Go bananas for fruits and veggies without creating food waste

For weeks, my family drooled over the four, perfect, green Granny Smith apples in the fruit bowl.

"Don't touch them," I admonished, "I'm going to make apple burgers with them."

Now, my family had other apples to eat, so don't go feeling sorry for them. But they really wanted those tart, crisp apples in the fruit bowl.

Three weeks later, those apples ended up out under the pine tree -- squirrel food. I'd waited too long and they were brown and mushy on the bottom. I felt bad then that I didn't let them get eaten when they had the chance.

Do you waste produce? According this article, we all do. Food waste takes up a large chunk of landfill real estate and creates methane gas that leads to global warming.

Fruits and veggies are good for you, so it's tempting to buy a lot. But produce is highly perishable, so reduce waste by only buying what you need. Diet-Blog has a few tips for buying and preserving all the fruits and vegetables you can eat, without the waste.