Zero Waste in the Kitchen: 6 Ingenious Solutions

by Abbas Jahangir · July 6, 2021

Zero waste can be applied in all areas of our lives with little effort. It may not be possible to completely zero waste; But we must not forget that the less we reduce, the better. Individual efforts can explode like an avalanche, creating a far greater impact than anticipated.

Kitchens are the areas where most of the waste, in other words, waste comes out. If you are interested in the zero waste project but do not know where to start, we recommend that you focus on the operation in your kitchen. So what can be done for zero waste in the kitchen? Here are some tips that will be good for your budget, your soul, and the world…

What is Zero Waste?

Zero waste is a term used to describe a type of waste management philosophy.
In this philosophy, the factors that cause waste are reviewed. It is aimed to evaluate waste materials through recycling and to prevent waste.
Businesses, non-governmental organizations, and public institutions such as individuals can adopt the zero waste project and philosophy.

Zero Waste Kitchen Project in 6 Simple Steps

You can reduce waste in the kitchen with some effective methods that you can make a lifestyle. These small steps save both your family budget and nature.

1) Don’t Buy More Than You Need!

One of the most important goals of the zero waste philosophy is to prevent waste.
In order to do this, we recommend that you prepare a weekly menu and do your kitchen shopping without leaving this list.
This way, you don’t buy anything you don’t need, so you don’t waste it.
Another suggestion is to go shopping on a full stomach. Because when you go on an empty stomach, your brain can play games telling you to buy almost everything you see.
Remember; The first way to reduce waste is to limit consumption. Less consumption means less waste.

2) Limit Single-Use Items

Zero waste philosophy is built on waste management. So one of their goals is to generate as little waste as possible.
Based on this purpose; Take care not to use products such as toothpicks, straws, plastic plates, spoons, and forks.
You can use bamboo or metal items instead.
Instead of disposable pet bottles, you can choose glass bottles or flasks.
Instead of towel paper, you can use a tea towel, kitchen cloth, etc. that you can use continuously. You can buy products.
Also, avoid buying packaged food to avoid packaging waste, and go shopping with mesh or cloth bags to limit the use of bags.

3) Extract Different Flavors from Stale Bread

Did you know that 5 million bread is thrown away every day in our country?
First of all, we recommend that you be careful not to buy more bread than you will consume. If you have stale or dry bread at home, you can turn them into different flavors by using them instead of throwing them away.
For example, cut stale bread into cubes. Then put it in the oven and dry it. You can add the crusty bread you have prepared to steam soups. If you wish, you can make a paper meal by pouring a sauce with minced meat and tomatoes on this crusty bread.
As another option, after breaking the stale bread with your hands, add milk and eggs.
The bread will already become dough in this way. Add some salt, pepper, and thyme to this dough. Then apply tomato sauce to it. Finally, add cheese, pepper, and olives to the tomato sauce. Yes, you got it right; We’re making pizza! After putting all these ingredients, put the bread you prepared in the oven.
It’s not over, we have one last suggestion! Now we are preparing bread crackers. After breaking the stale bread with your hands, add yogurt, olive oil, tahini, salt, and your favorite seeds on it. You should get a dense dough from this mixture. Roll out this dough you prepared with the help of a rolling pin.
Bake in a preheated 150-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. That is all!

4) Treat Greens Before They Wither

Greens have a short lifespan. For this reason, it should be consumed within a few days after ingestion.
If you will not be able to consume the greens you bought immediately, we recommend that you apply the method we will share now.
First, boil the greens and drain the water. In a separate pan, fry the olive oil, onion, and garlic and add the greens you boiled on it. Cook the greens in this way for a few more minutes. When this dish you have prepared comes to room temperature, bag it and put it in the freezer. You can take it out of the freezer at any time and consume it by breaking eggs on it.
If you have small amounts of different greens left in the refrigerator, you can combine them to make a vegetable hash.
You can dry and store greens such as dill, parsley, celery leaves that you cannot consume immediately.

5) Don’t Throw the Stalks and Roots of Greens in the Trash!

First of all, we must say that; the stems of greens are not garbage. You can obtain healthy vegetable juice bypassing these stems, together with apples, lemons, and cucumbers, through a juicer.
After chopping the celery stalks into small pieces, you can make a healing celery stalk soup.
You can add the stems of the chopped peppers to the homemade pickles. The pepper stalk adds a very nice flavor to the pickles.
You can prepare a delicious and delicious meal from spinach roots.

6) Compost Organic Waste

Compost is the name given to the conversion of organic wastes into fertilizers by various methods.
Especially kitchen waste, that is, food waste, is suitable for composting.
In our country, especially in the countryside, organic wastes are composted. Composting is also one of the best ways to add minerals to the soil.
Although it is thought that compost cannot be made in city life, anyone who wants can implement this application even on a small balcony. Vegetable and fruit wastes can be buried in the ground after decomposing in a suitable compost container on the balcony.

Also:

Instead of throwing away the peels of the citrus you have peeled, you can save them and make cleaning vinegar.
You can add zucchini and eggplant skins to your pickles for flavoring.
You can prepare a kaskarikas dish from the skins of the peeled zucchini. How Does? Cut the zucchini skins in two-finger thicknesses and sauté them in olive oil. Then prepare a sauce consisting of garlic, lemon, and dill and add this sauce to the shells you sauteed. That is all!
Place the peels of the lemons you use in the spoon holder of the dishwasher. In this way, your machine will smell like lemon and your dishes will shine.
If you have leftover cooked vegetables the day before; You can prepare vegetable hash by adding eggs, greens, flour, and spices to these vegetables.
When you make stuffed zucchini, you can make mackerel from the inner zucchini you removed.
You can make highland soup from leftover rice and Ezo Gelin soup from bulgur pilaf the next day.
You can boil the yellowing parsley and mint and drink the water.