JPAC’s Tips: How to Reuse Your Food Waste?

Every Friday, a JPAC member shares kitchen tips to help improve your cooking habits!

This week, we’re focusing on food waste: every year, tons of food scraps end up in the trash, even though much of it could be reused. Whether it’s to nourish the soil, cook differently, or create homemade products, food waste can become a valuable resource. Here are a few tips to give your scraps a second life!

Cook with peels

Fruit and vegetable peels are often thrown away, yet they’re full of flavor and nutrients.

• Citrus peels (like lemon or orange) can be dried or caramelized to flavor cakes, teas, or salad dressings.
• Make peel chips using potato, carrot, or sweet potato skins — just bake them with a little oil and your favorite spices.
• Keep stalks, peels, and veggie scraps in a bag in the freezer (to prevent spoilage), then use them to make a delicious homemade broth.

Compost what you can’t eat

Composting is a great way to recycle organic waste and enrich your soil. Eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit and vegetable peels — they’re all compostable!

No garden? No problem! Try a vermicomposter or check out local compost drop-off sites near you.

Give stale bread a second chance

Don’t throw away stale bread! Try these easy transformations:

• Turn it into delicious French toast for a cozy, no-waste meal.
• Blend and toast it to make breadcrumbs for coating or topping dishes.
• Cut it before it gets too hard and bake it with oil and herbs to make croutons for soups or salads.

Make your own household products

Some food scraps can be repurposed into natural cleaning or beauty products:

• Dry and crush eggshells and add them to your plant soil for a calcium boost.
• Coffee grounds make great fridge deodorizers or natural skin exfoliants (mix with coconut oil for extra hydration!).
• Soak citrus peels in white vinegar to create a fragrant all-purpose cleaner.

Regrow your veggies

Did you know you can regrow certain vegetables from scraps?

• Replant sprouted potatoes to grow your own fresh harvest.
• Celery, leeks, green onions: place the root ends in a glass of water with sunlight — they’ll regrow in a few days!
• A sprouted garlic clove planted in soil will give you tasty green shoots.

Reusing food waste is good for the planet, your wallet, and your creativity! Whether you’re just getting started or already a zero-waste pro, every small action counts.

Do you already use some of these tips? Got more to share? Let us know in the comments!