Fiona from Bromley said:
My local borough started an experiment of putting food waste in a separate bin and now recycle it. They sell it... More
Keep the fridge at a cool 1 - 5 degrees and chilled food will stay fresh for longer. Our most perishable (and often most expensive) food is kept in the fridge, so keep tabs on their use-by dates - the freezer may be the option for food we won't get round to eating in time.
If you have leftover salad, cover with a damp piece of kitchen paper before covering with cling film or putting in a sealed container. This REALLY prolongs the life of the salad leaves. This also works well with salad bags, which when left in the bag tend sweat and go limp/brown very quickly.
One of the best things I ever did to cut down our food waste was to put a plastic shoe bin in my fridge. I put in it the 2 pieces of cooked asparagus, the 4 slices of cooked roast, the odd bits and pieces, and yes, the chunk of unchopped onion, or the extra bits of chopped onion too, all in small containers. When I'm cooking, it takes just a second to look in the box for the odd bits that were left over to see what I can use in whatever I'm cooking now. It took a little while to get used to looking in the box at first, but it has cut down our food waste a good deal.
Instead of putting your coriander in the veg crisper drawer, half fill an old coffee jar with cold water, put in the coriander and cover with a (recycled!) plastic bag held with an elastic band. Keep in the door of your fridge, change the water every few days and it will keep well.
Store peppers in the fridge in a loosely tied plastic bag, for freshness and quality
Keep lemons in the fridge, in a loosely tied plastic bag, for freshness. Bring to room temperature for taste.
When I buy carrots from my greengrocer I alway clean them immediately, wrap them and put them in the fridge. This is especially important in the summer months when fresh vegetables go off quickly if you store them in a cupboard or basket.
Oranges stay fresh and firm for even longer in the fridge if kept in a loosely tied plastic bag.
To keep the fridge smelling sweet, put in the fridge half a tub of bi-carbonate of soda salts that are past their 'best before date' - no need for an extra container and no wasting the bicarb!
Apples stay fresher and more succulent in the fridge if kept in a loosely tied plastic bag.
Store strawberries in the packaging you bought them in and refrigerate for freshness.