Don’t waste Holiday Food

It is very easy to waste food around this time of year, so the South Carolina Department of Health and Enviromental Control (DHEC) encourages people not to toss out your holiday leftovers, says Amanda Edwards with the Office of Solid Waste, Reduction and Recycling. “Food waste is the No.1 item thrown away by Americans, accounting for 21.6% of the nation’s waste in 2014, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). South Carolina produced over 600, 000 tons of food waste in fiscal year 2016, which was July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. Send your guests home with leftovers in a reusable container. This not only helps clean out your fridge but it also keeps you from being stuck with a fridge full of leftovers that could go bad before you can eat it all. But make sure that your guest does not waste their leftovers too! It’s also helpful to allow self-serving so each person fixes the right amount of food that they can consume without throwing it out. If you’ve tired yourself out from creating new recipes with your leftovers, try feeding people instead of our landfills. In case you didn’t know, one in eight Americans struggle with hunger, including nearly 800,000 people in South Carolina, according to Feeding America. Food donation is a great way to provide surplus food to those who need it while recycling your leftovers. Besides, isn’t this time of year also the season for giving? If you cannot donate or reuse your leftovers, try composting. Sending food waste to a composting facility or composting at home can improve soil health and structure, increase water retention, support native plants and reduce the need for fertilizers and pesticides. As you can see, there are several options to avoid sending things to our state’s landfills. It’s important that we Don’t Waste Food SC.” This holiday, DHEC encourages you to join the fight to cut down on food waste in our state.