The end result is a hearty and delicious base for soups, stews and casseroles. Just stash your scraps in the freezer until you’ve accumulated a decent amount to make broth.

See more: How to Make Chicken Broth From Scratch

2. Use coffee grounds to clean pots and pans

Before you empty the used coffee grounds into the trash, consider using them as a natural cleaner for your pots and pans. The course texture makes them the perfect candidate for scrubbing trouble spots, like last week’s seemingly stuck-to-the-dish-until-the-end-of-time casserole. Sprinkle a few grounds onto the surface of your pots and pans, scrub with a sponge and rinse thoroughly. You can even compost the coffee grounds when you’re done.

3. Chop and freeze leftover herbs

Herbs are a flavorful addition to almost any meal, but the cost adds up. The last thing you want is to relegate the wilted basil leaves or parsley stems to the trash. If you aren’t in a position to use up the herbs before they go bad, chop them up and store them in the freezer. You can easily pull out a few handfuls here and there to add an extra pop of color and flavor to future meals.

See more: 12 Vegetables You Can Regrow From Scraps

4. Infuse vinegar with citrus scraps for homemade cleaner

Oranges, lemons, limes and other citrus fruits make wonderful homemade cleaners. And you don’t even have to do anything special to them. Drop a few citrus peels into a jar of vinegar, shake it up and let it infuse for a week or two. Strain the liquid, compost the peels and you have your own workhorse cleaner that can tackle everything from pots and pans to the kitchen floor.

5. Drop citrus peels down the garbage disposal

If you don’t need any additional all-purpose cleaner but still find yourself swimming in orange peels (or grapefruit, lime or lemon peels), you could make a quick and easy go of things by dropping them down the garbage disposal. Run the disposal for several seconds with some warm water, and voila – your garbage disposal has probably never smelled so fresh.

6. Make breadcrumbs from leftover bread

No one ever knows what to do with the heel of the bread, are we right? It’s not ideal for toast or sandwiches. But it’s still delicious, even if the texture is a little different than the rest of the loaf. Rather than toss it, you can finely chop or use a food processor to turn it into breadcrumbs. Next time you get a hankering for chicken tenders, you’ll have your very own homemade breadcrumbs on hand.

See more: 10 Ways to Reduce Waste in the Kitchen

7. Use parmesan rinds in soups

Parmesan rinds are the ticket to restaurant-quality soup. You don’t even have to think too hard about how to use them. Simply remove the rind and drop it into your next pot of soup (think tomato basil, zuppa Toscana or white chicken chili) and let it simmer away on the stove for a few hours. Your house will smell heavenly, and you’ll wonder why you haven’t been using parmesan rinds in soups all along.

8. Save dried, crushed eggshells for plant fertilizer

Next time you crack open an egg, rinse the shell and place it in a bowl on the counter to dry for a few hours. Once the shell is dry, crush it up and store it in a plastic bag or glass jar. When the time comes to plant seedlings, drop several pinches of the eggshells in the hole before adding your plant. Eggshells can offer extra potassium, phosphorus and other essential nutrients to plants as they grow. You could also sprinkle the shells around established plants to deter slugs.

See more: 5 Foods You Can Use as Plant Fertilizer

9. Make potato skin crisps

Can your family put away a big plate of french fries? How about potato chips? If you answered yes to either question, you’re going to love this clever way to make the most of potato peels. Instead of discarding your peels next time you make mashed potatoes, toss them together with a little oil (or butter, lard or tallow) and the seasonings of your choice, then roast them in the oven for a nice, crispy snack.

See more: How to Get Started With Composting

10. Shred wilting carrots and zucchini

We all forget about the produce in the back of the crisper from time to time. If you find yourself with a few sad looking carrots or zucchinis, give them a quick shred and freeze them for future meals. You can use frozen shredded carrots in muffins, soups and casseroles, and shredded zucchini is a great addition to stews or quick-rise breads.