Cooking allows us to create excellent and delicious meals. However, in the end, we are often left with vegetable peelings to throw away.
Throwing peels in the trash can create a breeding ground for flies as they get attracted to the scents. You are also increasing your wastage by doing this.
Accumulated vegetable peelings in the trash can release methane, attracting maggots and flies. Consider responsible vegetable peeling disposal to prevent this from happening in your trash can.
Disposing Vegetable Peelings
A major chunk of household waste is vegetable and fruit peels. However, this so-called “waste” has the potential to be transformed into valuable homemade products.
This also reduces the amount of compost waste you’re producing.
The growing heaps of landfills are one of the significant causes of pollution worldwide. These landfills leach toxins into the ground waters as well as the oceans.
This waste can be drastically reduced by capitalizing on the potential of these vegetable and fruit peels and revamping them into useful commodities.
You might be wondering what to do with vegetable peelings.
This is because disposing of them in the trash can lead to maggot and fly accumulation. Similarly, recycling is also often not an option with vegetable and fruit peels.
However, not many know that you can use peelings in various ways. You can do many things in terms of disposing of vegetable peelings.
You could actually make new dishes out of it as well. Vegetable peelings contain many nutrients, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and pigments.
You would waste all of this by throwing away vegetable and fruit peels. There are also so many goodies and excellent taste in the flesh of the peelings.
Hence, why would you want to throw it away?
While throwing away vegetable peelings might be common practice, it’s time to let that go. Let’s reduce our waste and start becoming responsible citizens of this world.
You should consider harnessing the goodness of these peels either in your body, at home, or on your skin. This guide will discuss how to dispose of vegetable peelings and not waste them.
Also read: Are Egg Shells Biodegradable?
Ways to Reuse and Dispose of Vegetable Peelings
Take a look at our round-up of the best ways to reuse and dispose of vegetable peelings. You can use them for your home or create a useful skincare hack.
Besides this, you can create fabulous and delicious recipes as well. But that’s not all; many people use them in housekeeping too.
So, keep reading if you want to know how to use the old vegetable peelings in your home. Here’s a look at the best ways:
Lighten Dark Circles With Potato Peels
Potato peels are known to contain tons of nutrients and enzymes. These ingredients can be used to treat various skin concerns around the eyes.
The potato peels are perfect for the delicate skin around your eyes. They can be used as the perfect treatment for a spa day.
Through regular use, potato peels can help lighten the darkness and reduce wrinkles. Additionally, they can brighten your skin tone as well.
Get Rid of Ants With Cucumber Peels
Did you know that cucumber peels are a natural ant repellant?
Ants hate cucumbers and peels, so they try to avoid them as much as possible. You don’t need expensive chemicals if you have an ant infestation or problem in your house.
Instead, you can simply use cucumber peels. Place them generously at all of their entry points, and you will notice that there will be no ants in your house.
Use Lemon Peels to Clean Dishes
Make your glasses and silverware sparkle with leftover lemon peels. These can be used to remove grease, stains, and other blemishes.
Simply scrub the items with the peels or place the peels with a bit of lemon juice. You can also mix the lemon peel with your dish soap.
Alternatively, consider placing lemon peels in the dishwasher. All of this will help you have squeaky clean dishes, thanks to the citric acid in the peels.
Make Cake or Smoothies with Carrot Peels
One of the most popular uses of carrot peels is incorporating them in cakes or smoothies. They will definitely help in enhancing the flavor of the dish.
Carrot peels are a must-have ingredient for carrot cake. Hence, if you have a lot of leftover carrot peels, just bake a cake out of them.
This is a great way to reuse, dispose of, and enjoy carrot peels.
Make a Hair Treatment With Avocado Peels
Avocado peel is great for hair because of its nutrients and enzymes. Just rub the peel on your hair, and you will have long, luscious, and shiny hair.
Through regular use of avocado peels, you will enjoy these benefits. Additionally, you can also make a nutritious and tasty tea out of these peels.
Make a Stock or Broth
A stock is a staple ingredient for many dishes, especially the fanciest ones. And while you can find stock or broth in the supermarket, you can easily make it at home as well.
This is especially true if you have leftover vegetable peels. Simply pop the peels in water and let it cook for a couple of hours.
Then strain it and remove all of the peels. The result is tasty, cost-effective, and nutritious stock.
You can also make a broth out of the peels. While the stock is added to dishes, the broth is meant to be consumed on its own.
You can make it the same way and add your preferred spices. This is a great dish to have during the colder months, or to consume to feel better when you’re unwell.
Create Delicious Soup
Blended soups are a delicious way to utilize leftover vegetable peels. Since the peels are blended up, and spices are already added, no one will notice.
You can actually create a plethora of delicious soups this way with peels. Zucchini, carrot and cucumber soups are popular options.
However, avoid adding potato peels to potato soups since they leave a bad taste.
Use for Garnishing Purposes
If you plan to serve dishes to guests, you could consider using peels to garnish them. Consider taking the zest out of the peels and topping the dishes with it.
Cucumber or carrot peels are excellent for garnishing soups and stir-fries. They will help add vibrancy to the dish and make it look even better.
Make Homemade Potpourri
You probably spend a lot of money buying ready-made potpourri. However, now, you can make it yourself with vegetable and fruit peels.
Add some cinnamon sticks, vanilla essence, fresh pine cones, and dried-up peels to a bowl. Make sure to completely dry out the peels either in the sun or humidifier.
Place all of these items together in a decorative bowl to create your own fragrant and cost-effective potpourri.
Puree or Boil Them In
Vegetable peels are an important ingredient that can provide a unique punch. Think about using those lemon peels in your tea.
Add them to the boiling water to extract the precious nutrients locked in the skin. Additionally, with such teas, you can create a distinctive taste.
Vegetables can be a valuable addition to stocks and broths. They create a soup base usable in many recipes.
The same vegetable peels can also be fried until crisp. They can make a delicious movie-time snack when seasoned with the right dressings.
Add a New Blend to Housekeeping
Cleaning the house requires many distinct liquids and cleaning equipment. However, these can often take a toll on your shopping bill.
The various floor cleaners, sprays, and multipurpose surface cleaners are sometimes ineffective. Hence, using some peels can relieve you of this burden.
Specifically, citrus fruits have the unique quality of creating a pleasing fresh scent. Use them in sprays or scrub tubs and sinks with them.
Combining orange or lemon peels with vinegar will give it that extra punch. This will make it more effective against grime.
Quite amazing to observe that peels you once thought of as garbage can now be used to keep your house clean. And they do all of this naturally, without the use of synthetic cleaning products.
Final Words
Now you can save yourself a trip to the compost bin by reusing and disposing of vegetable peels. Delight your guests and make a treat with these aforementioned tips.
These dishes and techniques will be fabulous, nutritious, and all-around appealing. Furthermore, you could also use peels simply to clean your house, dishes, and other items.
Using vegetable peelings just requires you to make an extra effort. They will help you go the extra mile in decorating your house.
If you are dedicated to creating a healthy home and being a responsible citizen, reuse your vegetable peelings. This will help you reduce waste and use peelings in many creative ways.
So, add a new blend to your housekeeping and cooking with leftover vegetable peelings today!
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