Finding perfection where others see trash and solving an environmental problem at the same time is what one local woman is trying to do to cut back on unnecessary waste.
And today she’s packing all the excess up and shipping it out.
Her company takes unwanted fruits and veggies deemed ‘imperfect’ from grocery store distributors, like giant eagle and Heinens, boxes them up and ships them out to her clients in Cleveland.
“On Thursdays, we package them all up into mixed boxes, there different sizes,” said Ashley Weingart, Founder and CEO of the company, Perfectly Imperfect.
“I like to say save time, save money, save the planet,” Weingart said.
“Using more of this food that might be imperfect looking on the outside, but it’s totally fresh on the inside,” she said.
Clients like Allyson Grubba.
“That’s my playground over there,” Grubba said, referring to her kitchen.
She said now she cooks more, shops less and at the same time throws out fewer meals.
“I did not realize that so much food is wasted,” said Grubba.
And that's why Weingart started it all.
“We estimate that so far we have redirected 100 thousand pounds or more of food that might otherwise be waste,” she said.
That waste equals up to 40 percent of our food here in the U.S.
Weingart said whatever they can’t use, they send to a local composting company, Rust Belt Riders, so that literally, nothing goes to waste.
If you would like to know more about Perfectly Imperfect Produce, click here.
