Food is a valuable resource, and by making small efforts to reduce food waste your household can have a big impact. Reducing food waste helps our environment: when food is sent to the landfill, it produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas that contributes to the warming of our climate. Food also requires resources to grow: water, soil, energy, time and money. When we throw food away, it's like we're throwing those resources away. Plus, reducing food waste saves you money, by reducing the amount of food you need to buy at the store.

So what can you do at home to help? 

Shop smart

Plan ahead before the store, have a list and have a plan for how all ingredients will get used. For things that come in large quantities, like a big bag of russet potatoes, plan out multiple meals for the week that will use the same ingredient.

Freeze for later

Instead of letting it sprout, mince and freeze garlic to have pre-minced garlic on hand for later

Store bread and tortillas in the freezer, and defrost one-at-a-time when needed.

Batch cook soups, curries and casseroles and store the leftovers in the freezer to make them last longer. Make sure to write the date on it so you can keep track.

Use this webapp to help keep track of federal guidance for refrigerating and freezing foods.

Organize your cupboards and fridge

Store older, about-to-expire foods at the front of your fridge and pantry so they don't get forgotten about.

Store fresh produce in the proper location! Some foods, like sweet potatoes, onions and tomatoes like to be at room temperature, while broccoli, lettuce and other leafy greens thrive in the fridge. By knowing where to store things, you can prolong the life of your produce and minimize the risk of it going bad. Check out this guide for tips on storing produce.

Clean out your fridge and pantry often! By doing regular, 20-minute cleanouts, you can take stock of what you already have before heading to the store to buy more.

Use your scraps

Fruit and vegetable scraps that we would toss straight into the green bin can oftentimes be utilized in the kitchen.

Save vegetable scraps for a homemade vegetable stock, use citrus peels to make a DIY all-purpose cleaner, or use carrot greens in place of other herbs like parsley. You'd be surprised how many fruit and vegetable discards are multi-purpose!

Be responsible with leftovers

Make sure you save all leftovers for later! Hosting a lot of people? Save yogurt tubs or other containers to send leftovers home with guests.

If you have cans or other pantry staples that you are looking to donate, many local food pantries and recovery organizations are always looking for donations.

Dispose of food waste in the green bin

ALL food waste can go in the green bin! This includes not just vegetable peels and bread crusts, but moldy food, leftover cooked food, meat and fish bones, seafood shells and more. Still not sure? Check out our recycling guide! 

By being mindful of food waste, we can all help keep food out of the landfill and in our stomachs instead!