Household Food Waste Doesn’t Belong In Landfills. Here’s Why and How You Can Help

As you peer into your fridge eyeing those about-to-go-bad strawberries and mushrooms, 3-day-old spaghetti, and moldy sprouted grain bread, the thought of tossing the once edible goods into the bag destined for the curb leaves you with a tinge of guilt. After all, as many as 1 in 9 Americans are food insecure.

No, you aren't a horrible person, but the guilt you may feel is slightly warranted, and you certainly aren't alone!

Uneaten food makes up a large, if not the largest, portion of municipal solid waste. With an estimated 43% of the millions of tons of food waste in US landfills coming from households, it's high time food waste reduction and diversion became a household norm.

The great news is eliminating the food waste guilt is easily within your control.

But landfills are designed to hold our trash, you say, so why then is sending spoiled food to the dump a lousy move for the environment?

As food rots on a landfill, it creates a copious amount of methane gas – an environmental pollutant far more harmful to the environment than well-known greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). When released into the air, greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation, heating the atmosphere and contributing to the debated (but proven) global warming situation.

Although most modern-day landfills are designed to prevent runoff and leachate, the presence of food waste in landfills could still lead to pollution in our waterways and groundwater contamination. This, in turn, could have a profound negative effect on local biodiversity. [1]

Bottom line…reducing or diverting household food waste headed to landfills has a direct and positive effect on pollution reduction, creating healthier soil and a smaller carbon footprint.

So, even though you may not be able to feed the hungry (yet), small–scale efforts to mitigate food waste in your own kitchen will make a significant impact on the health of the community and the environment.

Sound intimidating? It's not. Here are some ways you can implement it right away:

Meal plan

Yes. MEAL PLAN. This is a triple-threat suggestion. Sitting down to plan out your meals reduces food spoilage, helps you avoid impulse buys (hello diet), and SAVES MONEY! Seems simple… and it is. Plan meals so you can use fresh ingredients in more than one meal. It's OK. I promise. You will survive eating the same thing more than one time.

Create an "eat this first" area in your fridge

Designate a section or even a whole shelf in your fridge to store it quicker to spoil foods. Train your eye to go there first for snacking and throw something from that shelf in tonight's meal, even if it's not a common ingredient. FYI…chopped mushrooms make a great stand-in for taco meat on Taco Tuesday.

Stick to bulk non-perishables or plan to preserve perishables before they go bad

It's hard to pass up the 3 for $10 organic strawberries, but not always a smart buy if you are a party of one. If you don't have strawberry monsters looming about your house, chances are you won't use them all before they go bad. Good deals on food aren't always "good deals" for the environment. So, either pass on the perishable deals, plan to make strawberry jam, or freeze a bunch for your smoothies. A bulk bag of pistachios or a case of canned organic black beans, on the other hand, might just make sense. If you want to learn how to preserve foods, there are some great resources at your disposal.

Share with thy neighbors

A big part of the overarching Transition mission is to create a fuller sense of community. What better way to do that than to share food? Potlucks might not be an option in these uncertain COVID-19 times, but it's alright to reach out and ask thy neighbor if they'd like a portion of your uneaten (untouched) dinner that you can't bring yourself to eat for lunch tomorrow. Going for the BOGO fresh-baked loaf of bread at the store, go ahead and take that BOGO and give a loaf to that family on your street with a few kiddos…you know they like PB and J.

Create a backyard compost or donate to community compost bins

You don't need an expensive bin or loads of space to compost. In fact, it's pretty much possible to compost anywhere. With literally hundreds of guides to starting a compost no matter what your living situation, the excuses are limited. If restrictions speak otherwise, then seek community compost options like this.

Explore new ways to use fruit and veg scraps

It may be easier to open up that lid and toss it in, but don't let the life of those less desirable parts be for naught. Use bones for bone broth. Lemon rinds are great for homemade cleaning solutions (and hand sanitizers). Toss strawberry greens in the blender with your smoothie to reap some nutritional benefits. Celery greens add fantastic flavor to salads. Don't be lazy, be creative. Here are some recipes that you might enjoy.

Prepare smaller portions of food or take it for lunch the next day

Significant portions of food – even if you are part of the "clean plate club" – aren't beneficial for you or the environment. Even worse, food is prepared and then tossed because you are too full to finish it and don't like leftovers. On the other hand, making an extra portion to take it for lunch the next day is good for your wallet and for the Earth.

Invest in good quality reusable containers

Containers that seal well and can be safely reheated in the microwave make it more enticing to eat those leftovers. Big plastic zip bags filled with goop scream, "throw me away." Look for microwavable glass containers with snap lids or avoid the microwave all together and go for stainless steel ones.

Live on a "food" desert island for a week

Most of us have way more than we realize looming in the depths of our cabinets, fridge, and freezer. Challenge yourself to steer clear of the grocery store for a week or even a few days and live off of only what you already have. Be creative. If kids are part of the dinner guests, you may get some grumbles but use it as a time to talk to them about food insecurity and make it a game to survive with what is present.

*A note on garbage disposals:

There's no denying an advanced kitchen in-sink garbage disposal reduces the amount of food waste that goes to the landfill, BUT it is not an end-all-be-all solution to the problem. When used correctly, food that is processed by sink disposal is broken down and sent through the wastewater treatment facility. Not so bad. Many food items, however, cannot – or rather should not – be processed via disposal (i.e., potato peels, fruit pits, grease, and bones). Also, many items sent packing down to a water facility could be making sweet, sweet soil and feeding the earthworms in a compost pile instead.

Sources:

[1] (Kibria, Golam. (2017). Food Waste Impacts on Climate Change & Water Resources. 10.13140/RG.2.2.31302.16965.)

Refed.com

Foodrescue.net

https://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-insecurity/

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Transition Sarasota is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and is part of Transition US. For almost a decade, Transition Sarasota has partnered with farms in Manatee and Sarasota Counties to glean excess produce and donate it to the area food banks. This provides local, nutritious produce to diverse populations, supports local farms with a tax deduction for donated produce, and builds community by uniting volunteers with interest in local, sustainable food.