Thanksgiving may be behind us, but the holidays are far from over. October through December is a time of year filled with parties and celebrations and with such celebrations comes lots of food. As happy as we are to attend any event centered around eating, we don’t love the fact that a great deal of the food prepared actually ends up in landfills. In fact, it’s estimated that about 300 million pounds of food are wasted from Thanksgiving alone. There may not be one easy fix, but there are a few simple ways that each of us can do our part to reduce the total amount of food wasted.
Eat Leftovers
This one may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how much perfectly good food gets thrown in the trash for no reason. Wrapping up leftovers to eat later is not just an easy way to prevent food waste; it’ll also save you time and money.
Save Veggie Scraps
As you cook, toss any raw vegetable scraps such as onion peels and carrot tops into a plastic bag and store them in the freezer. Later, you can simmer the scraps in a pot of boiling water to make your own vegetable stock for soups, stews, and sauces.
Shop Mindfully
Make a plan for what you actually need and know you’ll use before you go shopping to prevent any impulse buys that may end up going to waste. Stick to your list, and check the sell-by dates on each product so you don’t end up bringing something home that you won’t use in time.
