Using all the food you buy is a worthy goal — it saves money, resources, and time.
But it's also easier said than done, especially when it comes to fresh produce. And especially when it comes to avocados, which have a tendency to go from not-quite-ripe to overripe if you so much as look at them funny.
Luckily, Instagram account Waste Less Solutions has mapped out how they managed to use six whole avocados in 17 days, purchased all at the same time, without any of them going bad.
The poster details how they were tempted by a low price at the grocery store to buy a bag of six Hass avocados and then embarked on a mission to use each one at the peak of its ripeness.
They start by putting two on the counter and four in the fridge. "The colder temps help slow the ripening process," they explain.
In order to speed up the ripening of the counter avocados, they then moved them into a paper bag in the laundry closet, explaining that it's "the warmest place in my house during the winter."
Those two avocados were then turned into guacamole. From there it was a simple process of moving the avocados from the fridge to the counter, one or two at a time, as they were ready to be used for avocado toast and an added ingredient to a pressed sandwich.
Using all your avocados before they go bad doesn't require any incredible wealth of skill or knowledge — Waste Less Solutions is simply conscientious and keeps a close eye on everything.
And, perhaps most crucially, they are willing to improvise and change course if necessary. At one point, the Instagrammer returns an avocado from the counter to the fridge to slow the ripening process once again.
Reducing food waste is important for your wallet and the planet. The massive amounts of food waste sitting in American landfills release huge amounts of planet-warming gases, which contribute to the overheating of our planet.
Maybe at some point we can catch up to countries like South Korea, which recently managed to go from recycling about 3% of its food waste to nearly 100%, but until that happens, let's just try to use all the avocados we buy. As this Instagram video displayed, it's not as tough as you may think.
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