6 Ways to Use Food Scraps

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, “edible food waste and scraps are the largest contributors to Wisconsin landfills.” While UW–Madison has set a goal to achieve zero waste on campus by 2040, there are many individual actions you can take to reduce your waste. To prevent food from going into the landfill, here are six creative and simple practices to give your food scraps another purpose.

1. Make more food

Whether it’s making soup broths or crunchy snacks, there are many ways to use food scraps before putting them in the bin. UW–Madison’s Waste Cookbook is a great resource to use food scraps, repurpose leftovers, and reduce food waste. Here are some examples:

• Soup broths can be made with carrot peels, potato skins, or celery tops.
• Infused oils can be made with zests or peels of citrus fruits, or leftover herbs.
• Jams can be made with apple leftovers or any bruised fruit.
• Bread can use food scraps: ripe bananas for banana bread, or leftover veggies for focaccia.
• Croutons can be made by baking and seasoning bread crusts.
• Chips can be made with any leftover veggies baked in an oven or air-fryer.

Find it hard to scrape out that last bit of peanut butter from the jar? You can use nearly-empty jars with food residue in them to provide extra flavor to your meals. For example, peanut butter or jam jars can be used to make overnight oats. Salsa jars can similarly be used to prep omelets.

2. Dye clothing

Want to rebrand your old clothing or make that tote bag of yours cuter? Use food scraps as natural fabric dyes. This is perfect for any cotton or polyester blend fabric and it is easy to do. The process involves boiling food scraps in water and then letting the fabric soak. Sara Howlerda led an Earth Fest event in spring of 2024 where students from Design Studies 227 – Textile Design: Print & Dye showcased their natural dye experiments. Keep an eye out for similar events at this year’s Earth Fest in April 2025. In the meantime, here are a few examples of the colors that food scraps can create.

• Avocado skins and pits produce a peachy pink dye.
• Beet trimmings, tops, and peelings produce a rich reddish pink dye.
• Red onion skins produce pink, burgundy, brown, and sometimes green colors.
• Yellow onion skins turn cloth golden and orange.

3. Natural Beauty Products

You can create your own salon at home just by using food scraps:

• Leftover lemon juice can be used to brighten your nails.
• Coffee grounds or sugar can be used as a natural exfoliant.
• Leftover aloe vera can be used for face masks or to treat sunburns/wounds.

4. Regrow veggies

Thinking of getting into gardening? It doesn’t have to be complicated at all. All you need is vegetable seeds, pits, or cuttings, some soil, water, and plenty of sunlight. Listed below are a few examples of veggies that you can regrow and not have to buy from the store again.

• Carrots
• Peppers
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Celery

5. Aromas

You can also create fresh new smells with fruit scraps. Citrus peels can either be tossed in your garbage disposal to get rid of smells, or boiled in water to create a natural home air freshener.

6. Compost

The most obvious way to use food scraps is to compost them. Organic compost is a great nutrient for plants and you don’t need a special composting bin to make it. What you might not know, however, is what scraps can be used in compost. Here’s a list!

• Produce
• Coffee grounds and tea leaves
• Veggie peels, tops, scraps, and pits
• Egg shells
• Banana peels (you can even let them soak in water overnight and use that water to water your plants!)

UW–Madison has a great resource on the Office of Sustainability website for more composting information. I hope these ideas excite and encourage you to rethink food scraps you’d ordinarily throw away. By: Vibha Srinivasan