Sponsored Post – from Texas Disposal Systems
November 1st marked the start of the 2018 holiday season and kick-started the planning and prepping for upcoming festivities. In addition to family, the holidays also center around another staple – Food! Whether it’s a freshly roasted turkey, store-bought pie or Grandma’s handmade Christmas cookies, food is sure to be plentiful during the holidays. So much so that, according to Vanderbilt University, Americans throw away 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. While we tend to eat until we are plump as turkeys or round as Santa Clause ourselves, large amounts of food still go uneaten and end up being thrown away during the holidays. If you take a step back and look at the broader picture, the average American family wastes approximately $2,275 worth of food per year, according to Waste 360. Switch gears to the amount of food waste per person in the U.S. and you’ll find it to be a whopping 288 pounds, also reported by Waste 360.
The good news is Texas Disposal Systems (TDS), one of the largest independently-owned solid waste collection, processing and disposal companies in the nation, proactively prepares for the uptick in waste during the holiday season and helps customers manage and divert waste to beneficial uses 365 days a year.
With these tidbits in mind, here are a few ways to reduce your waste during the holiday season:
- Get an accurate count of attendance for holiday festivities to eliminate excess food waste.
- Utilize the National Resources Defense Council’s “Guest-imator,” which calculates the amount of food to prepare per guest.
- Our eyes tend to be bigger than our stomachs; use smaller-sized plates so you and your guests are not tempted to fill up your plate with more food than you can actually eat.
- Use reusable dishware to reduce the waste of disposables.
- If using disposable dishware, use products with the least environmental impact such as paper products with high recycled content, bioware that is biodegradable or compostable, or recyclable plastic ware.
- Encourage your guests to bring containers to take yummy leftovers home.
- Get creative and repurpose leftovers for flavorful, untraditional dishes such as Turkey Pot Pies or Ham Stuffed Manicotti.
- Compost any leftover foods and acceptable disposables including soiled paper like cups, plates, napkins, and paper bags, and empty soiled cardboard or boxboard containers like pizza boxes, milk cartons, and takeout boxes.
- Donate excess food to food banks, homeless shelters, etc., if possible.
To learn more about how to lessen your environmental impact, visit www.texasdisposal.com.
Please note – editorials and sponsored posts are written by guest writers to inform and educate the community on a variety of different viewpoints, as well as to share information about local eco-friendly businesses and organizations. However, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Austin EcoNetwork.
