Being Green - Three Immediate Steps to Do

Suppose that the majority of people are used to recycling part of their garbage - at least paper, glass and metal, then we can say that most of the remaining household litter is comprised of groceries. The majority of the groceries that we throw away is in most cases in flawless condition and in some cases even in the original wrapper or box.

The shocking fact is that between 20 and 30% of all groceries bought by Canadian households is wasted later. Adding shops and restaurants' garbage, that's 7 to 14 billion tonnes of groceries per year. That is worth $3 to 5 billion Canadian dollars every year.

Now you are probably surprised by these figures, aren't you? And now think of all the charity societies aimed at fighting hunger, and on the other side so much food being dumped right at our homes and neighborhoods. Now you might decide "OK, so I will take our leftovers, pack it and send it somewhere else where people are hungry." But hold your horses, that is not the best thing to do, we have some more useful advice for you.

1. Try to utilize the residue food when preparing your next meal. If you cooked too much rice for dinner yesterday, you might want to put it in stuffed peppers filling today.

2. A good way of preventing groceries going past the expiry date is arranging your food cabinet by this criteria: older food, that is going to expire soon, is stored in the front, while the longer lasting products can stay in the back of the shelves.

3. If you realize you will not eat food that's just about to expire and would consequently throw it out, just bring it to your local charity or soup kitchen or similar place while the food is still in good condition. If you cannot use up all the groceries you have bought, there are enough people even in your region who will be happy to consume it - hunger is not limited to Africa.

4. Do not waste leftovers - mulch it. Maybe you will argue that you don't own a

garden, but your neighbor might own one and may be able to help you to get rid of your leftovers.