I’ve been working from home since 2018, so you can say I was “used to” working from home when the lockdown happened in 2020. But no, that was different. It was brutal. It sucked. And it was lonely and stressful.
We all have bad memories of that period, but I have a few good ones too. The first one is reducing my food waste. Which helped me reduce a lot of my stress.
Before the lockdown, whenever I go grocery shopping, I get back with a lot of vegetables, fruits, milk, etc. Seeing a full fridge at home was a satisfactory thing for me.
But a few days later, I usually end up throwing away the majority of it. Rotten vegetables and fruits, expired products, opened milk bottles, you name it. And whenever I throw something, I feel bad about it.
I feel bad because 1) I’m wasting resources that other people would benefit from, 2) I’m not helping the environment and just adding more waste.
That started to change during the lockdown. With fewer “travels” to the grocery store, I needed to change my behavior and better manage my groceries.
Cooking at home during the lockdown helped in that a lot. I started using most of the groceries while cooking, and finding the recipes that use the same ingredients.
A few weeks later, I started throwing empty boxes, empty bottles and finishing most of the products. It felt so good! I still feel immense joy whenever I throw an empty box.
After the lockdown finished, and restaurants were open again. I started eating less at home. But that doesn’t mean I got back to my previous “throw-away” life.
Instead, I started buying only what I need every two to three days. No more groceries for the whole week. That means fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, etc. for every meal. Which is awesome!
Having a supermarket within walking distance really helps. But I’m sure everyone can adapt this to their need and use case.
In summary, I started eating more fresh food. Throwing away less to no food. And as a bonus, I reduced my grocery bill.
Leave a Reply