Category Archives: The Weekly Waste Word

Tips on how to not waste food.

Skeletons in the Closet

My wife and I are moving in a few weeks. This weekend, that meant tackling our pantry. We’ve lived in our current house for four years, and some lurking “cabinet castaways” have been there almost as long. To be fair, our tenure predates my obsession with food waste. And overall, we’ve done pretty well. Yet […]

June 2, 2008 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

Loco for Leftovers

People often e-mail to ask how they can reduce their household food waste. One of the easiest ways is to save leftovers. Now, this only cuts waste if you actually eat those leftovers. I love leftovers, especially as the next day’s lunch, but many folks don’t. For you non-leftover lovers, ensuring that they’re consumed means […]

May 7, 2008 | Also posted in General, Institutional | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: New Year’s Parties

It’s New Year’s Eve, you’re planning a party and avoiding food waste is the least of your worries. But you care about the environment and want to minimize the amount of food thrown away. Turns out it doesn’t take all that much effort to do so. This post supplies many practical pointers, both waste-oriented and not. […]

December 31, 2007 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Making Stock

I try to eat as much of the food I buy as possible. I plan out meals before I shop, save leftovers and compost whatever’s left. But until recently, I hadn’t made stock from leftover veggies or bones. To put my money where my mouth is, I set out to make chicken stock.   In my mind, making stock seemed like […]

December 17, 2007 | Also posted in Household, Personal | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Web help?

Ever find yourself with a decent amount of ingredients left after cooking but unsure what to do with them? Reader Andrew C. wrote in with just that problem and asked: I was wondering if you knew if there were any recipe websites out there that can give you a list of recipes based on the […]

December 10, 2007 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Prioritizing

At the beginning of most weeks, I give tips on how to avoid wasting food. Today let’s talk about prioritizing what to cook. I’ve often nagged that it’s best to plan out the week’s meals or at least a few in a row before grocery shopping to avoid excessive purchasing. What happens if you don’t have […]

December 3, 2007 | Posted in The Weekly Waste Word | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Use by the Apocalypse

At the beginning of most weeks, I give tips on how to avoid wasting food. Today we’ll talk about when “best before” or “use by” dates can be ignored.  My legal team advises me here that I should stipulate that I’m not a trained food scientist. True, but there are times when use-by dates are just silly. This […]

November 19, 2007 | Also posted in College, Household | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Leftover Love

Britain is going food waste wild. From England to Scotland to Northern Ireland to Scotland again and again, food waste is in the news. This is mostly due to the recently released statistic that Britons waste one third of the food they buy. This factoid comes from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) that I’m told is a […]

November 5, 2007 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Doubling Up

At the beginning of each week, I give tips on how to avoid wasting food. Today we’ll talk about one trick I’ve picked up along the way–planning two meals that use the same ingredient.  This site has a nice description of the “doubling up” shopping strategy:  When you’re buying your vegetables, plan your meals around them to avoid […]

October 29, 2007 | Posted in The Weekly Waste Word | Comments closed

The Weekly Waste Word: Amounts

Almost every Monday I give little tips on how to avoid food waste in The Weekly Waste Word. Today, let’s talk about amounts. Just as shopping can lead you to wasted food, it can also prevent it. Purchasing the right amount of a fresh ingredient for a recipe ensures efficiency, keeps food out of the waste stream […]

October 22, 2007 | Also posted in Supermarket | Comments closed