So, I’m a little late posting about this month’s challenge, but better late than never…right?!
Also, I’ve decided to change my weekly challenges to monthly challenges. I don’t think 7 days is always enough to change habits or see enough progress. So, from now on my challenges will last at least a month long!
This month’s challenge is to eliminate as much food waste as possible. I’ve heard and read many reports about how much food is wasted (especially here in the US) and I know that I am guilty of also contributing to this! How many times have you opened your refrigerator and looked for something to eat, and decide nothing looks “good” despite having a mostly (or even fully) stocked refrigerator? Food waste is not only hurting our planet but it is also hurting our pockets. Every time you throw away food you are essentially throwing away the money you used to buy it with!
Did you know that according to this article, Americans waste about one pound of food EACH DAY? Isn’t that insane? That equates to about 150,000 tons of food thrown out each day! So insane.
After going over last month’s spending, Ryan and I noticed that were spending more than we wanted in the grocery portion of our budget. After looking over my meal plan I realized that due to some poor planning as well as management, we ended up throwing away food way too much.
This month my challenge for myself is to be smart in my meal planning. If I hate a dish, then I shouldn’t make it because I won’t want to eat it if there are any leftovers (yes, totally guilty of this). I am also planning on using recipes that have similar ingredients as well as taking an inventory before I go grocery shopping for the week to make sure we use up all the food we already have before going to buy more.
Anyhoo, I am excited to see how being more cognizant of what food we already have to use and actually eating it will not only help us save some money but also I know I will feel better making even this small dent in such a large problem.
Do you have any tips about smart ways to minimize food waste? What are things that have worked for you?
xoxo
Nicole
