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Did you know Americans will waste nearly 312 million pounds of food on Thanksgiving? According to ReFed, production of this wasted food generates greenhouse gas emissions of more than 1,100,000 MTCO2e or the equivalent of driving 169,000 cars for one full year. It also has a water footprint of 104,000,000,000 gallons, which is the same amount of water used by everyone in New York City for three and a half months.
You can make a difference this holiday season by making efforts to reduce food waste.
Plan ahead. Use tools like the Save the Food Guest-imator to estimate how much food you need to make, and use shopping lists when going to the store to reduce excess purchasing.
Think about leftovers. Check if your guests would like leftovers beforehand and plan appropriately. If you end up with more leftovers than anticipated, then store them for later use or incorporate them into new meals.
Use your freezer. Store your extra food in the freezer to safely preserve it for the coming months. Using clear containers that are labeled with the contents and date can increase the chances that leftovers are remembered and eaten.
For more tips, check out this article from the USDA, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
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