Beeswax wraps are a sustainable and reusable alternative to plastic bags and food wrap. Photo / Getty Images
Beeswax wraps are a sustainable and reusable alternative to plastic bags and food wrap. Photo / Getty Images
THREE KEY FACTS:
The average Kiwi household wastes 12.2% of the food it buys each week.
New Zealand wasted an estimated $3.2 billion of food last year.
Plastic containers aren’t the only method for storing food.
Kate Hall is one of New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle contributors. Based in Auckland she covers sustainable and conscious living and ethical consumerism.
OPINION
Want to reduce food wastage and cut costs? Kate Hall shares simple, sustainable pantry storage hacks to help to save money and food too.
Every Kiwi household throws away $1510 worth of good food each year, according to the Food Waste Survey of 2023 carried out by Rabobank and Kiwi Harvest. That’s an estimated $3.2 billion of wasted food nationwide (100,000 tonnes) that could have been saved with the help of clever consumption and storage tips.
These statistics don’t include your orange and banana peels; food waste in this context refers to food that could have been eaten. Some of the most commonly wasted foods in Aotearoa New Zealand are bread, leftovers, bananas, potatoes, and poultry. Insufficient planning, food going off before eating it, and children refusing to eat their meals are the main wastage culprits. Even though we know best before dates only advise us on when the product will be most fresh, not when it needs to be eaten by, food existing beyond its best before date is a reason for food wastage too.
One of the first and most simple things we can do before we sort out strategies for the fussy eaters in the family, is to learn how to store food to make it last longer.
There are lots of different ways to keep food
Instead of relying solely on plastic containers, consider these sustainable alternatives:
Glass jars: Ideal for dry goods like grains, nuts, and pasta. Glass jars are great for leftovers in the fridge as they’re airtight and easy to transport to work. They’re reusable, recyclable, and don’t involve any risk of chemicals leaching into your food.
Beeswax wraps: Perfect for wrapping fruits, vegetables, and leftovers. They’re a reusable and eco-friendly alternative to plastic cling wrap.
Silicone bags: Great for storing fresh produce and snacks. They’re durable, flexible, and can be used in the fridge and freezer.
Fabric produce bags: Use these for storing fresh produce in the fridge. They help keep fruits and vegetables fresh without plastic. I use my fabric produce bags to freeze my homemade bread too.
Food storage containers with airtight lids: Opt for containers made from stainless steel or wood. They help preserve food freshness and store most things easily.
Plastic is commonly used for storing food now
It’s about time we shook up the traditional plastic food storage options. Tupperware, cling wrap, and sealable plastic bags can pose environmental and health risks. Firstly, the production of plastic is a resource-intensive process that depletes our finite fossil fuels and emits greenhouse gases. Once in use, plastics often contain harmful chemicals to humans that can leach into food, especially when heated or used repeatedly. Although some plastics can be recycled, many plastics end up breaking down into microplastics and contaminating natural habitats, littering our oceans and causing ecological harm.
For centuries, humans have stored food without plastic items and treasured each morsel. It’s only been in the past 60 years that we’ve started to rely on plastic to keep our lettuce fresh. With so many safer sustainable food storage alternatives, it’s best for us to phase out of storing our food in plastic.
Can we reduce food waste and the plastic we’ve come to rely on to store it?
We’ve done it before, and in the name of saving money and reducing food waste, we can do it again.
Food waste is my arch nemesis. When the occasional slimy lettuce has to end up in my compost bin, I mourn it. After years of actively avoiding food waste, here are my favourite safe and sustainable ways to save food and money.
We only started to rely on wrapping or storing our food in plastic about 60 years ago. Photo / Getty Images
Fruits produce ethylene gas as they ripen, which you might smell faintly or not at all. This gas accelerates ripening, so if you group fruits that emit a lot of ethylene together, they’ll ripen faster than you can use them. To manage this, pair high ethylene emitters like bananas, melons, pears, and avocados with slower ripening produce such as broccoli, zucchini, and potatoes.
Bananas should be isolated from all other produce due to their high ethylene production. They can sit on the bench or hang in the pantry.
