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Do you get a lot of food scraps in your home or business in Australia? Are you wondering what to do with them? Food scraps contribute a significant percentage of food waste in landfills. If you get a surplus of them, you don’t have to dispose of them as waste.
Instead, you could put the scraps to better use. This article provides information on alternative things you could do with the food scraps you generate in your household or business.
What Are Food Scraps?
Food scraps are waste products generated from food preparation, such as apple cores, carrot peelings, bones, and meat trimmings. The food industry, such as restaurants and cafes, generates these scraps in large quantities, but you could also produce them in your home.
There are copious things that you could do to reduce food scraps. Some of these include avoiding peeling vegetables and fruits or using meat leftovers and bones in soups. You could also put the food scraps to better use, as shown in the section below.
A List Of Things To Do With Food Scraps
Below you will find alternative ways to use food scraps instead of disposing of them as food waste.
Add them to your compost bin
Composting is an excellent way to put compostable food scraps to beneficial use. The process involves using food scraps and other organic waste to form natural fertiliser to enrich the soil.
Compost bins are an eco-friendly waste management process that helps reduce landfill waste. Some food scraps you could add to your compost bin include grains and coffee grounds, among others.
Add to plant soil
You can also add food scraps, mainly vegetable scraps, to your garden soil. This allows plants to thrive as the soil receives nutrients from added vegetable scraps. Food scraps such as banana peels are rich in phosphorus and potassium. These nutrients leak out and provide the water with rich additives.
To get the uttermost out of your food scraps, you should put them in a jar/bucket of water and allow the mixture to sit overnight. Then, water your plants using the resulting nutrient-filled water.
Regrow certain food scraps
It’s possible to regrow the pits, seeds, and cuttings of plants such as avocado, ginger, lettuce, green onions, and celery. You could plant these food scraps into the soil, ensure enough sunlight, and water them correctly. With time they will grow and produce more veggies in your garden.
Make infusions
Peels of lemons, oranges, limes, grapefruits, or tangerines are great ingredients that you could use to infuse several foods. You could use them to infuse water, olive oil, and many others to add flavour.
Further Things To Do With Specific Food Scraps
The green part of leeks makes up a large percentage of the leek. Once you use the stem for your dishes, you don’t have to toss the rest. Instead, you could slice them into small pieces and cook them to make them tender.
Alternatively, you could add them to sauces, stews, soups, and several other dishes. Another way is to use them as an alternative to onions in your recipe.
Kale stems
Some species of kale have several stems on them. Instead of disposing of the stems, you could chop them finely and cook them. You could also sneak them into sauces or add them to the soup for vitamins and nutrients.
Potato peels
Potato peels contribute to a large percentage of the food scraps found in landfills. Instead of disposing of them as waste, you could cook them too. You could deep fry them in oil and then sprinkle them with pepper and salt to add flavour. It’s advisable to fry the peels as soon as you peel your potatoes to guarantee they are still fresh.
Parsnips or wilting carrots
Instead of throwing away wilting carrots or parsnips, you can shred them and incorporate them into your dough or mixture as you make muffins, quick bread, or pancakes, among others. Another option is to add them to your soup or use them to make fritters.
Cucumbers in brine
After using your cucumbers for your salad, you should save the brine as there are several things you can do with it. You could make a smoothie or juice from the brine to maintain a healthy gut. Alternatively, you could use the brine to add flavour to your soup.
Watermelon rinds
You could also peel the skin of watermelon rinds into small pieces, put them out in a jar, add salt, spices, and water and leave the mixture for a few days. The natural bacteria on the watermelon ferment the rinds into tangled pickles. If you like the resulting taste, you could put the watermelon rinds in the fringe to preserve and consume them.
Fruit scraps
To make homemade vinegar, you could use scraps of fruits such as apples, pears, and pineapples. To prepare this, begin by filling a jar with fruit scraps, adding a tablespoon of sugar (this amount depends on the number of scraps), adding water, and securing a lid.
Ensure that you stir the mixture every day. After a few days, the naturally occurring bacteria on the fruits will change the fruity water to vinegar.
Citrus peels
Citrus peels have several uses. You could blend the peels with black tea, prepare candied citrus peels, or soak them in vinegar to create a household cleaner.
Spent vanilla beans
You could use spent vanilla beans to create a homemade vanilla extract drink. All you need to do is put three split vanilla beans in a jar, fill it with a cup of brandy and vodka, and shake the jar regularly. Wait for a few months, and then enjoy your drink.
You could also prepare a second infusion using the beans, but this time use less alcohol. Alternatively, you could put the beans into a jar of granulated sugar. Allow it a few weeks; the resulting product will be vanilla-infused sugar.
Bones
If you eat meat, you can also make good use of the bones. Simply put them in a slow cooker, cover them with water, and cook low for a day to create a hearty and healthy bone broth. As a tip, you could add vinegar to help draw minerals from the bones. Additionally, you could prepare a dog treat when the bones get soft, and your pet will love it.
Parmesan rinds
Cheese rinds help add lots of flavour to your soup. Therefore, instead of disposing of them, you could store them in a jar in the freezer or refrigerator until the time that you want to use them. Then, you could add them to soups to add flavour.
Whey from cheese preparation
A lot of whey is produced when preparing cheese. Rather than dispose of the whey, you could use it in your kitchen for various purposes. For instance, you could use whey instead of water when preparing pizza dough or other baked foods.
Stale bread
You shouldn’t throw away your bread when it becomes stale. You can use stale bread to make bread pudding, French toast, bread crumbs, or croutons. Alternatively, you could prepare sourdough as an alternative to bread as it does not get stale as fast as its counterpart.
Ginger scraps
A ginger bug is a starter made from ginger scraps, water, and sugar. A mature ginger bug starter has a lot of good bacteria and yeast. The slurry is helpful in the preparation of fermented drinks such as natural sodas and ginger beer. It’s also good to know that ginger can help ferment drinks such as sweetened hibiscus tea.
Avocado pits
Instead of throwing away avocado pits, you could use them to dye yarns or grow your own avocado tree.
Coffee grounds and tea leaves
You could reuse coffee grounds or add them to your garden soil, either directly or by tossing them into your compost bin. The coffee grounds help in aerating the soil, adding acidity and nitrogen. They also help attract beneficial earthworms, which is why they are popular in many worm farms in Australia.
Acid-loving plants such as tomatoes and roses love tea leaves. As is the case with coffee grounds, you could either sprinkle them on the soil directly or add them to your compost bin.
Corn cobs
After scraping the kernels from corn cobs, you could use them to make corn stock. You could then use the stock to create a more flavourful corn chowder.
Need Expert Help Managing Your Food Scraps?
If you are still trying to discover what to do with food scraps, contact the best skip bin company near your area for help. Professional skin bin companies can provide you with more advice on how to put the food scraps to better use.
These companies have expertise in waste management, which means they are experts in managing waste, recycling, and putting waste, including food scraps, to better use.
Supreme Skips
Supreme Skips have the largest range of skip bins available for hire in the Adelaide, SA region.
