Stop Throwing Away Your Apple Peels And Try This Fall Scent Hack

It's once again that time of year when everyone's buying things that smell like pumpkin spice and apple pie. That being said, you can make your home smell warm and cozy without having to go out and purchase an air freshener or candle — and best of all, you can help reduce food waste.

Say you're making an apple pie. Rather than throwing out the scraps, you can make a simmer pot. Simply add your apple peels and cores to a pot of water or Crock Pot, along with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, etc. Keep in mind that you'll want to continue adding water as necessary to prevent your scraps from burning, as that's not the scent we're going for here.

And if you use aluminum cookware for your simmer pot, the acid in the apple scraps will help remove discoloration and stains. It smells great and gets your pot nice and clean!

We get it. A simmer pot can be a bit too high-maintenance when you're busy with all of your other fall activities. Who's got time to babysit a pot of boiling apple peels, anyway? Fortunately, there is another easy way to get your house smelling like apple pie without the hassle of boiling water.

Dehydrate or bake your apple peels and cores and mix them with cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cloves, and other fall spices. Once everything is good and dry, add your homemade potpourri to a glass jar or bowl. Now, that's a fall recipe we all need to try.

If you change your mind about having time to boil water, you can always add your dried potpourri mix back to the pot. This method gives the same effect as a simmer pot with the option of saving your scraps for later.