Can we talk about how I was throwing away food for years without thinking?

I had this moment last Tuesday when I was cleaning out my fridge and found a half bag of spinach I bought 5 days earlier. It was slimy, so I tossed it. Then I looked in the trash and saw I had thrown away a quarter of the chicken I cooked Sunday, a few sad carrots, and some yogurt that expired yesterday. It hit me that I have been doing this my whole adult life without really seeing it. What got me thinking was a post from a local compost group in Seattle that showed how much food waste goes to landfills. Now I am counting the money I have just dropped in the trash every week. Anyone else have a moment where the waste finally clicked for them?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverm482d ago

Oh, I had that exact same wake-up call about two years ago. What finally worked for me was starting a "use it up" shelf in my fridge where I put everything that's about to go bad, and now I plan my meals around whatever's on that shelf before I cook anything new.

caleb1402d ago

Shook me when I read that. You actually have a dedicated shelf for stuff that's about to turn? I've been doing this half-hearted thing where I shove the old leftovers behind the new stuff and pretend they don't exist until the smell gives them away. That shelf idea is genius though. It forces you to face reality instead of playing hide and seek with your own food. I'm going to clear out my second shelf tonight and label it with a sharpie before I forget.