How to Store Fruits & Veggies Properly - Goodbye, Food Waste!

Have you ever gotten into your fridge in the hopes of making a salad only to become shocked to find your tomatoes have started to mold? Save your tears, because there is something you can do to prevent this from happening again.

That's right! No longer you will have to go through the painful process of throwing out what could have been perfectly good produce.

We’ve got some plastic-free food-saving tips for you! Making your produce last longer is also a kind gesture to your wallet.

How to Extend the Shelf Life of Your Produce

Depending on what produce you have, you will have to store it in different ways. Here is a quick list of how different kinds of produce should get stored to keep it looking vibrant and tasting delicious.

Leafy Greens

When you get home with your greens, soak them in a large bowl. Soaking does the magic of washing the leaves, as well as re-hydrating them, so they stay crisp when you put them in the refrigerator! Then, you want to drain the water and put the greens in a damp cotton produce bag. Tighten the drawstrings before storing them in a metal bowl. Our muslin bags do a great job of keeping lettuce fresh and crisp all week. They come in big sizes, so yes, your kale will fit with no problems. Re-wet the bag if needed.

Storing Leafy Greens in damp Muslin Bag Keeps them Hydrated

Frozen Veggies without the Packaging

It can be hard to avoid plastic when you are buying frozen veggies (you probably won’t see a bulk frozen veggies section at the grocer!). A good way to combat this is to get freeze them yourself!

Hint: It’s simpler than it sounds. And it’s great for preserving vegetables for later before they go bad.
This also works for any type of fruit; I personally love to freeze ripe bananas for smoothies.

Simply put the produce in an airtight bag/container before putting them in your freezer. Our sealers come in many sizes and are perfect to freeze all kinds of food. No freezer burn here!

Freezing Strawberries for a Smoothie with Net Zero Sealers

Cut the Waste!

After you do your meal preparations, you undoubtedly have the ends of various veggies like lettuce, onions, and celery. Instead of chucking these into the garbage or compost bin, you can give them a second life! With just a jar of water, simply place the roots or tops in shallow water. You will see regrowth in a few days! Remember to change the water everyday. Not only will you save money, but you will be cutting down on waste. It's a win-win!

Regrowing Vegetables from Scraps. Photo by Aimee Wimbush-Bourque

Scraps You Can Regrow

• Carrots
• Beets
• Turnip
• Radishes
• Daikon
• Green onion
• Garlic
• Fennel
• Celery
• Romaine lettuce
• Bok choy
• Leeks
• Onions
• Lemongrass

Enjoy fresh green onions in the middle of winter, grown in your own kitchen!

Now that you know how long you can expect produce to last in your fridge, we hope that you will make your grocery trips more fruitful (see what we did there?) and create less waste for your compost bin.

Bring fresh produce home and keeping them fresh for the week doesn’t have to be hassle. We hope these plastic-free food storage tips gave you some ideas for your current and future veggie home!