How to cut food waste during the holidays

The average American family wastes an estimated $3,000 worth of food each year. As we head into Thanksgiving, it’s an opportunity to reduce food waste and save money.

Jade Monroe with the state Department of Ecology said the key to reducing waste is to start with a shopping list. But before heading out to the store, she takes a couple more steps.

“If you make a shopping list while looking into your pantry, while looking into your fridge and freezer, the chances of you finding what you’re looking for is pretty high,” she said. “So, that shopping list will be the most efficient and cost saving possible as you go into the store.”

Monroe uses meal-planning calculators to help figure the quantity of ingredients to purchase for the eight guests she’s hosting this year.

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Monroe is the department’s Food Waste Reduction lead, which has a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030. Each year, more than 1.15 million tons of food in Washington end up in landfills, creating greenhouse gases. And it’s not just the loss of food but also resources and labor that went into farming, processing, and transporting food that are wasted, too.

Monroe said she makes sure she has enough to-go containers to pack up leftovers, usually two hours after dinner, for guests to take home later.

Her next-day plans for that extra turkey? “The enchiladas are really exciting to me!”

Find more ideas here.