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As we approach the holiday season, our tables are often filled with an abundance of food, which can lead to a significant amount of food waste. ReFED estimates that 316 million pounds of food will be wasted this Thanksgiving across the United States, representing more than $556 million worth of groceries thrown away in a single day. This food waste creates a significant carbon footprint, which is a major contributor to climate change.
Wasting less food is not only good for the environment, but it’s also beneficial for your wallet.
Consider these tips to reduce wasted food during the holidays:
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Plan Ahead: determine how much you’ll need to serve to each person and purchase food accordingly. Using a tool like the "Save the Food" Guest-imator can help you determine how much to make.
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Save Food Scraps for Future Cooking: save scraps like vegetable peelings and meat trimmings to use creatively with future meals. Use them in broths and soups to provide comforting warmth during the colder months.
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Develop a Leftovers Strategy: check with your guests beforehand to see if they’d like to take leftovers home with them, and plan accordingly. Encourage them to bring containers for packing leftovers and have some extra storage items available.
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Clean Out Your Fridge and Freezer: eat up the food you have before the holiday to make room for your leftovers. Your freezer acts as a magic “pause” button for your food, and, if stored properly, you can safely freeze leftovers for months!
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Donate: if you have extra cans of food such as green beans, pumpkin pie filling or cranberry sauce, consider donating them to your local food bank.
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Get Creative with Leftovers: leftovers are often the highlight of the holidays, and they don’t need to be boring. There are plenty of ideas to make your leftovers exciting and help reduce waste. Looking for inspiration? Pinch of Yum partnered with Ramsey and Washinton counties this season to demonstrate an easy way to use your Thanksgiving leftovers here.
If you can’t use your food scraps and need to dispose of them, remind your chefs and guests to put them in your food scraps bags this holiday season.
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As a reminder, pumpkins do not belong in your food scrap bags. Instead of throwing them away, please take them to a designated drop-off site to ensure that they’ll be composted effectively, helping to reduce waste this fall season. These sites will continue to accept pumpkins through the end of November:
Washington County Pumpkin Drop-Off Sites:
- Place pumpkins in marked location.
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Must be free of glitter, paint, wax and candles.
Ramsey County Pumpkin Disposal:
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Residents can put pumpkins in the leaf and grass piles at all seven Ramsey County yard waste sites.
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Please do not put pumpkins in the dumpsters.
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Want to see where food scrap bags are sorted from trash? Come check out the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy (R&E) Center in Newport! We are offering additional tour slots that will focus on the Food Scraps Pickup Program. These tours will allow you to visit the facility and get your questions answered.
Tours have limited space. Click the link below to reserve a spot and you will receive a confirmation email with more information.
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