With the current situation of the environment today, it’s only ideal for everyone to start contributing in efforts to save it. There have been a lot of campaigns about save the earth, such as using less plastic or recycling plastic bottles. Food recycling is another way to conserve resources. It’s a natural way to turn food waste into usable products. Food waste includes all the edible and non-edible parts of food, including partially digested leftovers, spoiled fruits or vegetables, and animal products such as milk, cheese, or other dairy products.
There are various kinds of recycling programs that can be carried out to turn waste food into valuable and eco-friendly products such as fertilizer, vegetable oil, biodiesel, and paper. Recycling programs are also being undertaken by many governments, private, and non-profit organizations to reduce and manage food waste.
Listed below are some of the benefits of food recycling:
Source: Abode Stock
1. Reduce Waste
There are many types of food waste, including food packaging, frozen food scraps, dairy products, and bakery waste. Food waste is one of the major contributors to carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. One way to reduce the amount of garbage produced is to reduce the amount of waste being produced. For instance, if you go on a grocery shopping trip, consider going for a reusable grocery bag rather than buying a plastic bag, which takes a long time to degrade. You can also use a reusable container instead of using those Styrofoam ones.
2. Your Own Organic Fertilizer
If you want your plants to grow healthy and strong, you know how important fertilizers are. Fertilizers help add nutrition to your plants, allowing them to grow well. Did you know that you can cut costs with your purchase of fertilizers? There’s no need to keep buying them when you can simply create one from your own home without having to spend so much money!
How is that possible? Food waste. When you peel off vegetables and fruits, don’t throw the skin or rind straight into the trash. Get a bin, and compost it. Aside from peels, you could also use over-ripe fruits and vegetables, nuts, and eggshells. Just avoid throwing in any wet products as it will create a mess and produce a foul scent which can make your outdoor area unappealing. You can also add garden waste such as grass clippings and leaves. Place this in a well-drained bin in an open area. Sprinkle some wood ash to speed up the composting process.
3. Save Money
When you make the most out of your food, you’ll be able to save a lot more money than you think. If you have excess food from your cooked meal, don’t throw it away. Make a new meal out of it. For example, if you had fried chicken for dinner and had a ton of excess, instead of throwing them away since your family isn’t a fan of reheating meals, create a different meal from the leftovers. Cook orange chicken or other dishes withfried chicken as an ingredient. You just need to get those creative juices flowing to discover the best tasting dish, yet!
If you’re wasting less, you’ll be spending less. Every waste costs you money. When you’re maximizing what you can do with every food, you’ll be able to waste less, and thus, save a lot more money. If you’re a total food waster, try spending a month preparing just enough meals and avoid food waste as much as possible. You’ll be surprised by the amount of money you get to save.
4. Helps Produce Less Methane
Everyone loves good food. However, not a lot of people understand the harmful effects it brings about when it rots. For you, it’s just food spoiling, but for the Earth, the methane gas being produced can do a lot of damage. Methane is one of the biggest contributors to global warming and it’s more harmful than carbon dioxide. If you want to help save the environment, limiting your food purchase and preparation would be a great help. Only purchase what you need. You won’t just save a few bucks, you’re also helping save the environment for future generations.
When ordering food, make sure that you’re only getting the amount that you usually eat. If you’re still hungry afterwards, then you can just order more. Even if you feel extremely hungry,after eating a single hearty meal, you might already feel full. Don’t get more than what you can eat. It’ll just harm your wallet and the environment.
Reducing greenhouse gases, like methane, is necessary to help preserve the environment and delay climate change. A reduction in food consumption has a greater effect than a mere reduction in food preparation methods. You can also reduce your food intake by using water efficiently. However, there are also various means of recycling food such as by reusing it for the production of biofuels or fertilizing trees and cash crops. Also, if you just have more than enough food, you can give it to the needy. You’ll be generating less food waste and helpingsomeone have a full stomach.
5. Helps to Improve Plants
When you use food and garden waste for composting, you’re not only reducing food waste, you’ll also be helping make your plants and soil a lot healthier. Some agricultural companies prefer to use compost instead of artificial fertilizer since the latter is truly healthier and cheaper.
Compost helps improve the structure of the soil by helping it to retain moisture and nutrients a lot longer. It’s not a substitute but it works a lot like mulch. It also helps your plants develop deeper root systems so they’ll stronger since they’re holding on to something deeper rather than floating around and just waiting to be pulled out. It also provides nutrients to the soil and helps prevent diseases that might cause harm to your plants.
Using food waste as compost also reduces the use of pesticide and synthetic fertilizer, reducing cost and harm to the environment since you’re not supporting companies that produce them.
6. Saves Water
It may not be commonly known, but when you reduce your food waste, you’re helping save more water. When you consume justenough food—meaning, you don’t allow for excess to be spoiled—the tendency is that you’ll be purchasing less food. With less food purchase, companies don’t need to produce more food. Creating new food requires water consumption which can be significantly reduced if everyone works together to limit their food purchase. Along with water consumption, they also use barrels of oils to create your food which can reduced if the demand is lower.
It may seem small, but if everyone puts in the same effort, it’ll have a big impact on the environment. By letting companies produce less food, they’ll be using less water and oil which cause harm to the earth, especially to the ocean.
7. Helps Boost Your Business’ Reputation
If you’re in the food industry, you’re aware that your company values and philosophies affect the reputation of the company. When you’ve established that your business is taking part in helping save the environment by reducing food waste and shifting to more sustainable practices, you’re boosting your business reputation.
In the food industry, a high volume of food waste is unavoidable. As much as businesses may want to encourage their customers to eat everything on their plate and reduce food waste, it’s an impossible task. What business owners can do instead is to handling food waste properly. If you own a restaurant, for example, you can create your compost and give them to agricultural companies that need them. It’s a win-win situation. You get to dispose food waste away without just dumping it, and they get additional compost which will be beneficial for their plants and business.
Given the increasing environmental awareness among consumers today, customers are also more likely to patronize your business if they know you’re trying to do your part in keep the environment safe.
Conclusion
You might be thinking that you’re just a small household and your actions don’t have a significant effect in the world. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere. Your small actions can become bigger when combined with others who are doing the same thing. You should take part in helping save the environment and try to convince others to do the same. Just imagine a world where everyone is recycling and reducing food waste. You’ll be seeing a better world not just for you, but the future generations.
There’s no harm in trying to reduce waste. It’s not just the environment you’re saving, you’re also benefitting yourself. You save a lot more money when you purchase and consume less.Imagine what your household can do with that extra money. If you’re a small business owner in the food industry, reducing food waste also reduces your waste disposal costs. In certain places, the local government may offer tax incentives for businesses that donate unsold, unused, and unexpired food.
