EAT SMART • WASTE LESS • GROW STRONG • SAVE MONEY
Minimize Food Waste for a
Healthier Family by Sarah Grimm
If
you’re looking for ways to protect your children from the worst of what climate change will bring--without turning your life upside-down, you need look no further than your refrigerator. Simply commit to not letting anything go to waste – which will naturally reduce what you need to buy. This small act is effective because food production worldwide is responsible for well over one-third of all greenhouse gasses -yet only 60% of that food actually gets eaten.
20
Studies have shown the average American household ends up tossing out $128.00 worth of food – every month! Check out these tips to save money and reduce waste to see which ones make sense for you. And be sure to check out Lane County’s Food Waste Challenge Program that teaches, and then challenges, families to set goals and learn new habits in food waste prevention. Give it a try! It’s free, of course, and will likely help reduce your grocery bills overall. www.eatsmartwasteless.tips
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 • O R E G O N F A M I LY. C O M
Shop the Bulk Bins In my own kitchen, to prevent packaging waste I’ve had to unlearn the “Buy in bulk” adage I was raised with. While it’s true that buying only what you need from bulk bins is a successful way to prevent waste, the opposite is true when we buy the mega quantities of individually packaged foods popularized by Costco and other retailers. Nine times out of ten my small household would not be able to finish a product before it went bad and had to be thrown out—along with all the packaging