Believe it or not, another year is finished (again?). As we celebrate 2009’s beginning, let’s resolve to reduce food waste.
Because I doubt I can communicate my thoughts any better, here’s an op-ed I wrote in 2006.
In addition to recycling ideas from two years ago (recycle, reduce, reuse, right?!), I’m making a few new resolutions for […]

Seeds of Change, a US and British seed seller, want you to Dig Your Dinner (and maybe even lunch).
They’ve launched a campaign (with cool graphics) to promote gardening. While you may not join the program (for £20) and receive their seeds, you can heed their message.
In addition to the often-discussed benefits of gardening (eating really […]

Here’s one more reason not to waste food: spare your garbageman the mess. The few days after Christmas, trash volume increases greatly, in some cases even doubling.
Wrapping, packaging and cardboard make up a large portion of that mess. But just like those materials should be recycled, so should food. This means composting or feeding it […]

Australian group Do Something received lots of media attention by drawing attention to Christmas food waste. Both television and print media ran stories about how food waste during the holidays harms the environment.
Not surprisingly, the reaction hasn’t been that positive. As you can see here, commenters are frustrated that enviornmentalists are trying to tell them how to celebrate their Christmas. And that’s one of […]

You tell ‘em, Courtland Milloy:
Check out any restaurant dumpster in downtown Washington or the trash cans along any street on garbage collection day, and you’re likely to find enough wasted food to fill those pantries to overflowing.
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Florida’s CBS 12 wants you to use canned vegetables to avoid waste. I’m with them in spirit, but […]

With Hannukah already here and Christmas just about, it’s worth looking at this grocery shopping psychology study on “cabinet castaways.” The study, an oldie but a goodie, found that 63% of unused products were bought for specific purposes:
When people buy products for specific recipes or specific occasions, they tend to be overly optimistic…After buying the […]

I occasionally hear from apartment dwellers frustrated that they can’t compost. I point them to this indoor composting contraption or suggest worm bins. But here’s a new idea: Export your compost!
I just found out that New Yorkers can drop off their food waste at Union Square Farmer’s Market, where the Lower East Side Ecology Center will […]

This columnist’s pantry check yields waste and a New Year’s resolution. Plus, tales of gangster donations!
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I have only one rule here at Wasted Food: When a Danish dairy producer reduces waste through a process I don’t quite understand, I link to it.
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If you’re not yet sick of me, here’s an interview from […]

Queen Elizabeth II is on a veritable frugal rampage. The Buckingham frugalista has not only stooped to wearing outfits more than once, but…
She insists that the Buckingham Palace lights are turned off when rooms are vacated and left-overs from banquets are re-used.
Like the Queen, I, too, turn off lights in vacant rooms, save food and […]

Who says all changes in the airline industry are for the worse? This year, Alaska Airlines started donating unopened food from its flights into Portland and Seattle.
The Seattle-based flyer gave food banks more than 80,000 pounds of food in 2008. While it may not be smoked salmon, it’s pretty decent stuff:
The food is unopened bags […]