Yes, we heard you! We’re now taking back your SPUD cardboard boxes. Give a warm welcome our new hero: a cardboard shredder.   For us, finding ways to reduce waste is one aspect we never underestimate the importance of. And we’re always working towards revamping it. Did you know that cardboard and paper make up around…

So you made a sourdough starter, now what? If, like me, you have a new obsession and appreciation for sourdough bread; you will find every reason to use it and keep it alive! But is discarding and feeding your starter almost daily starting to feel like a waste?  We have 3 recipes for you to use up your sourdough discard.   First, what is Sourdough Discard? Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you get…

Good food is a terrible thing to waste. While I am sure that everyone would agree with this sentiment, food waste research reveals a very different story about how our food system values food. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, about 14% of food is wasted, globally. That’s a lot of food!…

  Any food that we don’t finish, we store it in a container, pop it in the fridge, and warm it up the next day. That is any food but fish. Understandably so, because who actually wants to be a victim of the reek that’s been churning overnight into something much more potent than what…

I very recently learned that the hole in the centre of that pointy pasta spoon/fork thingy is actually a measure for one serving of spaghetti. This is a huge revelation because I am terrible at judging how much pasta I’ll need to cook – I always make way too much and end up with seemingly…

This week’s #LETSNOTWASTECHALLENGE tip is: love your leftovers!   This week we’ll be sharing our best tips for storing and using leftovers, whether accidental or purposeful. Don’t worry, you won’t end up with a freezer that doubles as a time machine.   Make sure you enter our #LetsNotWasteChallenge to win $50 in SPUD credits and a…

Let’s face it. Moldy food looks gross, and if your natural inclination is to toss it out, that’s perfectly understandable. But hear me out – some foods are still perfectly fine to eat once there’s mold growing on them. I know this from personal experience. The other week I bought a pineapple. Organic pineapples are…

This week’s #LETSNOTWASTECHALLENGE tip is: be an expiry date expert!   Do you adhere to the FIFO (first in, first out) system in your kitchen or do you have a more devil-may-care attitude to food organization? Knowing your best before dates is important, but so is knowing what “best before”, “sell by”, and “expiry date”…

Has anyone else ever returned home from vacation only to be met by a complete disaster living in your fridge? Leftovers that were once solid have now liquefied, fruits and veggies have turned slimy, and the bread has grown a fluorescent layer of mold. We’ve all been there, but that’s a lot of food wasted.…

Despite our gloomy weather, it is spring now and with it comes asparagus, a vegetable I particularly love. I came up with this recipe to incorporate asparagus and make a colourful dish to combat these dreary days.   1 ½ lbs of mushrooms, sliced (I used oyster and white) 1 lb asparagus cut into 1…

Do you know what the shelf life is for your fruits and veggies? Yes, it can be a lot to keep track of, but understanding the shelf life of the food you buy is great place to start. We’re learning that a ton of food waste actually happens at home, often in instances where it…

This week’s #LETSNOTWASTECHALLENGE tip is: know how to store your food!   When you get your groceries to the kitchen, do you know what should go where? Can potatoes go in the fridge or should they live on the counter? And what about onions? Is milk better off in the door of the fridge or…

Do you know everything there is to know about compost collection in your area? You know that composting is something that’s good for the environment, and depending where you live, it might actually be the law. But even so, there are still a few skeptics out there who think that collecting food scraps for compost…

This week’s #LETSNOTWASTECHALLENGE tip is: Use Your Food Scraps Around Your Home!   Maybe you don’t like the idea of eating your scraps. Fair enough. There are lots of other ways you can repurpose food scraps – from compost to crafts to…accessories. Make sure you enter our #LetsNotWasteChallenge to win $50 in SPUD credits and a…

  SPUD is a big believer of and practices reducing their waste. It is something that is also close to my heart. Coming from parents who were brought up during the depression and lived in England during WW11, they always taught me to “waste not, want not”. Everything had a re-purpose from clothing to linens…

Did you know that you can get more out of a tea bag than just tea? As part of our Let’s Not Waste Challenge, we’re looking into how we can maximize the food we eat. Which means everything from using up our veggie scraps, to understanding expiry dates, and much more—including reusing foods, when applicable…

