How to be Better to the Earth, Your Wallet, & Your Plants: Eco Scraps Potting Soil + a GIVEAWAY

37 Comments / eco friendly, garden, home / By

Did you know that 40% of apples end up as food waste? Or that one in ten bananas bought by consumers ends up in the garbage? Yikes, right?! That’s scary!

It’s really no secret that we humans can be wasteful, but I was even a bit surprised to hear those staggering statistics, Especially because being a vegetarian, I LOVE fruit and veggies! How sad that so much of it is being wasted!

ENTER TO WIN A $50 Walmart GiftCard at the bottom of this post! 

In the United States alone, we waste a staggering 40% of the food produced. That is enough to fill the Rose Bowl every single day! Instead, this waste sits in landfills producing methane, which is 20 times more harmful than CO2. Yeah, not only are we wasting valuable resources but it’s hurting our earth and our atmosphere too!  If we can just do our part, and join in Recycling (or limiting) 15 million pounds of food waste, that ends up being an equivalent to keeping 500,000 cars off the road for an entire day. That’s pretty incredible!

 

Here are some things you can do to lessen your carbon footprint on the earth by wasting less food:

  • This seems like a no-brainer, but I catch myself doing this, especially being single again and shopping for only one person: Buy Only what you need at the grocery store, not what you don’t! Only buy it if you know you will eat it and in the time frame before it expires. Creating a grocery list before you ever enter the store is crucial!
  • Change your shopping habits. Bagged salad, for instance, is one of the number one foods wasted. Consider buying bagged salads only on the days you plan to use them.
  • Buy fresh produce only one week at a time. Produce doesn’t last much longer and if you buy anymore you will only end up wasting a considerable amount of it.
  • Adapt recipes to your needs. Before you go buy all the ingredients, make sure you’re only buying for the number of people you will be cooking for, and no more.
  • Don’t be afraid to use the Freezer. Got leftover bread, dinner, soup, but know you won’t be eating the leftovers this week? Freeze it!
  • Speaking of the freezer, consider buying frozen fruits and vegetables (instead of fresh) when you are buying more than you need for that tart recipe.
  • Don’t buy in bulk, stick to what you need.
  • I love juicing and use my juicer religiously for using up fruits and veggies I can see are about to go bad. This is a great way to use up the last of the produce without having to throw it out. Not into juicing?  Make a soup with those leftover veggies. Some of my best creations come from just using up what’s in the fridge!
  • Got extra ingredients left over from that Lasagna recipe? I also do this all the time and it helps me cut down on waste a bunch: Google your leftover ingredients for recipes! It is super easy to use and you get to try something new you might not have otherwise. You can also do this with leftovers by creating new meals from that too.  For instance, if you have leftover pasta and vegetables made in olive oil and spices, warm up some pasta sauce and bread and make a whole new meal out of it!
  • Keep your fruits, vegetables, and other perishables at eye level so you will remember to eat it!
  • I also regularly keep fruit such as apples, pears, and apricots out on the bar to remind myself to eat it! I also end up snacking much healthier this way too! It’s a win-win!
  • This is also a cool tip I just learned from BuzzFeed.com for extending the life of your fresh spices. Freeze them in ice cube trays in butter or Olive oil!
  • Caved in and bought in bulk? Pickle or can those fresh foods for use at a later time! Canning is surprisingly easy to do, you just need the jars, lids, and pressure cooker!
  • I also do this all the time as I tend to buy a lot of bananas but don’t eat them in time: Freeze them once they’re brown and throw in a Yonana or other fruit ice cream maker to make a yummy cold treat that tastes and has the consistency of ice cream, but is much healthier because it’s made of fruit, and is lactose free as well! You can also use those frozen brown bananas to make banana bread too! Yum!

 

Besides being better about using up food so it doesn’t go to waste, there are also other ways to be better to the planet! With Spring in the air, I recently set out to Walmart to buy some new plants, and was surprised when I came across an eco potting mix that actually uses some of these wasted foods to help grow your garden instead of filling up the landfill!

EcoScraps Potting Mix is made of organic compost that is not only better for our earth by helping use up waste in a more useful way, but it will also help your garden and plants grow better too!

Since 2010, EcoScraps has been working to be a part of the solution by reusing waste and keeping it out of the landfills. EcoScraps wants to make sustainability mainstream. 
Between 2011 and 2015, EcoScraps recycled 75 million pounds of food waste!  EcoScraps is matching that number in 2016 with projected recycling of another 75 million pounds of food waste, but this time in just 12 months! 

eco potting mix

See the Circle of Food growth Cycle EcoScraps Video HERE to learn more on how EcoScraps is Helping to Grow Gardens, Not Landfills!

 

I couldn’t wait to try out this amazing and innovative potting mix for my new plants I had just purchased. EcoScraps actually has a ton of variety to choose from including moist compost, potting mix, natural and organic garden soil, organic all purpose plant mix, organic fresh start plant mix, and much much more!

I decided to go with the moisture retaining Natural and Organic Potting Mix to use for my new plants! The mix aids in plant growth by using that food waste discussed earlier to give plants not just the soil they need to grow, but plant food as well! This organic compost food waste makes any soil better and I can’t wait to see how it aids in the growth of my little garden!

eco scraps potting soil eco scraps potting soil eco scraps potting soil eco scraps potting soil

Want to learn more about EcoScraps today and help grow your garden, not the landfill? Purchase EcoScraps at your Nearest WalMart, or Here at Walmart.com.

 

Also, one of you lovely readers will get the chance to WIN A $50 Walmart Gift Card Courtesy of EcoScraps

ENTER TO WIN A $50 Walmart Gift card in the Rafflecopter form below!

Good Luck Lovelies! xo xo 

Win a $50 Walmart gift card Giveaway

 

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*This post is sponsored by EcoScraps. However, all content presented in this post represents my own opinions.
*MyStyleSpot is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

37 thoughts on “How to be Better to the Earth, Your Wallet, & Your Plants: Eco Scraps Potting Soil + a GIVEAWAY”

  20. Christina A.

    I would love to try to EcoScraps Potting Mix for our indoor plants–it might make them healthier!

    Reply
  30. sarah s

    I would get some of the Ecoscraps Natural and Organic Moist Potting Mix for some indoor and outdoor potted plants.

    Reply
  36. HD Cam Shows

    Greetіngs! Very uѕeful advice іn this pɑrticular post!

    Ӏt is the little chаnges wһich wil make the grеatest ϲhanges.
    Thanks a â…¼ot for sharing!

    Reply

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