At Home - Save More Than Food - Central Ohio Food Waste Initiative

Reducing Waste At Home

For each Franklin County resident, the equivalent of nearly a pound of food is landfilled per day- adding up to nearly a million pounds every day. When food is landfilled instead of eaten, we lose natural resources, money and the opportunity to feed hungry members of our communities. But, together, we can change that! Check out the recommendations below for ways that you can prevent, reduce, and recycle food waste at home.

Some Basics to get you Started

Prevention Resources

Understanding Date Labels Did you know that date labels aren’t regulated in the United States? No wonder they're confusing.

open article

Food Storage & Revival Guide Prolong the life of your food with good storage

FOOD STORAGE GUIDE

Lunch With Lucy Watch quick video's for tips and tricks from SWACO's food waste expert on reducing your food waste at home

Lunch with Lucy

Know your Fridge Knowing your fridge can help your food stay fresh longer

Fridge Tips

More Resources Below Click the SHOW OTHER RESOURCES button below

Learn about Date Labels

Best by? Use by? Expires on? The food waste focused non-profit ReFED estimates that as much as 20% of consumer food waste is caused by confusion over the meaning of date labels. And no wonder! Date labels mean something different for each manufacturer. While date labels can help you approximate how long a food has been around, rely on other methods like the “sniff-test” and visual cues such as signs of aging, mold, or rotting to decide whether your food is okay to eat.

Take a date label quiz from food waste non-profit ReFED and learn more about how date labels vary from state to state.

Date Label Quiz

The Art of Freezing

You can freeze almost any food (Just not eggs in their shells or canned foods!). Once fully frozen, your food will never become unsafe to eat, but try to eat it within 6 months of freezing to maximize flavor and freshness. Check out the link for helpful tips.

Save The Food Freezer Guide

How to Waste Less with Kids

When you have young one’s to feed, picky eating, distractions during meals, and a tendency to throw food can all be challenges when trying to reduce food waste. But there are some things that you can do to help waste less food with kids.

Save The Food Tips

Check out the "From Waste to Resources" Webinar Series

Routinely, SWACO offers free educational webinars on best practices for reducing waste, reuse, recycling, composting and safely disposing of unwanted materials. Go to SWACO's website to learn about a variety of waste diversion opportunities, or find recent food waste webinars at the links provided.

From Waste To Resources Webinar Series Reduce Food Waste At Home Shop Smart with a Meal Plan

Additional Prevention Resources

Planning & Shopping & Cooking Resources

We’re all human. Sometimes we forget about that extra bell pepper that we saved for another day or discover a lonely wrinkled apple at the bottom of the fruit bin.

Meal Plan for a Group A dinner party calculator that estimates how much food you need to keep guests full & happy

Guestimator

Cooking with Food Scraps From cheese rinds to leftover Thanksgiving turkey, find recipes for all kinds of leftover foods

Get Scrappy

Hellmann's Fridge Night Find a "Flexible Recipe" that pulls together whatever's left in the fridge before the next grocery trip!

Fridge Night

Flash Food App This app helps customers save up to 60% on food nearing its best by date while reducing food waste at retail stores.

Get the App

Shop with Food Waste Reducing Retailers

Some online food retailers specialize in selling food that otherwise would have gone to waste. Some items have a wonky shape, others are just not quite the right size- but all of them are still just as delicious!

Imperfect Foods Perfectly Imperfect Produce Misfits Market

Volunteer with a Food Rescue Organization

Food Donation

Columbus Food Rescue Volunteer to chop veggies and them ready to be cooked into nutritious meals or by transporting fresh, usable food from local businesses to local non-profits.

Volunteer

Rescuing Leftover Cuisine Help reduce Central Ohio hunger and food waste by transporting fresh, usable food from local businesses to local non-profits.

Volunteer

Mid-Ohio Food Bank A variety of volunteer opportunities are available ranging from sorting and packing foods, distributing meals or helping to prep them.

Volunteer

Divert Your Food Scraps

Composting Resources

Collecting Food Scraps at Home 5 easy tips for keeping your kitchen bin and food scrap bucket odor and critter free.

Tip Sheet

Illustration of a girl in a field holding an apple core. A compost bin and apple tree are in the background

Backyard Composting Basics Use SWACO’s introductory guide to backyard composting to start your own compost pile.

Guide

Illustration of a girl standing next to a composting bin

Compost Troubleshooting Is your compost too smelly? Too wet? Or attracting pesky critters? Our Compost Troubleshooting Guide can help. Get no-sweat assistance and great tips in this guide.

Guide

Compost Bin Rebate Earn a $50 rebate on backyard composting equipment through Community Backyards Program through Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District.

Rebate

More Resources Below Click the SHOW MORE RESOURCES button below

Community Food Waste Drop Off Programs

A growing number of Central Ohio communities have launched community food waste drop-off programs. Residents of these communities can drop-off their food scraps free of charge. Visit a community's website to learn how to sign up to use a site.

MAP OF ALL LOCATIONS Bexley Curbside Columbus Dublin Gahanna Grandview Heights & Marble Cliff Grove City Hilliard New Albany Upper Arlington Westerville Whitehall Worthington

Curbside Composting and Other Drop-off Options

Fee-based curbside pick-up services and drop-off sites are available for residents who want to divert their organics but don't have access to a community sponsored drop-off and want an alternative to composting in the back yard.

Visit their company pages to learn more about options for residential composting.

The Compost Exchange GoZERO Drop-Off Sites

Composting in the Cold

Whether you’re a new to composting or have a few seasons under your belt, composting in the Winter presents challenges in cold climates. Here are some tips to keep you composting throughout the Winter.

Article

Backyard Composting

It's easy to get started!

Did you know? On average, every Central Ohio residents wastes $375 a year on food that they throw away.

Share The Campaign Talk to Family and Friends About Food Waste

Download and print copies of the Save More Than Food “At Home” flyer to start a conversation with family and friends about small steps that we can each take to save money and environmental resources by reducing food waste.

Share The Campaign