Reduce food waste

More than half of the food produced in Canada goes to waste. Here are six ways to ensure your groceries end up in your stomach, not in the garbage, according to the Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter (a.k.a. the community engagement specialist at the David Suzuki Foundation)

In your fridge, separate fruits and veggies that emit ethylene, a gas that stimulates ripening, from those that don’t. In one crisper drawer, keep ethylene-emitting apples, figs, apricots, cantaloupes and honeydew melons. Fruits and veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, peppers and watermelon go in the other crisper.

Rather than throwing away overly ripe items, shred, chop and freeze them. The same goes for leftover cooked rice and pasta—they freeze well and are handy for making soups.

Grab a bin and slap a sticker on it that reads “Eat me first.” Place it so it’s the first thing you see when you open the fridge, and put shrivelled peppers, softening broccoli and expired cheese in it. If you don’t know what to do with those items, Google them together for recipes and you’ll discover new dishes.

Best-before dates are more of a suggestion than a rule. Yogurt, for instance, is generally good for 10 days past its date, which has more to do with texture, presentation, nutritional value and flavour.

Choose the milk cartons from the front row on the dairy shelf, not the back. (If we all pick from the front row, stores will throw away fewer items as a result.) The same goes for the single banana—pick it, and other brown or overripe fruit, and make banana bread or pineapple turnovers, or cut it up and freeze for smoothies. (Often, these fruits and veggies are cheaper!) Don’t wash produce until you’re going to use it. Wrappings and moisture encourage decomposition.

— Susan Nerberg