In addition to the multitude of nutrients and health benefits you get from eating onions, did you know? they can be quite useful in everyday life? It is truly Nature’s Ninja in that the onion can double as an ingredient in cough syrup and even clean your backyard grill. Read on about the onion’s duplicative powers and try these tips yourself!
Natural dyes— Onion skins can be used as natural fabric and textile dyes to add yellows, pinks and greens without the harsh chemicals. This way, nothing goes to waste! You can learn more about naturally dying with onion skins here.
Feed — The onions that don’t make it to market can be used as sheep feed instead of being thrown away. Research has shown that feeding sheep onions helps ranchers reduce feed and water costs. That means zero waste. Learn more here.
Alternative Fuel — Did you know? Leftover onion parts are being used in California to power the entire plant from which they’re processed, saving thousands in electrical costs. The Gills Onions Advanced Energy Recovery System has in its 10 years created enough power to fuel 460 homes.
Curative — Onion’s pungent juices will help soothe a bee sting. Take one on your next picnic. Here’s an interesting article on this topic.
Windshield Ice Scraper
When winter catches you off-guard without an ice scraper, just find an onion. Cut it in half and let the juices flow, and wipe it on your frozen windshield. The sugars in the onion coat the glass of the windshield. If anything, it’s a great Did You Know? science experiment.
These sugars, when mixed with the snow and ice that falls on the glass, lower the freezing point of the water that is in the snow and ice. The more sugar that is used, the lower the freezing point- and therefore the colder it would need to get- in order to freeze on your windshield. It’s the same concept as adding salt to roads — the salt lowers the freezing point of the water and so it would have to get much colder to freeze on the roadway.
Source: Dr. Irwin Goldman, professor in the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Backyard Grill Cleaner
Cut an onion in half, heat up your grill, and run your onion across the grates. Its juices work as a
natural cleanser. When you’re done, toss the onion in the coals, and it will become a great flavor agent for your meats. Read more here.
Cough Syrup
As a natural remedy, the onion is touted as a great one for coughs and colds. Our expert, Dr. Irwin Goldman, says: “Yes, I think there is pretty solid evidence of the antimicrobial properties of onion and in that sense they may be valuable in protecting people from colds and other related problems.”
You may want to try this recipe we found from Everyday Roots.
