Memorial Day weekend a great time to recycle, reuse and reduce food waste

As you gather with family and friends for cookouts and parties to recognize Memorial Day, there’s no better opportunity to reduce food waste and bolster sustainability locally. The key is simply to remember to, when possible, reuse excess food, and to recycle food scraps and other waste.

Here are tips to on how to keep recycling and waste reduction on top of everyone’s minds when you’re prepping large meals, hosting or attending parties this holiday weekend.

Being Sustainable is Attainable

• Shop smart and plan your meals – Before you head to the store, make a grocery list of what you have on hand so you don’t end up with duplicates at home. Check out this Guestimator - Save The Food tool to help determine how much food you should purchase for your gathering.
• Use reusable plates and cutlery – This will prevent your trash from filling up with all of those single-use plastic plates and silverware.
• Embrace leftovers and share the wealth – The weekend’s grilling feast can be the first workday of the week’s lunch, or even a midnight snack after the party. Send leftovers home with guests – even encourage them to bring reusable containers to take food home – and be sure to enjoy whatever is left for yourself and your family.

• Encourage guests to recycle – Use recyclable plastic and aluminum cups, and make sure to set out clearly-marked recycling bins so guests know where to put those empty cups, bottles and cans.

Download and print this sign so recycling at your event is easy! 

•  Composting food scraps enriches soil and reduces impacts on the landfill – Unfinished food scraps from parties, and all other meals, can be collected and composted into nutrient-rich materials that then can enrich the soil in your yard or garden. The practice also reduces the amount of materials being disposed of at the Franklin County Sanitary landfill, as well as methane emissions food waste creates. More information about DIY composting, and compost curbside pick-up and drop-off programs is available at SaveMoreThanFood.org.

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Want more support? Register for our monthly Recycle Right webinar on May 24 here. SWACO recycling experts will go over the basics of how to recycle correctly, dispel notions and myths and answer your recycling questions. Webinars are free and open to the public.  

Want to learn even more about the benefits of recycling? Check out RecycleRight.org, and get your summer plans off to a sustainable start!