An earlier piece in the Climate Change Collective series highlighted the environmental impact of food waste. This is an area where we can all do better, so today’s post provides food storage tips to help you cut food waste in your home. Plus, I’ve got a free download you can print and put on your fridge.
The food waste problem
In Why Food Waste is a Big Deal and How to Prevent it, Alison from A Sustainably Simple Life shared some startling statistics on the size of the food waste problem. One-third of food produced worldwide is wasted, and we waste 15% to 25% of the food we bring into our homes.
To put that in perspective, food waste generates 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s five times as much as the aviation industry. And while there are systemic issues that contribute to that, half of that waste comes from our homes.
This is clearly an area where individual actions can add up to a lot. 12 practical ways to cut food waste offered some suggestions to reduce your impact. Today, we’ll dive deeper into food storage tips that can reduce waste and make your grocery budget go further.
Food storage tips to reduce waste
A few weeks ago, I found an excellent website that is a comprehensive resource to help each of us reduce the amount of food waste we generate from our homes. As I explored the site, I discovered so many food storage tips. And I learned I’ve been doing a lot of things wrong.
I found the food storage tips that follow on lovefoodhatewaste.ca. I encourage you to check out the site for more information on storage for specific foods you might have in your kitchen.
Let’s look at what I learned…
Check your fridge temperature
To prevent food waste, ensure your fridge temperature is 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) or lower. Most newer fridges display the temperature, but you can also use an inexpensive thermometer to ensure your fridge is at the right temperature.
Adjust your crisper drawer humidity level
Newer fridges have sliders on the crisper drawers that let you adjust the humidity level. Until now, I never really understood the difference and just stuffed things wherever they’d fit. Here’s where things should go:
- High humidity is when the slider is closed, letting less air into the drawer. Use this setting for vegetables—especially those that will wilt. This is the spot to store your leafy greens, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, etc.
- Low humidity is when the slider is open, letting more air into the drawer. This is the place to store fruits, and vegetables like mushrooms that will break down and rot.
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Know which foods shouldn’t be stored together
Ethylene is a gas emitted by some fruits and vegetables. Although it’s not harmful to humans, it speeds up ripening of nearby produce. Maximize the shelf life of your produce by knowing which fruits and vegetables should not be stored together. In addition to the information on the Love Food Hate Waste site, Martha Stewart offers some excellent tips in this area.
- Ethylene-producing foods: Apples, bananas (ripe), kiwi, tomatoes, avocado, melons, figs, grapes, pears, peaches, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes
- Ethylene-sensitive fruits and vegetables: bananas (unripe), cauliflower, cucumber, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, leafy greens, onions, squash, asparagus, herbs, zucchini
- Foods that are not ethylene sensitive: citrus fruits, berries, green beans, cherries, pineapple
The general rule is to store ethylene-producing foods at least 15 to 20 centimetres (6 to 8 inches) away from ethylene-sensitive foods. And you can safely store foods that are not ethylene sensitive beside any foods in the other two categories.
But if you need unripe bananas to ripen quickly, speed up the ripening process by putting them with ethylene-producing foods.
I find it hard to keep this all straight, so I created a simple download you can print and keep on your fridge! Click the image below to download the file.
Maximize use of your freezer
Freezing is one of the best ways to preserve foods and avoid food waste. With a few exceptions, most foods can be safely frozen and reused later. Here are some tips on how long you can safely store foods in your freezer.
Produce
- Fruits: 8-12 months
- Vegetables: 8-12 months
Meat
- Bacon: 1 month
- Deli meats: 1-2 months
- Sausage: 1-2 months
- Ground beef: 4 months
- Pork chops: 6 months
- Chicken, turkey, lamb: 9 months
- Beef steaks and roasts: 12 months
Dairy
- Butter and margarine: 6-9 months
- Hard cheese: 2 months
- Milk: 3 months
Learn more about specific foods
The Love Food Hate Waste site has a terrific A to Z guide to help you learn food storage tips about your favourite foods. It turns out I’ve been doing a lot of things wrong. Here are just a few things I learned from the guide:
- Garlic: store in the pantry or another cool, dry place
- Green onions: stand upright in a jar in the refrigerator with a small amount of water covering the roots
- Other onions: store in the pantry or cupboard, away from potatoes
- Sweet potatoes: store in the pantry
- Tomatoes: store at room temperature until ripe, and then put them in the fridge
- Milk (dairy and non-dairy): store in the coldest part of the fridge—on the middle shelf near the back
Drop by the Love Food Hate Waste site for more handy tips. All these things together will make a big difference to your grocery budget…and the Earth will thank you too.
About the Climate Change Collective
The Climate Change Collective started when I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep environmental issues top of mind for everyone, so I posted on social media to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!
For over three years, the members our group took turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the lead post was published, the rest of the group kept the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.
More Climate Change Collective posts
Check out Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.
Latest posts in the series
- Meet the Climate Change Collective members and learn about the topics we covered in year three in Celebrating 3 Years of Climate Change Awareness and Environmental Education.
- Food storage tips that will reduce waste and save you money
- Racing Towards Green: How Formula 1 is Embracing Sustainability
Before you go, remember to grab your free download summarizing many of these tips. I’ve printed a copy and put it inside the cupboard door next to my fridge.
Did any of these food storage tips surprise you? Tell me your thoughts below—and feel free to share any tips of your own.
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Fascinating and helpful information.
Thank you!
I had no idea that you could not store certain fruits together. I can see that fridge temperature is impactful, s-waking from experience.
I know. I found that fascinating. As I put my shopping away this week, I was more mindful of what I put where.
Loads of practical advice, Michelle! Thank you! We’re trying to get rid of our plastic food storage containers and replace with glass but I don’t know what’s going on…they’ve become harder to find in an array of sizes. Cheers to your conversation with LA (below) about avoiding restaurant leftovers, too! 😊😊😊
I have a lot of glass containers and reuse glass jars for storage, too. I’m still using up plastic containers, though. Yes, restaurant leftovers are a big problem.
😉😉😉
Ohh, this is great! If A few years ago, I wrote a post on 21 ways to keep food fresh longer with the same intention. We’re now pretty close to no waste. 😊There’s lots of overlap with your list, but maybe a few surprises too.
https://existentialergonomics.wordpress.com/2022/08/08/21-ways-to-keep-your-food-fresher-for-longer/
Thanks for sharing those tips, Erin. I did see many of the same things on the website I used for reference for my post. I just came home from the supermarket and had a chance to put my tips into action! 😉
Awesome! It feels great, doesn’t it? For the environment, but also the budget. 😉
We went to see my mother in law over the weekend. She won’t eat leftovers, so we split 2 mains amongst the three of us so there would be no waste. I am super careful to use almost everything, and to compost scraps.
That’s a great idea when eating out!
This is such an overlooked cause of environmental issues
It really is. It’s shocking when you think about it. I’m pretty good at home, but there’s always room for improvement. I feel bad when I travel though, and can’t take restaurant leftovers home with me. Portion sizes are just too big!