In addition to gathering data like scientists, are members of your household also hovering about the kitchen like detectives?
Do a quick internet search (“composting as gateway drug”) and you’ll find a number of articles suggesting that home-based composting resets the mind to think about waste in new ways. Many people who compost start to think not only about the waste they are repurposing, but also the broader problem of waste itself. These folks become hooked on reducing their waste overall -- is that you?
Recycling food waste through composting is actually the last stop in waste reduction process. What other measures upstream could reduce the need to compost in first place? Is waste prevention a line of thinking also developing in your household?
If your household is getting hooked on composting, it’s likely you’ve got some detectives milling about in the kitchen. Your in-house detectives you might be noticing not only the volume of food waste in your green pail, but also the types of food waste in it.
- What percentage would you say is truly end-of-the-road--thank-you-so-much-and-good-bye food waste (banana peels, eggshells, and so on)?
- What percentage could have met a different fate had it not been abandoned on a plate, or lost and spoiled in the fridge? What tactics might your household employ to reduce this kind of preventable, upstream waste?
- Do those re-sets also include what’s going into your shopping cart? Or your cooking plans? Or the dinner table?
This week we invite you to do a bit of in-house detective work to see if there is one thing you can do differently to prevent some of your food from ending up in that green pail at all. At my house, that means home-made spaghetti sauce is often in the rotation, to use up those languishing veggies. What’s your go-to? For more ideas on reducing food waste, you can find tips from the EPA on our Food Waste webpage HERE.
Happy Sleuthing!
