The average household in the U.S. wastes nearly a third of its food, much of it ending up in landfills and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
And nearly 25% more waste is generated during the holiday season, according to the American Journal of Agriculture Economics.
But Five Rivers MetroParks staff have some helpful tips on how to be more sustainable during the holidays.
Calculating portion sizes for dishes can be a great way to cut back on waste, according to the Sustainability Manager Kelly Bohrer.
"There are apps and websites where you can actually put in how many people are you expecting and what you would like to serve, if it's meat or salad or whatever." she said. "And it actually will give you the amounts that you should plan for."
She also suggests mixing in some vegetarian or vegan dishes this holiday season. The largest chunk of food-related greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and land use. That includes meat production.
Cows and sheep emit methane as they digest, according to the United Nations. Cattle waste on pastures, as well as the chemical fertilizers used on crops for cattle, also produce nitrous oxide. These emissions are powerful greenhouse gasses.
"Eating vegetarian and local is a lot more sustainable than eating meat and bringing in food from around the world," Bohrer said. "So if we're really being conscious about how we're impacting climate change and what's our carbon footprint or ecological footprint or our energy use, obviously go for a vegetarian."
Outside of the kitchen, starting an at-home compost or finding a local compost drop off can reduce food waste.
“Waste Free Dayton runs a drop off composting program and they take a lot more than just veggies and eggshells and coffee beans," Bohrer said. "So that's something to consider, is you could sign up to do that with them. And there is a drop off location at Second Street Market.”
Kaitlyn Lowry is an an education coordinator based out of Possum Creek MetroPark. She said shopping locally is another way to provide more sustainable dishes that also boost the regional economy.
"Those are all great ways to be more sustainable and to keep money and investment in the local economy. Picking food that's more seasonally available and local to the area is also a great way to do that," she said. "And you can get to know who's making and producing your food at places like the Second Street Market."
Holiday shoppers can also consider gifting an experience such as MetroParks’ upcoming elderberry program on Jan. 18.
“So we'll be doing an herbalism program on elderberries, teaching people how to make elderberry syrup and just general uses of elderberry, which is something that you can grow here sustainably,” Lowry said.
Other upcoming programs that Lowry suggests for experiential gift giving include her Compost Kitchen classes.
"It's a two part program, so it'll be on March 20 and March 27. That's the next two, and you have to attend both and you can register with a friend or loved one," she said. "But the cool part is on top of learning about compost and becoming a lot more familiar with that, it's free. So it's a totally free program and you get a free Earth Machine Composter at the end of it, which is extra cool."
For more information about future programs, visit metroparks.org.
