At my house we compost almost all of our unused food scraps, especially fruits, vegetables, and coffee grounds. My mom collects them in a small plastic bag then about once every two days she takes it out into the backyard and puts it in her compost bin. She has a large garden, and uses our own compost as nutrients for the soil. By doing this, it means my family wastes less food. Some of the environmental benefits include keeping food scraps out of landfills. According to epa.gov, “Food scraps and yard waste currently make up 20 to 30 percent of what we throw away and should be composted instead.” According to epa.gov, “Once in landfills, food breaks down to produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change.” As you can see, throwing away food is a problem. If you don’t know how to compost, and would like to, there are many resources online to help you out. If you don’t want to compost, but want to reduce the amount of food you throw away, you can plan out ahead of time your meals and what you are going to buy at the grocery store. There are man y benefits to both composting and reducing food waste, so by doing either or both of those things, you are not only helping the environment, but helping yourself by becoming aware of what you are eating and throwing away, and becoming healthier by eating better foods. Both of the links below have great resources for getting started on reducing food waste and composting.

Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wasted-food-home