Reduce food waste at home
Let’s slow climate change and reduce our footprint!
Meet Squatch
Squatch knows all about big-footprints, and how to make them smaller! Squatch uses the Wasted Food Scale as a guide to minimize food waste at home. Let’s learn how to decrease our collective climate footprint!
Why does it matter?
According to Mitre, one-third of all food in America is wasted, with nearly half of that waste occurring within the home.
What can you do?
Volunteer
Donate
Squatch
Reduce
Every Savvy Squatch knows the secret to wasting less and using more! Whether you’re filling your grocery cart, packing lunches, serving up a feast, saving leftovers, or gathering fresh produce from the garden, there are plenty of ways to keep good food from going to waste. Click the boxes below to dig deeper into each topic and become a food-saving pro.
Food Safety
Practice good hygiene with hand washing, holding temperatures, and general safe food handling. This will help you and your family stay healthy while battling food waste!
Meal Planning
Meal planning is something every Savvy Squatch does. Fast tips to make meal planning easy and awesome so you’ve got yummy, waste-free food all week!
Shop Smart & Save
The average family could save $3,000 a year just by shopping smarter and implementing a few easy strategies at the grocery store.
Deciphering Dates
Sell by, best by, expiration…what’s what?! We’ve got you. Here’s what each mean, and especially what they mean when it comes to food safety!
Storage Guides
Check out this comprehensive food storage guide from the NRDC. You’ll learn everything you need to know about freezing, storing, and saving food.
Eat First
Move the foods you should eat right away front and center in the fridge. Fridge organization is a simple and easy way to squatch food waste.
Resourceful Recipes
Who knew that cheese rinds, and bruised plums could make such treats? Check out this cooking site or Save The Food for some inspiration.
Cooking for Baby Squatch
From picky eaters to little grazers, here’s a roundup on some ideas on cutting kiddo food waste. Tiny Squatches can be savvy too.
Freeze It
Do you live in a small household and get sick of eating the same homemade for too many days straight? Freeze leftover portions to make them last longer.
Preserve It
Want hands-on experience preserving food? Check out:
Feed Others
Are leftover foods unavoidable at your house? We get it! The next thing that Savvy Squatches do with surplus food, is find people to feed! Learn how you can do it at home.
Think Outside the Family Unit
Is there anyone you might bake some cookies for over the holidays? Tenants, landlords, neighbors, teachers, babysitters? Before throwing out that last piece of lasagna, see if they want some!
Donate your surplus
Have surplus produce from your garden? Did you buy too many cans of beans when they were on sale? Donate them to one of our Freedges (free community fridge) or your local food bank to get it in the hands of someone who can use it right away!
Track your food
Are you the type of person that likes to have an app for everything? Try this one from FoodWise that helps you organize, track, and maximize your food with smart scanning, expiry alerts, and personalized recipes.
See your impact
Interested in learning just how impactful your changes are for the environment? Find out using the Food Waste Green House Gas Calculator!
Feed Animals
Your family has eaten their fill, your neighbors have taken a plate home, and even your friends have gone back for seconds, but there’s still food left over. What’s a resourceful Squatch to do? Instead of letting those scraps go to waste, consider sharing them with an animal that can put them to good use. Making the most of every last morsel is the kind of resourceful, waste-not-want-not thinking that every Savvy Squatch can appreciate!
Get Connected!
Do you have a friend with animals to feed? Chickens, pigs, goats, etc.? Ask them if they would like any of your surplus food!
Worm Bin
Red wigglers worms are not your average pet, but they do love your food scraps and will turn your waste into compost!
Compost
Compost at Home
Interested in learning how to start your own compost pile? WSU Extension, Whatcom County, has an amazing course on composting at home. Get Savvy!
Egg Shells
Egg shells are useful in the garden! Deter pests, boost calcium, amend soil! There’s plenty of ideas and suggestions online- and some may surprise you!
Citrus Peels
The aroma of citrus peels is unlike any other. Squatch likes to soak their citrus peels in vinegar to make a cleaning solution. The internet is full of ideas again.
Curbside Pickup
Squatch’s favorite method of composting. They signed up for curbside compost pickup with FoodPlus! A simple method for busy Squatches.
You’re among the Savvy!
Nice work on Squatching your food waste at home! Once you take in all these resources and ideas, hopefully you’ll see changes in your footprint and impact. Interested in learning just how impactful your changes are? Find out below with Food Waste Green House Gas Calculator! Don’t forget to share on social media and connect with the growing community of Savvy Squatches. #SquatchFoodWaste
