Christmas has already passed and along with it are tons of leftovers which will just go to waste. Such scenario happens every year amounting to millions of pounds of food and money going to waste. You might still have some leftovers in your kitchen and in case you are planning to throw it it out, stop yourself first and consider these ideas.
Feed It To The Hungry
Christmas is over but it doesn't mean that the spirit of giving dies out. Moreover, whatever you might think as garbage is treasure to another. There are still a lot of homeless and hungry people wondering where their next meal will come from. Why not exercise your 'Good Samaritan' spirit once more and give it to them. You can also coordinate with a local non-profit which have this program and donate your leftover food there. You'll be surprised to find out how easy it is to find people who have not enough food to eat.
Feed It To The Animals
If there are still a lot of food left for the humans, you can feed it to animals. Pigs and chickens are two of the best tools for combating food waste. Moreover, these two can eat mostly any scrap you will feed them.
In Austin, Texas, Robert Nathan Allen had a more novel idea by feeding the leftover food to soldier flies. After that, they collect the larvae and feeds them to the chicken. In order to do this, he collaborates with urban chicken farmers. This process will help them lower their expenses because they are producing their own organic feeds.
Compost It
Find out if your city has a compost pickup program. One non-profit, Compost Pedallers, uses bicycles fitted with vans to collect waste everyday. They, then, dump them to community gardens. This does not just lessen garbage dumped in landfills but they can be used as fertilizers instead.
As much as these steps can reduce food waste, the best step to totally avoid it is to buy less food in the first place. Only buy what is enough for you and your family. The best way to do this is plan what you need to buy first to prevent buying unnecessary food.
