5 smart habits helping Aussies reduce food waste (and save time cooking)

Why it works: Meal kits make deciding what to eat simple, offer plenty of delicious, straightforward recipes, and stop us from buying more than we need.

Meal kits are our go-to for taking the stress out of midweek cooking, and if you’re looking for the best meal kit in Australia for an all-rounder, HelloFresh is the easy place to start.

Its appeal is simple: there’s plenty of choice without making the weekly menu feel overwhelming, recipes are designed to be approachable, and the service takes care of the most tedious part of dinner: deciding what you’re going to eat.

HelloFresh currently offers more than 30 recipes each week, with options spanning different cuisines and dietary preferences. Its service also allows customers to swap meals, add extras, change delivery details and skip weeks. Better yet, the HelloFresh team claims that customers can reduce their food waste by 21% compared with supermarket ingredients.

Why it works: When you can’t see what ingredients you have on hand, doubling up during your weekly shop is inevitable. An organised pantry means always knowing exactly what you don’t need.

Does your approach to pantry organisation lean towards ‘everything is labelled and has a place’ or ‘throw it all in and hope for the best?’ Historically, I’ve fallen into the latter category, but after one too many cases of doubling up on basic ingredients because I simply couldn’t see them, I’m finally changing my ways.

Did you know: You can find a full list of our pantry organisation essentials on the Better Homes & Gardens Amazon Storefront.

Being able to see everything clearly helps you take stock of what you already have, making dinner decisions easier and finding expired food a much less frequent occurrence. The best part? All you need to get started is a pack of containers (I recommend buying enough for pasta, cereal, flour, sugar, grains, and oats, then building up your collection as needed).

Tiered spice racks and two-level drawers that can be popped inside your kitchen cabinets are also great for increasing visibility. However, it really all comes down to what works for you and your kitchen storage situation.

Why it works: Working with subpar cookware makes a sneaky Uber Eats order even harder to resist (which means leaving your fresh ingredients to go bad).

A basic truth that I ignored for far too long is that no one wants to cook on bad pans. So, if your pans have lost their non-stick quality, become worn out, or simply no longer cook well, I’d wager that one factor plays a large part in your reluctance to cook; it definitely did for me. And if you are in the market for a new cookware set, I couldn’t recommend Our Place enough.

I’ve spoken at length about how much I love Our Place cookware; in fact, it’s the only cookware brand I use now. And when I think back to when I was cooking on worn-out pans every night, it’s clear that investing in quality cookware has made me more inclined to actually use it. Yes, it’s a little pricey, but in my mind, it’s worth every penny (and it’s on sale now).

Why it works: There’s no avoiding food waste when your ingredients are going off faster than you can use them. Using high-quality food storage can considerably extend the life of your fruits and veggies.

Choosing Keep Fresh storage containers for your fruit and veggies helps create a more organised fridge while keeping produce fresher for longer. With the right storage, your fresh picks are less likely to be forgotten, bruised or past their best, meaning less waste and more of your weekly shop making it to the plate. It’s a simple switch that can make a big difference.

The best part? This simple swap can be incredibly cost-effective (if you shop from places like Amazon and Kitchen Warehouse), and will also help you maximise fridge space. Plus, those gross fridge drawers full of loose fruits and veggies will stay clean without any maintenance; it’s a win-win!

Why it works: Cultivating your own indoor herb garden is a sustainable way to get the flavour you need without having to toss supermarket sprigs after just a few days.

Even those living in apartments (with no yard whatsoever) can bring a little greenery into their kitchens with an indoor herb garden. It’s a simple, satisfying way to grow something at home, and having herbs within easy reach means you can pick just what you need without buying the excessively packaged fresh herbs from the supermarket.

Whether you’re snipping basil for pasta, mint for drinks or parsley to finish a meal, you’ll never be caught out by wilted herbs again.