5 Overlooked Ways To Go Green This Spring

Here is how to find fun ways to be sustainable. Before you check out the ways to be green it's important to know why go green.

We overspend.

Often impulsively spending money for things to be perfect. Making sure you get everything on “The List”. Food prices are inflating considering essentials like milk, meat and in my household the champion; Cheese.

My heart breaks when I have to throw away Meat, or to even think about wasting cheese.

We're very careful about getting deals and discounts at grocery stores and at big-box retailers like Costco, but those values don't mean anything when half of that food goes in the trash.

Jonathan Bloom of Wasted Food says

So we're not utilizing key ingredients or maximizing the potential of our budget. When I buy fresh produce, I have to be accurate in my recipes, otherwise, I end up with spoiled produce.

I'd rather buy Frozen vegetables or you could Vacuum Seal and freeze them with a FoodSaver.

Meal Planning is a simple way to utilize ingredients, and often with fresh recipes that can be stored for budget-friendly meals. This is smart, and realistic when you factor in serving size. Which brings us to:

You've made too much.

I mean, leftovers can be used in meal prep. But how often are you discarding your leftovers? According to the EPA Americans throw away food 55% of the time when it doesn't smell, look, or taste right.

My Doctor consistently tells me “American culture consumes such big meals, eat smaller portions, ensuring you get the nutrients you need.”

Restaurant culture can focus on big meals and enticing us to spend the money, but at home, we can use small plates and often smaller spending habits.

You can really gauge a lot from someones fridge.

We had a friend visit from Germany, and he said “it's nice to see an American's fridge that isn't full, because in Germany we have lots of markets and typically shop for meals per day”

Which reminds us that the saying

“Out of sight out of mind”

When you can't find something in the back of the fridge because its so full, or you're unsure of how many cans of black beans and diced tomatoes you have, so they accumulate at a rate where you'd think one ate beans and tomato salad every day.

We can do better at keeping things visible.
So we can keep better track of our inventory.

I have a pretty small kitchen, and it's limited on storage space, so instead of putting any food in the cupboards, I dedicated it to pans, and dishes. And left most of my pantry items on two 3-tier chrome shelves I purchased on Amazon.

I keep track of my Pantry items, and always count them before I make a list. I did years of retail, so I call this prep work “Inventory”. But have you thought about keeping track of what you throw away?

Manage a Waste Log

Try to associate how much you paid for the things you threw away too.
We tend to pay more attention when something cost a certain amount.

Maybe the bread went moldy really fast, this not only helps you keep track of things that maybe weren't a good product, but also didn't get used. Keep a close eye to sell dates and expiration dates.

Donate the unused, or disliked Products

Before you throw away excess food, or maybe things that our picky eaters didn't like, consider donating to Charities and Food Banks. The easiest way to find food banks is through Feeding America, or Why Hunger, and United Way. Read more about donations and methods of increasing charity in your local neighborhood here.

Maybe you've heard these tips before, but never fully committed to the task.
Follow us on our Facebook Page, Do you have any tips to go green this season?