Since I started using FreshPaper, my bread and veg last longer. I never throw away bread because it is moldy anymore. My kale, lettuce, and other greens last for seven days instead of turning to mush mid-week.
So what is this amazing Fresh Paper? First, let me remind you that I don’t take any advertising money or paid links. Cook for Good is supported solely by reader membership and my speaking fees. I only tell you I adore a product when I use it myself.
FreshPaper is like a dryer sheet infused with organic herbs for your produce drawer or bread box. The herbs discourage mold, a key culprit in food waste. I toss a sheet into my bread box and tuck another one into my refrigerator’s vegetable drawer. The sheets have a pleasant maple aroma that doesn’t transfer, not even to bread.
I replace the sheets once a month. In berry season, I tuck an extra produce sheet into the fruit drawer.
- A year’s supply of FreshPaper for bread costs about $13.50 and saves me about $21.50 in ingredients alone, for a net savings of $8. Just composting a slice and a half of every loaf adds up to over twelve wasted loaves a year. Even if I’m diligent about using every scrap as garlic toast, croutons, or vegan Parmesan, FreshPaper lets me bake one less loaf of bread every month, saving time, electricity, water, and soap.
- If you buy bread for $5 a loaf, then FreshPaper for bread could save you over $50 a year.
- A year’s supply of FreshPaper for produce costs about $20 and lets me spend about $50 more annually with my local farmer. I can buy a fridge-full of leafy greens, cucumbers, or peppers and know that they will stay crisp and bright for seven to ten days—no more stinky, yellowing collard greens or moldy okra.
- If you spend $40 on produce a week and, like the average American, waste 30% of it, then FreshPaper could save you about $625 a year.
Unfortunately, FreshPaper comes eight sheets at a time in plastic bags. You can compost the spent sheets and use the bags for sandwiches. Carrie at FreshGlow, the makers of FreshPaper, tells me that the #7 bags can be recycled, at least in some areas. I wish they came twelve to a bag. Still, the sustainability balance leans toward using FreshPaper.
