2012-04-19

Waste Less Food - The 1% (or more)

Waste Less Food

Many of the old and new packaging have issues with wasting food. The traditional sauce jar results in 1-5% (I made up that number, do you like it ;) of the sauce being stuck to the jar surface. Many of you either wash it down the sink before recycling it or might even throw the left over and jar, no way, into a landfill. In an effort  not to waste which results in an increase cost of the product since you are not getting everything you paid for you try to get it all out. This issue has not improved with the new containers: juice carton with screw top, squeezey bottles, and so on. Many of these containers also get smaller and smaller, kid single serving, where 10-200% gets left behind (I'm not very good with numbers, I think I learned my percentages from the same mathematicians who try to sell annuities and tell you it is good for them, I mean you, dohhh).

Getting it all out (techniques)

Here are just a few techniques you might be using to prevent from loosing all the sauce, mustard, mayo, juice, etc. stuck to the walls of the container.
  • Tomato sauce - once you get out all you can, add a little water and shake vigorously (best done while holding the jar). You can take it to a club and go dancing with the jar strapped on as decoration. You now pour out the remaining sauce which has a more fluid viscosity. You can repeat but each time you are increasing your water content and getting less sauce in return. Once is usually enough.
  • Mustard squeeze bottle - Add some vinegar that you wanted to use for your home made salad dressing. Shake as in Tomato sauce but not the top is flip top and you might get mustard and vinegar all over the dance floor so best done in dim lighting or near someone else doing the same thing so you can blame it on them. Again, you can add a second round of vinegar to get out the rest.
  • Juice carton - The screw top lid is way cool but it is in the center and not at the top of the carton. Result is juice gets trapped at the top and won't come out. Solution, flex the top so the lip of the opening can let out the remaining juice while holding it upside down over your glass and do a swish from left to right, can also be done on the dance floor. Also, I would say half gallon but they have slowly been making them smaller and smaller. Helps you save money and loose weight by having less product (59oz instead of 64oz). This will also let them later say new bigger size and make it 64oz again. Digression, ice cream half gallon is now only 1.5 quarts, really helping everyone with their math.

Introducing, Get It Out

Solution / product. First version is intended for sauce style jars. It comes in the shape of a lid for the jar. Attach it to the jar opening. Turn the jar upside down. It has a nozzle that sprays high force air on the surface of the jar starting at the top center and working down the surface to the lid. The "Get It Out" device / lid is not air tight so no pressure issues. Take off the lid and all the sauce has dislodged from the walls of the container / jar and are on the "Get It Out" lid for you to use.