Avoid storing potatoes with onions since both release moisture and can cause spoilage. Instead, house apples and potatoes in a cool, dark place (like an aerated drawer or basket in the pantry) to prevent rotting and sprouting.
Wrap delicate items like berries and lettuce in dry tea towels to absorb moisture. These types of produce do well in a fridge crisper, depending on the setting.
Remove any rotting produce immediately to prevent it from affecting others.
If your broccoli or carrots go limp, revive them by soaking the stems in water for a few hours. Storing celery, carrots, and asparagus in water from the start also helps keep them fresh.
Utilise your fridge settings to get the best out of your vegetables. If your fridge is an older model, this may involve some trial and error. If it’s new, it’s likely you’re not yet making the most of the different functions - read up on it! In general, the upper shelves of your fridge should store food that is ready to eat soon. The middle is best for dairy products and meat as it’s the coolest place, and your crisper is a space for your produce with settings to dictate the humidity level (lettuces and broccoli do best in higher humidity).
The way you store your fresh produce will help to preserve it. Photo / 123rf
Finally, the main way to avoid food waste involves you: regularly monitor your produce.
Place fresh items at the front of your fridge to avoid forgetting them.
If needed, set phone reminders so you remember to take stock of your produce and plan meals to eat it at the right time.
A bowl in your fridge labelled “EAT ME FIRST” is a simple food and money saving technique too - especially for larger families and busy households.
Savour your leftovers without cling wrap
When my mum uses cling wrap in front of me, my teenage self comes back to life. She rolls her eyes and says “cling wrap is so 2018 Mum”. But thankfully that doesn’t happen often because my parent’s cupboards are filled with beeswax wraps too. Beeswax wraps are a piece of cotton fabric set in melted beeswax. They’re pliable, sweet smelling, and keep their contents fresh. Beeswax wraps can be used to cover the top of bowls, keep your sandwiches super fresh, or wrap home baking. If you’re not up for using animal products, the vegan version is a food wrap that is also made from cotton but set with alternative waxes, like candelilla or soy.
Aside from beeswax wraps, using plates to cover bowls is an overlooked classic. A simple plate over the top of your food works incredibly well for storing leftovers. It’s not air tight and I wouldn’t safely recommend storing your food like this for more than 24 hours, but it’s such a simple way to cover food in the fridge instead of transferring a meal to another container you have to wash or reverting to wasteful cling film.
Reusable containers made from stainless steel or glass are handy tools to store all sorts of food, but use what you have before purchasing any food saving devices.
Glass jars left over from things like pasta sauces and jalapenos are brilliant for storing leftovers.
Old yoghurt and icecream containers may not be as appealing as the plastic free pantries you see on Pinterest, but they work. Avoid heating up plastic containers and keep in mind that most chemicals found in plastic containers are fat soluble and more likely to leach into fatty and oily food. Feel free to experiment with other packaging instead of throwing it out, but be mindful that things like old bread bags aren’t great food storage tools as they break easily and can spoil food.
The freezer is your best friend
My greatest sustainable food storage purchase was a second-hand deep freezer. With this freezer I have rescued multiple kilograms of tomatoes from growers at the end of summer and regularly saved meals that I made too much of. Even if you don’t have the space or money for a deep freezer, a standard freezer can be put to good use for saving food and money.
You can freeze practically anything in the freezer; just make sure you research the best way to store it.
Did you know that you can freeze rice? There is very little you cannot successfully and safely freeze. Before you put something in the freezer, first do your research around how to best prepare that particular food and make sure the vessel you are freezing it in is airtight, with space for expansion. For example, when storing homemade tomato sauce in glass jars, I leave a few centimetres of space at the top of the jar.
It’s amazing how much food you can save by simply storing it in the right way. Whenever you grocery shop, thoughtfully consider your purchases and spend time unpacking the food cleverly when you return home. You may not think you waste $1510 each year, but every floppy carrot and each mouldy loaf of bread you throw away adds up. It’s unlikely that anyone, myself included, will eat 100% of the food they buy this year, but every little food saving moment adds up. Try your best with the tools available to you and push away the guilt when your kids don’t finish their dinner and it has to be thrown out. Some things are not in our control.
