Thanksgiving Food Waste Reduction Tips (PHOTOS)

Thanksgiving and other holidays near the end of the year are a great opportunity to spend time with loved ones. Unfortunately, the holiday season also means a lot more household waste.

According to the Worldwatch Institute, Americans produce "an extra 5 million tons of household waste each year between Thanksgiving and New Year's, including three times as much food waste as at other times of the year."

Worldwatch Institute also reports that one third of all food produced is wasted, and developed countries are responsible for 222 millions tons of food waste annually, the same amount as all of the food produced in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

With a global population that recently hit seven billion, remembering what you actually need for your family is important. HuffPost blogger Ann Gentry writes, "On your next trip to the grocery store, be mindful of how much you buy."

As you prepare and clean up after the Thanksgiving holiday, check out these 10 tips to help reduce the amount of food that is wasted.

List and captions courtesy of Nourishing the Planet and Worldwatch Institute.

RATE IT!   |  

VOTE

No Way

Great Idea!

CURRENT TOP 5 PICK YOUR OWN TOP 5

USERS WHO VOTED

NEW! CREATE YOUR OWN SLIDESHOW

Comments

[Foodgrade]

08:18 PM on 11/24/2011

Don't buy 10 times more than you need?

[justwhendoesitend]

06:37 PM on 11/24/2011

I find this rather interesting every time I see articles like this. BTW I have worked several years volunteer wit Interfaith Food Shuttle, my wife meal on wheels, My wife arranged for the famer she worked for to give ~50,000 lbs or produce away this year, that was "not acceptable to sell" or not fresh byt farmers standards as in more then 2 days old.

But the amount of food waste in the USA is staggering for many reasons, a lot of the reason is that once prepared and not consumed it gets thrown away, not just by individuals but by commercial concerns. Then there is the "less then perfect" grown food..

[mzrecycle]

01:25 PM on 11/24/2011

Actually, a LOT of us care. These are tips that a lot of us use on a daily basis. I grew up in a family of 10 and wasting food just didn't make sense. I use my compost pile for all of the veggie waste. My turkey carcass gets simmered and while I used to make soup, now I just make broth.

[petpetdonna]

11:29 AM on 11/24/2011

Who cares? NO ONE!

[Foodgrade]

08:19 PM on 11/24/2011

Yes. There are some on the planet that give a crap, believe it or not.