Reducing food waste is one of the simplest ways to save money and care for the environment. By being more mindful about your shopping and eating habits, you can put more into your piggy bank and minimize your plastic consumption.

Cutting back on food waste is also important for a country like America. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an international nonprofit organization committed to protecting the environment, the country wastes up to 40 percent of its annual food supply.

If America goes shopping for groceries, it will leave the store with five bags and drop two on the parking lot, leaving those to be dumped in the trash can.

You can save a lot of bucks by learning how to reduce your food waste. Here are a few tips:

Buy only what you need

What better way to minimize food waste than to buy only what you need? Doing so saves you money and reduces your “plastic footprint.” Take a couple of shorter trips to the store every week instead of one long trip to avoid buying too much.

Make a shopping list

So you’re not mindlessly carting through the grocery aisles and picking anything you feel like at the moment, prepare a shopping list! Listing what you need also prevents you from buying foods that are already at home.

Keep expired food

Don’t let the “best of” date fool you. Oftentimes, foods that are past their prime are still safe to eat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also says that most food expiration dates refer to food quality, not food safety.

You can make something delicious out of expired foods to make them more palatable. A stale loaf of bread, for example, can be repurposed into pudding — so long as there’s no mold on it. Slightly wilted vegetables are still edible and can be added to soups and smoothies.

Abide by the “FIFO” rule

“FIFO” stands for “first in, first out.” It’s a nifty trick that many restaurants and grocery stores use to organize their food stocks and prevent anything from going to waste. Essentially, you place newly bought foods at the back of the cupboard or fridge and consume the ones in the front row first.

Store food properly

Different foods have to be stored in different ways. For example, onions can last a long time even without refrigeration, but sliced tomatoes have to be stored somewhere cold.

In general, the following tips will help preserve your food supply:

• Keep your refrigerator below 41 degrees.
• Store cooked foods on shelves above raw foods.
• Store food in sealed containers.

Make a weekly menu

Making a weekly menu is another excellent way of preventing food waste. Many online cookbooks and guides can help you plan out meals for the week and compile an accurate shopping list.

Keep a log of spoiled foods

Determining the foods that often go bad at home will help minimize waste. If you find yourself throwing out rotten oranges by the week, then that might be a sign that you’re buying too many of these fruits.

Freeze extras

Meat isn’t the only food that can be kept in the freezer. Even bread, herbs and some cooked dishes last longer if they are stored at below-zero temperatures. This is a useful trick if you accidentally buy more than you need.

Eat leftovers

Eating leftovers is rarely enjoyable, but it’s a good way to reduce food waste. The upside is that you don’t have to eat leftovers all seven days of the week. You can just pick a day or two where you’ll stick to whatever is left from your previous meals. Plus, you can try making new dishes out of leftovers.

Compost scraps

Deposit the scraps from the stems, peels and unusable bits of food in a compost heap instead of throwing them away. Coffee grounds and green tea leaves, to name a few, make excellent fertilizers. If you have no space or garden to make a compost heap, check if your area runs a composting program.

Explore preservation methods

If you wish to get serious about food storage, now is the time to start exploring the different methods of food preservation. You can try canning, picking or any of the like to extend the lifespan of fresh produce and reduce food waste in the process.

Eat out less

Eating out less often will save you money and prevent your groceries from going to waste. Prepping your own meals also gives you control over what goes into your food. Pack lunch for work instead of eating out and plan restaurant dates in advance.

NRDC.org^[PDF]

MedicalNewsToday.com

USDA.gov

TheSpruceEats.com