Holiday Hub

Tools and tips for reducing your waste throughout the holidays and winter season.

Prepare Just Enough Use the GUESTIMATOR, a dinner party calculator, to estimate how much food you'll need to keep your guests full and thankful.

Tip: Begin to collect takeout containers now so that you can send guests home with leftovers.
The Guestimator
Store Food Correctly It's easy for food to go bad during the holiday season when the fridge is packed. Storing food correctly will help maximize freshness. Check out the Storage Guide for tips on keeping your food fresh.
Storage Guide
Reimagine Holiday Leftovers No more moldy cranberry sauce or kids whining "turkey again?" This year you'll want to use all of your leftovers for these delicious recipes.
Organic Valley Leftover Recipes
Food Donations Are you looking to donate food or time this season? We work with a number of partners to help get food to those who need it while reducing food waste at the same time. Consider volunteering or donating to them.
Get Involved
Compost In Cold Weather 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.
Winter Composting Tips
Green Holiday Guide We throw away 25% more during the holidays. Check out this guide to help you get to ZERO WASTE.
Reduce Waste
Compost Your Pumpkins at a Community Drop off Drop off sites open through the Fall.
Find a Site
Illustration of a girl standing next to a composting bin
Compost Troubleshooting Guide 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.
Troubleshooting Guide
Help Save Resources, Time, and Money

Prevention

Best by? Use by? Expires on? The food waste focused nonprofit ReFED estimates that as much as 20%of consumer food waste is caused by confusion over date labels. And no wonder! Date labels mean something different to each manufacturer. Learn a few basics to get you started!

Collage of fresh fruits and vegetables
Become a Food Storage Pro Did you know that storing bananas near other fruits make those fruits ripen faster? Or that potatoes will last longer if stored in a dark place? Check out our Food Storage Guide to make your food last longer.
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 Series
Shop Smart and Meal Plan Make a plan before you go to the grocery store by creating a meal plan for the next several days. Then, stick to your plan while at the store to save money by only buying what you know you will use. Use the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Meal Prep Mate to get started by trying out one of their pre-designed meal plans or use their planning tool to make your own plan.
MEAL PREP MATE

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.

Check out this article on common food date label misconceptions.
Next, take a date label quiz from food waste non-profit ReFED and learn more about how date labels vary from state to state.
Demystifying Date Labels Date Label Quiz

NRDC's Food Storage Guide

NRDC'S interactive storage guide has tips, trick, and info to keep your food fresh for as long as possible
FOOD STORAGE GUIDE

Tips on 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

The Refrigerator Demystified

Refrigerators are designed to keep you food fresh for longer. By understanding its design, you can keep your food fresh for even longer. Print out this quick reference guide to remind you to store your food for maximum freshness.
Learn More

Meal Planning for a Group

When cooking for family and friends, it can be difficult to know how much food you need to prepare. This easy-to-use calculator can help you buy the right amount for your next get-together.
Use it Now

Lunch with Lucy

Follow SWACO on social media to receive updates including “Lunch With Lucy” posts with quick and easy tips, tricks and recipes to help you reduce your waste at home. Watch previously posted video’s on SWACO’s website.
Lunch with Lucy

Food Waste and 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

Green Holiday Guide

Learn ways to make a difference this holiday season by reducing your waste and recycling more.
See the guide

Learn from the Experts with SWACO's "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
Recover Food Before it Goes to Waste

Rescue and Recovery

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. Find recipes and tricks to give these ingredients a new life.

NRDC’s Save The Food Recipes and Tips From cheese rinds to leftover Thanksgiving turkey, Save The Food features recipes for all of your leftover or past-their-prime foods. Search by food type or browse meals that meet your dietary restrictions.
Learn More
Shop for Rescued Food Nature is not a perfectionist. Sometimes carrots are crooked. Occasionally apples are odd colors. Look for these one-of-a-kind items in the discount section at your local grocery to save money and prevent waste.
Plate of food
Make Leftovers New Again Browse recipe collections at AllRecipes.com for fun and imaginative ways to transform leftover ingredients into an all new meal.
Learn More

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

Hellmann's Fridge Night

Grab your left-behind food and find a 'Flexible Recipe', designed to use up leftovers and make a delicious meal the whole family will enjoy.
Fridge Night
Get Involved

Join the Efforts Below to Team Up with Food Waste Prevention Partners

Food Rescue US Help reduce Central Ohio hunger and food waste 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
Engage Your Friends on Social Media Posts Use pre-made posts and image files from the Save More Than Food toolkit to help your friends learn what they can do to reduce food waste.
Learn More
Mid-Ohio Food Bank Volunteers are essential to the success of one of the largest food bank networks in the Midwest. Whether it’s one day a year or a few hours a week, you can help to get food to Central Ohio families.
Volunteer
Man and boy looking at computer
Take the Quiz Test your food waste knowledge and learn more about what you can do to reduce food waste by taking the Save More Than Food Quiz and sharing your results with friends on social media.
Take the Quiz
Learn about the Local Food Action Plan Facilitated by Columbus Public Health, the Local Food Action Plan aims to develop more resilient and sustainable food systems in our region. Check out the plan and join committees and working groups to make a difference for local food systems.
Local Food Action Plan
Divert Your Food Scraps

Composting

Illustration of a girl in a field holding an apple core. A compost bin and apple tree are in the background
Backyard Composting Guide Use SWACO’s introductory guide to backyard composting to start your own compost pile.
See the Guide
Woman and girl gardening
Compost Bin Rebate Earn a $50 rebate on backyard composting equipment through SWACO and the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District.
Learn More
Gathering food scraps
Collecting Food Scraps at Home 5 easy tips for keeping your kitchen bin and food scrap bucket odor and critter free.
Tip Sheet

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
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