Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District
  • Home
    • Staff COVID Questionairre
    • Our Plan
    • Calendar
    • About Us >
      • Our Staff
      • Contact Us
      • Employment & RFPs
      • Our Board
      • Our Mission
    • Agendas
    • Minutes
    • Governance
  • Recycling
    • ARCC
    • A - Z Guide
    • Christmas Trees
    • E-waste
    • Clean Wood
    • Leaf and Yard Waste
    • Paint Recycling
    • Fluorescent Bulbs
    • Battery Recycling
    • Smoke Detectors
  • Composting
    • Donate Food
    • Home Composting >
      • Soilsaver Classic Composter
      • Green Cones >
        • Green Cone Installation Instructions
    • Food Scrap Drop Off Sites
    • Community Composting
    • Compost Equipment Order Form
  • Hazardous Waste
    • What is Hazardous Waste?
    • Hazardous Waste & Special Collections
    • Reducing Toxics
  • Programs
    • Workshop Registration
    • School Programs >
      • Remote Learning
      • Services to Member Schools
    • Repair Cafes >
      • What is a Repair Cafe?
      • Repair Cafe Tool Kit
      • Organize
      • Volunteer
      • Participate
      • Repair Culture
    • Grant Programs >
      • Organizational Waste Reduction & Reuse Program (OWRRP)
      • School Zero Waste Grants
      • Municipal Services Program
      • Emergency Municipal Solid Waste Response Program
  • Trash
    • Licensed Hauler List
    • Transfer Stations
    • Hauler Information
  • Zero Waste
    • Zero Waste at Home
    • Zero Waste Events >
      • Bin Loan Program
      • Zero Waste Event Kit
      • Waste Warriors
    • Reuse
  • For Businesses
    • Business Recycling
    • Business Compost
    • Business Hazardous Waste
    • Work with us form
    • Landlords >
      • Barre City Landlord Assistance
    • Tenants
  • Act 148 Media Stories
  • Waste Not
  • Prices & Products
  • Did You Know?
  • Current Publications
    • Shareable Files
  • Member Services Overview

Are Zero Waste Holiday Meals Possible? ….Yes!

12/15/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Imagine you walk out of the grocery store with four bags full of food.  One bag drops and you don’t bother to pick it up. This represents the fact that from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, Americans waste 5 million MORE pounds of waste than we usually do. (And usually we waste 40% of food from farm to plate according to the Natural Resources Defense Council) So here’s a challenge for us all to aim for:  Zero Waste Holiday Meals!
As you get caught up in the holiday cheer and festivities, thinking about how to incorporate less waste or even Zero Waste into your Holiday meals doesn’t have to be overwhelming…  Here are a few tips to think about as you plan:
Use whole foods- less packaged ingredients - Instead of cans and packaged ingredients, can you plan ahead and/or make it yourself? Packaged snack foods often fill up the trash can quickly. Think of snacks and treats you can make without packages: Cheese and bread! Roast bulk nuts in brown sugar or spices! Make your own hummus and cut fresh local veggies to dip! 

Use local ingredients - Even if you use whole foods, sometimes there’s the hidden waste of transporting products from afar- buying locally consumes less oil. 

Use Reuseable or Recyclable - We will all have some packaging even when we work hard at eliminating it;  think about if they can be recycled or reused before you make your purchase. .

Dish out smaller portions
–
The fact is…we all think we can eat A LOT more during holiday meals than any other meal.  Serving your holiday meal in courses helps people with better portioning.  Consider also using smaller plates.

Dishware and Napkins – Use reusable dinnerware and napkins.  If you don’t have enough here’s some options: Check out your local thrift store, post to Front Porch Forum asking for borrowed dinnerware, ask your guests to bring their own plate, bowl, silverware.  Also consider local churches and community groups often have spaces they rent out, fully equipped kitchens with everything you need for hosting your Holiday Party.

Have too many leftovers? Freeze it! - Even the best intentions of eating leftover meals for the next week can go sour after the 3rd leftover meal.  Leave only 3 meals worth of left-overs in the fridge, then freeze the rest in meal-size portions.  Use your leftover holiday meal to get creative.  Turn that holiday ham into Pea Soup! Turkey into pot-pie! Check out lovefoodhatewaste.com for hundreds of recipes for leftovers.

Take it home! Invite your guests to come with their own Tupperware or stock up early on yogurt or takeout containers.

Compost - Put your food scraps and plate-scrapings into the compost or look for a food scrap drop-off site near you. All transfer stations in Vermont now accept food scraps along with trash and recycling as well.

Donate - Still have extra cans of sweetened condensed milk or stuffing?  You can donate your canned or dried goods to a local food drive or food shelf.  Locate your nearby foodshelf.

Other thoughts:  Try bringing Zero Waste ideas into the rest of your party: reusable decorations? Yankee Swap for re-gifting presents? Reusable gifts bags?  Tell your guests about your Zero Waste ideas so they can help make it more possible with what they bring.

I hope these tips are helpful!  For more information on eliminating food waste, visit the EPA website.  May your holidays be filled with warmth and cheer!

by Jan Lloyd, Zero Waste Events Coordinator

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Cassandra Hemenway, CVSWMD Outreach Manager,  Theron Lay-Sleeper, Outreach Coordinator and Dora Chi, CVSWMD's Eco AmeriCorps service member all contribute to this blog.

    ​We also welcome guest bloggers; Email us if you'd like to contribute.

    Archives

    December 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Office  | 137 Barre St, Montpelier VT 05602-3618| 802-229-9383 | comments@cvswmd.org
ARCC  | 540 No. Main St, Barre VT 05641    | 802-476-1900  
Office Hours: M - F, 8 - 4 | ARCC Hours: M, W, F , 10:30 - 5:30 and 3rd Saturdays, 9 - 1

CVSWMD Member Towns: 
Barre City, Barre Town, Berlin, Bradford, Calais, Chelsea, Duxbury, East Montpelier, Fairlee, Hardwick, Middlesex, Montpelier, Orange, Plainfield, Tunbridge, Walden, Washington, Williamstown, and Woodbury. 
​
Background photo (c) Adam Chandler/Flickr