We’re committed to NET ZERO carbon emissions by 2030 NET ZERO image Read how!

Log into your account

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
Get started for free
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • Food Waste Movement
  • About Imperfect
Not a member yet?
Get started for free
Log into your account
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
  • Blog
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • About Imperfect
  • Food Waste Movement
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Our Packaging
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Tips & Guides

How to Make a Sustainable Tablescape

“Tablescaping” is a real word, it’s a verb, and more importantly, it’s all the rage right now. We decided to put a sustainable and edible spin on ours because what’s more fun than ending the day with a bouquet you can eat? Everything we used to build this sustainable tablescape is either edible or upcycled and served alongside it all were a few of our favorite crowd-pleasing and food-waste fighting recipes. Learn how to make a sustainable tablescape of your own by checking out a few of our ideas below.

Make Fruit and Veggie Votives

We picked oranges, lemons, and artichokes to make adorable and compostable candle votives. Their sturdy outer peels made them easy to stand-up and left us feeling confident they wouldn’t topple over and go rolling across the table.

Artichoke Candles

If the artichokes don’t sit upright on their own, use a sharp knife to slice off the stem to create a flat base for the artichokes to sit flat on.

At the top of the artichokes, use a sharp paring knife to cut out holes wide enough for tealights to sit in. You may need to use your fingers to hollow out the artichokes for the candles to fit.

Orange and Lemon Candles

Most oranges and lemons sit upright by themselves, so simply use a sharp paring knife to cut holes big enough for tea lights to safely rest in.

Place tea lights in the votives and arrange them across your table.

Saved Stems Bouquets with Edible Flouishes

We combined two bouquets of our Saved Stems with fresh produce from our Imperfect box to make small arrangements across the table. We assembled them in upcycled jars and added fresh water with a hint of sugar to keep them fresh.

We picked fresh produce with beautiful greens to make our arrangements edible. We chose radishes for a hint of whimsy, kale as a filler, rainbow chard for pops of color, and asparagus because we wanted to eat them later. Later on, you can either roast the veggies or make them into a fresh salad right at the table.

Upcycled Vases

Instead of buying vases, you can upcycle glass jars from pasta sauces, salsa, kombucha bottles, olive oil etc.

To remove paper labels off the jars, soak them in warm water and equal parts cooking oil and baking soda for about 30 minutes. Use a coarse sponge to scrub the labels off.

Especially sticky labels can usually be coaxed loose if you melt the adhesive with a blow dryer.

Check out Jackie Alpers’s top tips on how to present and preserve your florals.

Food Waste Fighting Recipes

Strawberry-top Infused Sparkling Water

After chopping up strawberries for a fruit salad, we were left with way too many strawberry tops to just toss away. Since strawberry greens are completely edible, we dropped them into glasses of sparkling water to add a refreshing hint of berry essence to humdrum glasses of water!

For more food waste fighting recipes, check out a few of our favorites here.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

guest

18 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
CMiller
CMiller
1 year ago

So pretty! I want to have lunch at that table!

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
1 year ago
Reply to  CMiller

We’re with you there! 💚

Reply
Carol Fisher
Carol Fisher
1 year ago
Reply to  Imperfect Foods

Renew my account

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  Carol Fisher

Hey there! We’d love to! Send us a note here [bit.ly/385DIoA] and we can get your account back up and running! 💚

Reply
Josh
Josh
1 year ago
Reply to  CMiller

“Heres how to not waste food. Turn your food into decorations.” No, imma not save my onion skins and turn it into some sorta christmas tree ornament, and no. Im not gunna gouge out a perfectly good lime just so i can shove a candle into it like an insane person when i already have a candle.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  Josh

Do whatever feels best for you, but we’re just trying to shed some light on a few ideas to help save on food waste and have people think outside of the box when it comes to sustainability! 💚

Reply
Carol
Carol
1 year ago

Are saved stems available everywhere? I looked for them when I ordered food from imperfect foods yesterday but did not see them available.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  Carol

They’re available in most markets! Definitely continue to keep an eye for them in upcoming customization windows! 💚

Reply
Beverley
Beverley
1 year ago

For the lemon and orange votives: You can juice the fruit first, cutting them not in half but in a smaller circumference on top that is just big enough for the reamer to fit through. Then partially fill the fruit shell to the depth needed with cut-up produce bound for the compost heap. Set the votive on top!

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  Beverley

Thank you so much for this tip! 💚

Reply
Anita Ramin
Anita Ramin
1 year ago

This doesn’t have anything to do with article. Why don’t you have an grocery order list that people can add what they want prior to the actual order date? This gives more shopping days than just the two day window to shop. I wish there is better way to communicate. I still find your ordering confusing.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  Anita Ramin

With our “food preferences” feature, you can add items to your “recurring” list and/or “never” list to either have those items automatically added to your order each week. or left out. Check out more about this here: bit.ly/2SXOJSH 💚

Reply
lorraine j james
lorraine j james
1 year ago
Reply to  Anita Ramin

I hear ya! I think it has to do with availability of product, especially fresh food items.

Reply
Jayn Huebner
Jayn Huebner
1 year ago

I need a call from customer service NOW.
I CANCELLED my subscription after my last delivery. Now I get a message they are on 5here way, and the payment is already out of my checking account. Thus is unacceptable. I also sent a message ..reply..early this morning.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  Jayn Huebner

Hey there, we’re sorry about this mixup. Can you please give us a call at (510) 595-6683 💚

Reply
lorraine j james
lorraine j james
1 year ago
Reply to  Jayn Huebner

I cancelled an order unbeknownst to me *after* the date to cancel them. Got the same “on our way” text. Used the chat and got to a Living being and voiced my concern and need to cancel the order – and charge. She cancelled the charge and said i could give the order to someone who needed it (with so many people without homes in Oakland, that’s not hard to do), but they couldn’t stop delivery.I asked if i could suspend my acct “until further notice” because i forget to cancel orders. She did it for me and said to open a chat the next time i want to order and they would reinstate my acct. I use the chat feature a lot now.

Reply
paula byers
paula byers
1 year ago

I need get a e-mail so I can shop have not got one in three weeks please send soon I don’t like get boxes that are not my pick. thank you

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
1 year ago
Reply to  paula byers

Hey there! We definitely encourage you to add our email to your contacts and check your spam/promotional folder. Sometimes the emails can end up in there. Also we always encourage everybody to set an alarm each week of when to customize, because these are courtesy emails we send out… and sometimes they can get lost in cyber space.

Reply
Tagged SustainabilityWaste-less tips

You might find these a-peel-ing

Composting
Imperfect’s Food Waste R...
Zero Waste Tips  Our Grocery Storage Guide tells you how to store all ...
Read more
Storage tips
The Imperfect Foods Grocery St...
Storing your groceries properly is one of the best ways to make them last and st...
Read more
Waste-less tips
But did you smell it first? Ho...
When we look at food waste in our homes, the two main causes of waste are buying...
Read more
Ingredient guides
When are avocados in season?
Learn when avocados are in season so you can know where your current batch is li...
Read more
DIY
DIY Rosemary Orange Cleaning S...
When you make your own all-purpose cleaner, you never again have to wonder, “Wha...
Read more
Back to Tips & Guides

Want olive the latest?

Sign up for emails to stay up to date.

ImperfectFoods Logo
B Certificate Logo
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Our Packaging
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Download on the App Store Badge Download on the Google App Badge
Imperfect Foods © 2023. All Rights Reserved
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Personal Information