A bag of wilting spinach sitting in the back of the fridge has come to represent the frustration of food waste, but there are ways to save those leafy greens from their sad fate.
The scoop
Jenn, who goes by A Sip of Texas (@asipoftexas) on Instagram, shared a simple food hack on her page to keep your spinach out of the trash.
"If you can't finish your spinach, try this kitchen hack," she wrote in the caption of her video.
In the video, Jenn showed how you can make spinach cubes by blending up your about-to-go-bad spinach with a little water and then freezing the mix in an ice cube tray. Then, you can just pop out the spinach cubes to add to smoothies for a boost of nutrients.
How it's working
Food waste is an expensive problem in the United States, with the average American spending $788 on food that goes uneaten, according to ReFed, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste.
The organization also reported: "All together, consumer food waste accounts for nearly 50% of surplus food (47%) in the U.S. at a cost of $264 billion."
Watch now: This 'win-win-win' app offers up to 50% savings on food
Not only does food waste drain your wallet, but it also has long-term environmental impacts. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 24% of landfill material is from food waste, and the overall impact of uneaten food is equal to the greenhouse gas pollution of more than 42 coal-fired power plants.
By finding ways to stretch the life of the food you buy, you save money, keep it out of landfills, and make sure the resources that went into growing it don't go to waste.
What people are saying
"I love this idea! I love spinach but it goes bad so quick," one person wrote in the comments.
|
What's the most common reason you end up throwing away food?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Bought more than I could eat 
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Tori Martinet, a California-based dietitian and former food service executive, also encouraged people to be thoughtful about what they purchase at the grocery store and have a realistic plan for it.
"Everyone has that aspirational, rotting bag of spinach in their fridge, and that is something you don't need to be buying," she told the Wall Street Journal.
There are resources available to help prevent food from going to waste, such as Too Good To Go, which works with local restaurants to offer customers discounted prices on surplus or unsold food items that would otherwise be "unsellable" and thrown away. There's also Flashfood, which connects shoppers with grocers that have fresh items nearing their best-before date.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
