Each year, the average American family of four loses $1,500 to uneaten food — that’s about 1,160 pounds of food. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it is timely to think about how we as individuals can keep our household food waste in check.

While many of us like turkey sandwiches the next day with a slice of pumpkin pie, we may waste a lot of perfectly good food if we overprepare and don’t take steps to freeze or store leftovers properly until they can be eaten. Wasting food is a waste of money that could be used elsewhere. Here are a few tips that can help reduce food waste at our holiday meals and save you money.

Store or give away leftovers

Place food in clear containers marked with the contents and date. That can increase the chances that the leftovers in the fridge will be remembered and actually eaten. If you have guests who want leftovers, let them choose their favorite dishes so that their takeaway food containers match what they will really enjoy. For example, guests who only like white turkey meat would likely waste a leftover drumstick or wing.

Be creative with your leftovers

My favorite post-Thanksgiving treat was when my mom made fritters with the leftover mashed potatoes for breakfast the next day. Extra rolls and bread that are getting stale can be made into bread pudding. Think about what your family did to save food from being wasted and add your own touch of creativity. Try your hand at making homemade turkey stock with the bones, or make turkey chili with leftover meat. Whip extra buttermilk or cream into French toast batter. You could even start a new family tradition of serving a pot of turkey soup on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Resources like Pinterest or Google are your friends for finding recipes to creatively use up leftovers. 

Donate

If you have extra cans of pumpkin pie filling, green beans, or cranberry sauce, consider donating them to your local food bank to help those in need. Visit the Feeding America website or EPA’s Excess Food Opportunities Map to find a food bank near you.

Don’t let your leftovers end up in a landfill

The food on your table is the result of many resources. Fresh water, energy, land, and labor are used to create, process, transport, store, market, and prepare that food. Do what you can to keep your food out of landfills so that all of those resources are not wasted. Food rotting in landfills emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, so by keeping food out of landfills you are helping the climate.

A great tool that you can use in your home to reduce food waste is the FoodKeeper App, which provides guidance on storage (e.g., in a refrigerator or freezer) for more than 650 food and beverage items and helps you track storage times for different foods. For example, for freshness and quality, rotisserie chicken should be consumed within three to four days when stored in the refrigerator or within four months if stored frozen. This app also provides guidance on safe handling and preparation with helpful cooking tips, such as how to thaw and roast a turkey by weight. FoodKeeper is available free as a mobile application for Android and Apple devices, or via desktop at FoodSafety.gov.

Composting

Composting your food scraps can help your garden grow. Learn how to get started with composting resources from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. When composting, make sure to only toss organics in the collection container and keep out produce stickers and non-compostable plastic bags, service ware, or utensils.

No matter how you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, these tips and tools can help you reduce food waste while enjoying your holiday.