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Eat Smart Waste Less

Food Waste Reduction

By making small changes in the way we shop, store foods, prepare meals, and dispose of scraps and extra food, we can assure good food is getting to those who need it most AND we can reduce the amount of food waste that ends up in landfills.

The EPA Wasted Food Scale updated in October of 2023. It shows how to reduce the environmental impact of wasted food. The list goes in order of most preferred to least preferred. Most preferred is: Prevent Wasted Food. Produce, buy, and serve only what is needed; followed by Donate or Upcycle; then Feed Animals or Leave Unharvested; then Compost or Anaerobic Digestion with beneficial use of digestate/biosolids; then Anaerobic Digestion with disposal of digestate/biosolids or Apply to the Land; and finally Send Down the Drain, Landfill, or Incinerate with or without energy recovery as the least preferred option.

You can reduce food waste in your home by doing the following:

  • Prevent wasted food. Only produce, buy, and serve what is needed.
  • Donate excess food. Rescue and redistribute food to people in your community or local food pantries. Feed animals. Turn wasted food into animal feed – reach out to local farmers to see if they would like your food scraps.
  • Compost. Process your food scraps into nutrient-rich compost for farming. For a list of food scrap transporters in Clinton County, visit https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/foodscrapstransporters.pdf.
  • Create healthy soil. Green cone solar digesters use your food scraps to make nutrient-rich soil in your yard. You can buy a green cone solar digester at a discounted price at the Schuyler Falls Convenience Station, 404 Sand Road, Morrisonville, NY 12962. Convenience Station hours are: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 9:00am-4:00pm and Wednesdays and Fridays from 12:00pm-4:00pm. Cash or personal checks are accepted. For more information, visit www.greenconeusa.com.

Hungry for more information? Check out the ESWL Mini-Series for more information (see sidebar).