Reducing Holiday Food Waste by MCR Leah A.

With a few tweaks to your holiday habits, you can reduce the waste your house will produce; which will add up to savings in your wallet and less pressure on our waste system!It isn’t
just gift giving that puts financial pressure on us and environmental pressure on our world.
From Thanksgiving through to New Year's Eve, many parties and holidays increase the amount of food we buy, prepare, consume and, yes, waste.

https://wrwcanada.com/en/get-involved/resources/food-waste-themed-resources/food-waste-canada-facts

With health in mind, consider making fewer snacks for casual parties. Most of us don’t want
to eat dozens of high-fat, high-sugar tidbits but with so many tempting offerings, what are
we to do? Fruit and veggies fill us up better than other offerings, plus take less time and
money to offer! With one or two festive options mixed in, we can truly enjoy a small
indulgence. Leftover veggies can be tossed into the next meal’s salad or soup, and fruit is
easy to add to lunches!

For large festive meals, ask guests to bring containers for leftovers. At the end of the meal,
guests can pack up a lunch to go and you’ll have less food to try and fit into your fridge, and
fewer days of repeating meals.

For food scraps, consider composting on-site; edmonton.ca/composting has lots of information
about how you can compost in your home in any circumstance. You’ll make fantastic fertilizer
for your indoor plants or garden, and be helping to reduce your personal footprint.

Leah joined the MCR ranks in May of 2014. She believes that urban environments offer a real opportunity to make the world increasingly sustainable. Favoured topics include composting, urban design, and (now) minimalism.