We all know the health benefits that come with eating bananas. This includes the countless recipes for food and drinks that encompasses the banana. But what do you do with its peel? Toss it out?
Not just yet! Did you know that eating banana peels, especially green, unripe peels, can increase your antioxidant levels that can help reduce the risk of cancer?
Bananas are an extremely popular fruit with a global yearly production of more than 160 million tonnes. With the peel removed, the fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, but the peel is generally discarded. Therefore, a significant amount of organic waste is generated. We've discovered a few ways that banana peels can be used to reduce this waste.
Eating it is the easiest way to reduce waste. Try boiling banana peels in water to make a tea. And if you are making a smoothie, just blend the whole banana (with the peel)!
For your skin, try rubbing a banana peel on your face to brighten skin and reduce wrinkles or rubbing the peel on acne scars to help them fade.
For household cleaning, use them to polish and brighten houseplant leaves, leather shoes and even silverware.
For gardening, rather than using chemical fertilizers, use them to make compost and also try adding them to the soil as worm food.
Are there more ways to reduce banana peel waste? Share your zero waste ideas here and let's start turning what we thought was trash into treasure.
