We’ve covered a lot of single-use swaps so far in the Zero Waste Challenge and now it’s time to start talking about food. I absolutely love food and snacking is a big part of my life. Food waste is a huge problem in the United States, and I’ve been doing a much better job of finishing leftovers and getting groceries cooked before they go bad. However, it’s not just food waste that’s the problem, it’s also excess packaging and environmentally-harmful processing.
Day 7 of the Zero Waste Challenge encourages us to make our own snacks. This has many benefits. Firstly, making your own snacks can be much healthier than store bought ones. Also, you cut out the plastic waste from all the packaging. This challenge I’ll probably struggle with quite a bit because I’m a snacker and I especially love chips. I’m not sure I can give them up. I’d like to find a solution for upcycling all those bags and packages. Here are some healthy snack ideas that require little to no packaging:
- Fruits (apples, pears, berries, etc.) require no wrappers and can be bought locally.
- Veggies (carrot sticks, broccoli, snap peas,
- Bulk bin snacks at your local health food store (trail mix, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, etc.)
You can also take a stab at making your own snacks that would normally require packaging. Here are some great recipes to try at home:
I can’t wait to try some of these healthy, zero waste snacks ideas! Happy Snacking!