Keep Chadron Beautiful
  • HOME
  • About
  • Blog
  • Roadside Grants
  • How to Donate!
  • Contact
  • Volunteering


The Community Footprint

Tips and Tricks: Reducing Holiday Waste

12/19/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
The winter holidays are a wonderful source of family, cheer, and light in our lives at the end of the year. There’s nothing I love more than curling up with some hot chocolate and a book next to a fire, twinkle lights glowing on the Christmas tree. But what can we do to enjoy our holidays while staying mindful of the waste we’re creating? What’s the best way to dispose of old Christmas lights, is there a better way to wrap Christmas presents? How can we celebrate the holidays without contributing to the excess waste that already threatens our earth?
 
Here are a few suggestions for how we can do a little better this year:
 
  • Cancel catalog subscriptions. Despite the fact that I never intentionally sign up for them catalogs from various retailers (here’s looking at you, Ulta!) just keep showing up in my mailbox. With the holidays, and the subsequent uptick in shopping, it seems as if retailers have redoubled their efforts. A small change I can make, with a minimal investment of my time, would be to call and unsubscribe. Let’s be honest: I do all my shopping online anyway.
  • Be creative when wrapping gifts! Can you repurpose the paper bags you brought home from the grocery store? Can you use fabric to wrap presents instead of store-bought wrapping paper, can you save and reuse decorative boxes and bags? Keep the three R's in mind this year and reduce, reuse, recycle when wrapping gifts!
  • Stick with reusable dishware. Instead of using disposable dishes, consider how much waste you can reduce simply by using reusable plates, cutlery and cups.
  • Recycle your broken Christmas lights! Here’s some information on a Christmas Light recycling program. You can mail in your old lights and they do everything from there. Not only are you doing a good deed by recycling, you’ll also be helping Christmas Light Source raise money for Toys for Tots, a program that helps purchase educational books and toys for children in need https://www.christmas-light-source.com/Christmas-Lights-Recycling-Program_c_210.html.
  • Only buy the food you need. It’s easy to go overboard stocking the cupboards around the holidays. Keep in mind how much you will actually use, and be mindful about purchasing smaller quantities—especially this year, when we will likely be doing less socializing and preparing food for less people than we’re used to—will be easier to use up and, as such, will create less waste.
  • Recycle your unused electronics! If you’re gifted new electronics for the holidays, and no longer have use for some of your old tech, either give them away to others or—if they aren’t usable anymore—hang onto them and turn them in during our Spring 2021 Electronics Recycling event.
  • Recycle your corrugated cardboard. If you’re like me, you do a lot of online shopping around the holidays. That means a lot of cardboard boxes. I save some of the larger ones in case I need them for a future move, but if you don’t have the space to do that you can bring them to Keep Chadron Beautiful (or call us and arrange for pick up) and we’ll recycle them!
​
It only takes a few steps to make a big impact. This Christmas, let’s give back to the Earth by investing a little bit of extra time and care in the way we handle our waste. 
0 Comments

Considering Waste Reduction

12/11/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Food waste is perhaps one of the easiest and most important areas of waste reduction that we can focus on in our daily lives. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "up to 40 percent of the food in the United States in never eaten." We must consider the significance of this statement both through the lens of current food insecurity statistics, and through the ecological damage producing this excess waste creates when the food goes to the landfill and produces a damaging greenhouse gas called methane (NRDC). According to Yale Climate Connections, "As much as 11 percent of greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated if food waste were brought to zero" (Spiegel). Clearly, food waste has a dramatic impact on climate change and the condition of our earth. On a smaller level, another consideration is that by minimizing food waste in your own home you have the opportunity to dramatically lower your grocery bill. 

From a broad view, one of the most important changes we can make as a country is to focus on "implementing strategies that prevent surpluses of food from occurring in the first place" (Spiegel). One of these primary sources of detrimental emissions is from animals raised for food. KCB isn't suggesting that you adhere to a vegan lifestyle unless that is something which you feel is right for you, however, considering incorporating "Meatless Monday" (or Thursday, lol) into your weekly diet could lower the demand placed upon the meat industry and subsequently help to lower the demand for animal products. 

While some level of responsibility falls upon the consumer to implement personal strategies to make sure that they aren't creating food waste, we can also consider the impact of the seller and how they package the meat and other animal products which are on the market. Incorporating simple additions, such as highly legible dating on product packaging, makes a difference. Sellers also need to be held accountable for over-production of food products. Participating in programs which send excess food to low-income families is one way that companies can work to avoid detrimental food waste.
Picture
But how can we as individuals reduce the amount of food waste we produce? 

  • First, check out our video on conducting a food waste audit. This certainly offered me personal insight into how I could improve my imprint on the earth by reducing the level of food waste I produce in my own home. Taking stock of your waste increases your mindfulness and allows your to set small, achievable goals.
  • Meal planning allows for food to be consumed with waste reduction in mind. When selecting and planning meals for the week, the consumer can base their choices on what items they have in the home and refrigerator that are soonest to expire. You can also design your weekly meals based upon your lifestyle. If you're cooking for one, an efficient meal plan will look different from that for a family of six.
  • Freezing leftovers, soon-to-expire fruits, veggies, and meat items allows you to extend the life and use of foods you might not otherwise be able to consume prior to expiration. If you have the luxury of a deep freeze, this is even more useful for food preservation.
  • Clean out your refrigerator frequently. The more easily you can see what you have, the more likely you will be to recognize that it needs to be used up. Creating an organizational design for how you store food in your fridge will help as well. You might even consider taking a "shelfie" or picture of your fridge and cupboard to help you keep in mind what is available. Reducing personal food waste really begins in this step, as being aware of what you have allows you to make better choice when you're at the grocery store. 
  • Label your leftovers clearly. When did you make that delicious sweet potato and corn chowder? If you don't know, then you're far more likely to throw away something that's still edible out of excess caution... or to allow it to go bad because the date you made it slipped your mind.

The process of reducing food waste in the home is one that comes down to mindfulness. Be aware. Invest your time and care into how you structure the way purchase, store, prepare, and consume your food items. Each small change has the potential to create positive change for the better.


Resources:

FDA. Tips to Reduce Food Waste. https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/tips-reduce-food-waste
NRDC. Food Waste, What's at Stake. https://www.nrdc.org/food-waste
Spiegel, Jan Ellen. (2019). Food Waste Starts Long Before Food Gets To Your Plate. Yale Climate Connections.https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/05/food-waste-has-crucial-climate-impacts/?gcli
0 Comments

Waste Reduction Vlog

12/11/2020

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

    Author

    Stef Glass is the Education Coordinator for Keep Chadron Beautiful. She graduated from Chadron State College with her BA in English Literature and minors in History and Creative Writing in May of 2018.

    Archives

    June 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • HOME
  • About
  • Blog
  • Roadside Grants
  • How to Donate!
  • Contact
  • Volunteering