Household of 2: How to minimize food waste with an app for food waste?

the problem with cooking for two

Globally, households are responsible for 60% of food waste - adding up to a jaw-dropping 1.05 billion tonnes of food in 2022 alone (UNEP). In the U.S., households waste around 6.2 cups of edible food per week, which could cost you up to $1,500 a year (MITRE-Gallup). As MITRE puts it, “Throwing away food is like throwing away money”. And who’s got money to throw?

The problem is, most traditional recipes, grocery packs, and apps don’t double as an app for food waste, which means they’re just not built for a household of two. You get a family-sized lasagna when you wanted Tuesday night dinner. You end up with an extra head of romaine that melts into a slime puddle in the crisper. Welcome to overbuying, leftover fatigue, and forgotten-ingredient bingo.

make a mini meal plan (that doesn’t feel like homework)

Meal planning doesn’t have to be a spreadsheet nightmare. For two-person homes, think smaller: plan for 3 core meals and 2 leftover reinventions. That’s it.

Adopt a fridge-first mindset - look inside before you plan. Got half a bell pepper and some sad parsley? That’s a pasta waiting to happen.

This is where OH, a potato!, an app for food waste, comes in. The fridge scanning feature lets you snap a few pics and - boom - it extracts what’s still good. Then it suggests recipes based on what’s already in your kitchen. And it builds an automated grocery list that fills in the blanks. No more impulse hummus tubs.

For more tips, check out our meal planning weekly menu.

shop smaller, shop smarter

For two people, bulk shopping is often just bulk waste. Buy loose produce, skip the family-size chicken packs, and head for the deli counter if you only need two slices of ham. Half-loaves of bread exist - use them.

Grocery store tips:

• Use bulk bins for exact amounts of dry goods

• Hit the farmers market for smaller portions and fresher stuff

• Don’t shop hungry unless you want to come home with four kinds of chips and a zucchini you won’t eat

Need more on smart shopping? Here’s our grocery list and grocery shopping checklist.

break up with the full-size pack

Just because it’s sold in one big clump doesn’t mean you have to use it all at once. Portion meats and cheeses as soon as you get home. Freeze anything you won’t use in the next 3 days, and label it with the date like the organized genius you are becoming.

Invest in storage that works: stackable containers, silicone bags, and visible leftovers. If you can’t see it, you won’t eat it.

the leftovers strategy (that won’t gross you out)

Use the “rule of two”: eat it fresh once, reinvent it once. That’s it. Leftovers don’t have to be soggy punishment.

Ideas:

• Extra rice = fried rice or rice pudding

• Roast veg = blended soup or grain bowl

• Shredded chicken = tacos, quesadillas, or chicken salad

Declare one night a week “Fridge Roulette” and dare each other to make dinner from what’s left.

shared calendar, shared fridge

Cooking for two doesn’t mean you both need to play refrigerator Tetris. Sync up your schedules to avoid double shopping or two dinner plans in one night.

OH, a potato!, the app for food waste, makes this easy with shared meal planning: if one of you adds a dish, both of you see it. No more mystery curry or duplicate spaghetti.

apps & tools to save the day

Use tech to your advantage:

• Too Good To Go has helped save 200 million meals from going to waste

• Olio and foodsharing.de let you share and snag local surplus food

• Keep a freezer inventory on your phone or taped to the door

• Use OH, a potato!, an app for food waste, for pantry inventory, meal planning, fridge scans, recipes ideas, grocery list - all in one

compost or broth it before you toss it

Keep a freezer bag for veggie scraps - when full, turn it into broth. It's basically soup magic.

If composting seems overwhelming, start with a small container under the sink. Many cities offer compost drop-offs or pickups. Composting keeps food out of landfills where it would otherwise release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

tiny habits that make a big difference

• FIFO: first in, first out – This method ensures you use older ingredients before they spoil, reducing the chance of forgotten foods going bad in the back of the fridge.

• Label leftovers with masking tape + date – Knowing when something was made helps you eat it before it turns questionable. No more mystery containers.

• Store herbs in jars of water – It extends their shelf life, like giving your cilantro a tiny bouquet vase, so you actually use it instead of tossing wilted greens.

• Keep mushrooms in paper bags – This prevents them from getting slimy in plastic, which makes them last longer and stay edible.

• Use smaller plates and sensible servings – Smaller portions mean less uneaten food scraped into the trash and a better sense of how much you actually need.

• Buy imperfect produce – It reduces food waste by giving a home to perfectly edible fruits and veggies that just happen to be a little lumpy, spotty, or shaped like a potato-dinosaur. These would otherwise get trashed just for not looking like their glamor-shot versions.

• Only buy in bulk if it’s non-perishable, or portion before freezing

progress, not perfection

You’ll still mess up sometimes. RIP that week-old lettuce. But reducing food waste isn’t about guilt - it’s about better habits. Celebrate your wins: one less meal ordered, one less cucumber turned to goo.

Feeling stuck in a cycle of takeout and forgotten groceries? Read this: losing food identity for a reset on your relationship with foo

glossary

FIFO – First in, first out; use the oldest food first. 

Fridge Roulette – A chaotic dinner game where you only use what’s already in your fridge. Composting – Breaking down organic waste into nutrient-rich soil, ideally instead of sending it to landfill. 

Leftover fatigue – When you’re too bored to eat the same thing again, and the food goes to waste. 

Fridge-first mindset – Planning meals around what you already have, rather than starting from scratch.