According to the UN Environment roughly one third of the food produced for human consumption worldwide (about 1.6 billion tons) gets lost or wasted. Food losses and wastes cost roughly US$ 1.2 Trillion. It has been expected to be 2.1 billion tons of waste and US$ 1.5 Trillion economic loss until year 2030. The highest wastage rates belong to fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers.

While it seems like growing vegetables and fruits only need sunshine, they also use up too many resources. Farms use tons of freshwater. Our freshwater resources are in great danger. While we use more and more water, with the climate change freshwaters flow into seas turning into salty water and rising sea levels.

Women don’t like to waste. They want to protect and sustain. Including my mother all my women family members get heart broken when something especially a food product goes into waste. They try to reuse everything as much as they can. They create new meals from old meals, new furniture from old scraps etc. But sometimes they get stuck and can’t find a way to use.

One of the main products that the women have hard time using is the peels of the fruits and vegetables. In the Industry the ‘unwanted’ parts of the fruits and vegetables can be used for either fertilizer or animal feeds. But there is no widespread usage of these parts in the household. That is mainly why I started researching about this topic. If we can present women the ways that they can use ‘unwanted’ parts of the fruits and vegetables, I believe that they will try to keep it as a routine. Because wasting is both economically and morally harmful for the household.

As I researched some of the most consumed fruits and vegetables, I came across to various usages of ‘unwanted’ parts of the fruits and vegetables. If we can reach the women in the house and change their habits, we can help new generations develop more sustainable lifestyles.

These recipes and instructions don’t belong to me. I collected them from various people. My goal is to increase the awareness towards this topic, that is why I wanted to unite these recipes and instructions. Although there are some books and websites about this topic their effect towards daily life is limited. Everyone can’t reach these resources easily, especially people with low income. Also booklets and facts are more efficient in terms of internalization of these practical usages. These recipes will not only be a step for waste reduction but also towards a more efficient usage of household resources.

Towards this purpose I plan to reach the people with the help of local municipalities. My first action will be to announce this project by project website to all my contacts via social media to get feedback and possible volunteers to help. Then I will present this project to municipalities’ public relations departments. With the help of them the booklets will be printed and distributed in local community homes. Posters will be hanged in places where people visit frequently.

In the future it can be spread to nearby cities and the number of recipes can be increased. The number of ways to get in touch with the household can be increased (for example: short informative videos, information screens in waiting rooms etc.). If people from different countries want to participate in this project, they can translate the booklets and posters in their languages and practice this project in their countries.