Since we’re committed reducing food waste, we wanted to introduce someone else who is working hard to ensure no food is wasted in Vancouver: Meet David, the founder of Food Stash Foundation- a registered BC non-profit that aims to reduce as many kilograms of food waste from landfills as possible, while helping those in need…

This week’s #LETSNOTWASTECHALLENGE tip is: turn your food scraps into more food!   A lot of the food that is wasted at home is in the form of so-called ‘scraps’.  But don’t give on those little bits of food.  Repurposing your scraps doesn’t have to be gross or difficult. This week we’ll be sharing our favourite…

What do you do with the “scraps” left from your food preparation? Are the scraps really scraps or is there a way to minimize them so you waste less? These are questions that come up frequently. Being a vegan, I think, I possibly have fewer scraps than an omnivore and I try to be more…

  I used to scramble back and forth to the grocery store almost every day buying a little of this and a little of that to make a dinner each and every night. I have one child who hates fish and one who loves it. Fish hater loves all things Mexican and spicy and my…

Do you ever find that you end up throwing out the same kinds of foods every week?   Sure, we work hard to meal plan and properly store our produce, but there are still those groceries that somehow slip through the cracks and are discovered after it’s too late to use them. Or so you…

The first featured tip in our #LETSNOTWASTECHALLENGE is to plan your meals! When you plan out your meals for the week you’ll reduce your food waste because you’ll know exactly what you’re going to eat. You’ll also save time, money, and avoid that ever-annoying “what’s for dinner” struggle. This week we’ll share our best tips…

These days, when it comes to eating well, there’s a smorgasbord of different lenses you could use to assess how ‘good’ your food is. We eat for health, for the economy, for social responsibility, and of course, for the environment. But, focusing on that last one, how can we measure how our meals weigh in…

Meal planning is a great way to help reduce food waste, especially if you can use the same ingredients multiple times, and factor in using your leftovers as well. This means you’ll also save money and time, and eat healthier, which is a huge added bonus. As an example of how effective this can be, I put together…

If you want to get serious about reducing food waste, you’ve got be serious about composting. Sure, you help out by participating in your municipality’s food scraps collection program, but if you’re really ready to roll up your sleeves for the environment (and your garden), it’s time to bring the decomposing party to your own…

Making a roast chicken is one of the smartest meal-planning moves you can make. Why? Because you can actually stretch that one measly chicken into five dinners. If you can roast a chicken on Monday – and you can, I have faith in you – you’ll set yourself up for a week of flavourful, easy…

Did you know that close to half of all food produced worldwide is wasted? Yep, whether it’s discarded in processing, transport, supermarkets or kitchens, this unbelievable statistic is quite real, even while we face a global food insecurity crisis. Canadians are on average throwing away approximately $600 per year in wasted food.  In the average…

Have you ever gone through that “pickling” phase where any vegetable that you find in your kitchen leads to your mind telling you to pickle it? Green bean? Pickle it. Celery? Pickle it. Cauliflower? Pickle that too. The experimentation process becomes a real and serious obsession as you embark on a journey to find the…

For those of us who live in an apartment or without a yard, we’re always envious of those who have their own gardening areas for planting and regrowing vegetables. It’s the accessibility, the cost savings, and the knowing that nothing toxic is going into your food. But did you know that there are actually many…

You know that composting is something that’s good for the environment, and depending where you live, it might actually be the law. But even so, there are still a few skeptics out there who think that collecting food scraps for compost collection means turning your kitchen into a fruit-fly-infested home dump. And this couldn’t be…

You know that composting is something that’s good for the environment, and depending where you live, it might actually be the law. But even so, there are still a few skeptics out there who think that collecting food scraps for compost collection means turning your kitchen into a fruit-fly-infested home dump. And this couldn’t be…

You know that composting is something that’s good for the environment, and depending where you live, it might actually be the law. But even so, there are still a few skeptics out there who think that collecting food scraps for compost collection means turning your kitchen into a fruit-fly-infested home dump. And this couldn’t be…

Sometimes we get root vegetables without their green tops attached, but other times, we get the whole food experience. Our habit is to cut off the vegetable tops and toss them away. But did you know that some of the greens that you’re throwing out can actually be used in recipes and are actually incredibly…

Are you tired of picking past the slimy veggies to get at the stuff in the fridge that’s still good? If yes, chances are that your shopping list planning skills could use some work—and not only that, a new plan will help you save money, cut food waste, and keep you eating healthy. Food is constantly…