Zero waste cooking can save you money, improve your diet quality, and help the environment. You could say it’s a win-win-win! You may be reading this book because you want to do your part to support a healthy planet, or maybe you want to waste less and save money, but you may not be aware that a zero waste approach may also indirectly improve your health. How? Well, there’s money savings in taking a little bit of time to work on your grocery shopping strategy and use of leftovers. And when you become more mindful of food storage, meal planning, and using up fresh fruits and vegetables, you actually end up increasing your consumption of those nutrient-rich foods. Read on, dear reader.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that, in 2018, 63 million tons of food were wasted, with 40 percent of that coming from households like yours and mine. Check out apps such as Too Good To Go that help connect people in need with surplus food supplies that they can purchase at deeply discounted rates.