A fresh orange juice in the morning; many people love it. The taste of freshly squeezed oranges is something many swear by. But, if you squeeze your own oranges, then you have probably noticed that you need quite a few for a small glass of orange juice. And you end up with a lot of orange peels left over, which is a waste.
To be ecologically responsible, it is therefore very interesting to give the peels a second life. Here are 6 ways how to do this!
1. Orange peels as a natural skin care product
As you might know, oranges are full of vitamin C which is good for your skin. It improves the texture of your skin, helps fight impurities and, just as important, slows down the skin ageing process. Now you' re perhaps asking yourself, how do I turn my orange peels into a natural skin care product? Here's how: dry some orange peels (e.g. on the heating) and grind them into powder with a pestle or mortar. Store the powder in an airtight container and use it once or twice a week to exfoliate your skin.
2. Make orange rind and use it to prepare your dinner
You can easily turn your orange peels into orange rind, which you can then use in your salad or pasta. Using a grater, you can make thin, edible pieces of orange peel. Orange rind gives a delicious fresh twist to your dish. It is a flavour that really stands out. Good to know: only grate the orange part of the orange peel. The white part tastes bitter.
3. Use them against musty and dusty odours in the home
Does your house smell a bit musty? For example, because you had a party at home? Or because there has been a dusty smell for a long time that you cannot identify? Orange peels can offer a solution!
Add tehm to a small pan of water and let it simmer on a gentle fire together with other herbs. The orange smell that is released neutralises the stench in the house. It is not for nothing that orange is often used as a scent for air fresheners. The nice thing about this solution is that you create a natural air freshener that neutralizes musty smells without having to buy a plastic wrapper that you have to throw away afterwards. Sometimes dried orange peels are even put into the filters of hoovers, to make the air that the hoover blows out more fresh.
Good to know: you can also dry your orange peels thoroughly on, for instance, the heating, after which you can use them to put in a bag with other dried herbs. This will also release a fine aroma that will help neutralise musty smells in the house. This smell is generally less strong, but it lasts longer.
4. Use orange peels to stop stench in your container
Do you have a container that gives off a bad smell? For example, because it has been storing fruit, vegetable or garden waste for a long time? You can tackle this problem by putting orange peels at the bottom of your container. These will neutralise any unpleasant odours hanging around in the container.
You will notice this is especially nice during the warm spring and summer days, because around this time the stench is often at its worst. An added bonus is that the peelings also keep larger insects at bay, such as beetles and maggots. Great when you open the container lid!
5. Ideal for keeping animals and pests away from areas in and around your home that you want to protect
Are you bothered by pests in your back garden? Then orange peels are the answer! By shredding the peels and scattering them in places where there are a lot of pests, you can prevent them from coming back. How convenient! Slugs, ants and flies; they all hate orange peels.
Do you have a cat at home and want it to stay away from certain houseplants? Then you can rub your orange peels on the leaves of the plant and the smell will be on them. Your cat will think twice before playing with that expensive houseplant again.
Finally, mosquitoes don't like the strong smell of orange either. So, rubbing orange peels on your skin is also a good biological mosquito repellent.
6. Orange peels as natural firelighters
The oil that comes from orange peels is quite flammable. This may sound a little dangerous, but you can do lots of fun things with it. For example, you can use the peels as natural firelighters when making a fire. The peels, fresh or dried, burn quietly and relatively long. This way you give the fire room to spread, without it becoming dangerous. You can also moisten a piece of cloth with the oil from the peels, after which you can tie it around a stick and make a torch out of it. Great for a party in the back garden, for example. This way, you no longer have to work with chemical flammables to light the torch.
About Stijn van Son
Guest blogger who regularly writes about circularity in combination with waste, a.o. for Binqer.
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