Reducing food waste

Individual actions

Before you shop

• Check inventory: Regularly check your pantry, fridge, and freezer to avoid duplicate purchases. Make a grocery list and buy only what you need.
• Use planning tools and tracking toolsto ensure food you buy will be used.
• Buy smart: Choose loose produce over packaged, buy shelf-stable items in bulk, and look for "imperfect" fruits and vegetables that stores cannot sell.

Proper storage techniques

• Store food correctly: Keep fruits and vegetables in separate drawers and use airtight containers for dry goods.
• Take leftovers home, to avoid letting it go to waste.
• Use your freezer: Freeze items you can't use immediately. Label and date items for easy tracking.
• Rotate stock: Organize food by expiration date, placing older products in front.

Prep smart

• Prep for immediate use: After shopping, wash, chop, and store fresh food in clear containers.
• Weekly meal prep: Prepare and store complete meals for convenience.

Understand expiration dates

• A "Best if used by/before" date tells you when food will taste best; it is not a safety deadline.
• A "Freeze-by" date is when a product should be frozen to preserve its best quality.

Creative cooking

• Explore new recipes and cuisines: Many cultures use zero-food-waste techniques practiced for generations.
• Use leftovers: Incorporate extras into soups, stock, stews, smoothies, or omelets.
• Batch cooking: Cook in bulk and store in portions.

Educate yourself and others

• Spread awareness: Teach others about reducing food waste.
• Learn about alternatives: Educate yourself on plant-based protein sources like beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, and seitan, and lower-carbon footprint meats.

Be mindful of portions

• Smaller portions and smaller plates: Start with smaller portions and add as needed to reduce waste.

Keeping food out of landfills

• If you have extra food at home and won't eat it in time, consider donating to a local food bank or shelter to support your community, or share with friends. Compost food scraps to reduce emissions and enrich the soil.

Composting

• Recycle your organics: Separate your food and yard waste and use your curbside organics collection service. Find your service provider.
• Home composting: Start a compost bin for kitchen scraps like vegetable peels and coffee grounds. This reduces landfill waste and creates nutrient-rich soil for gardening. Visit Tilth Alliance for tips on composting at home.

Consider raising chickens

• Backyard chickens help reduce transportation and packaging emissions and use food scraps that would generate methane in landfills. Backyard chickens are allowed in King County, but the rules depend on your location in the county.

Food sharing

• Community fridges: Utilize or support community fridges like these, where people can donate excess food, and others take what they need.
• Food donations: Donate non-perishable items to local food banks and shelters.
• Share tables: help make donated food available to communities and to reduce waste through  schools, community centers and workplaces.

King County efforts

Community education and outreach

• King County's Food Too Good to Waste (FTGTW) program
  Fresh food, especially vegetables and fruit, are the most wasted food items. By storing them to maximize freshness, you can help them last longer, taste better, and reduce waste. Key resources include the food storage guide (available in 7 languages) and our Eat Soon stickers (in English & Spanish).
  
  King County's FTGTW program partners with organizations at local events, such as King County CHOMP and the Issaquah Sustainability Fair.
  
  
• Love Food Stop Waste
  The "Love Food, Stop Waste" (LFSW) program by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) aims to reduce food waste by engaging residents in food-saving strategies. The LFSW program partners with community liaisons and community organizations, such as the Duwamish River Festival and Othello Festival.

Regional and industry collaboration

• Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment (PCFWC)
  King County joins other jurisdictions and private food businesses along the West Coast (including grocery retailers, hospitality and foodservice, and manufacturers) in a commitment to working collaboratively to prevent and reduce food waste.
• King County's Local Food Initiative
  King County partners with community, local farmers, King Conservation District, and others in developing and implementing a roadmap to grow the local food economy and make locally grown food accessible to all.
• Seattle's Food Action Plan
  The Food Action Plan is the City of Seattle's roadmap for an equitable, sustainable, and resilient local food system.

Policy development and leadership

• King County advocates for food waste prevention and supports policies at the regional and industry levels.
• Through the Commercial organics diversion program, the County helps businesses reduce organic waste sent to landfills. It also works with other entities to implement the state's Organics Management Law and advocate for policy improvements.

Supporting schools and institutions

• King County Green Schools Program
  The King County Green Schools Program helps K-12 schools and districts adopt sustainable practices and empowers students and staff to foster environmentally responsible schools, conserve resources, and lower costs.

Community efforts

Food redistribution and community support

• Wasat
  Wasat is a King County Re+ Circular Economy Grant recipient and collaborates with BIPOC chefs and caterers to repurpose surplus food into culturally relevant meals for community members facing food insecurity.

• Renewal Food Bank
  The Renewal Food Bank is part of the Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline hunger relief network. Since its establishment in 1998, it has served nearly 300,000 individuals.
• Seattle Public Utilities Innovative Food Rescue Investments
  This grant provides seed funding to test innovative approaches that could be scaled or replicated with private sector, nonprofit, or philanthropic funding.
• South King County Food Coalition
  The South King County Food Coalition has been advocating for the hungry in local communities for almost 40 years.

 

• Food Cycle Science
  Food Cycle Science is an initiative aimed at reducing food waste and promoting sustainable practices. The program provides residents with in-home technology, such as the FoodCycler, which processes food waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment.

• Restaurant 2 Garden
  Restaurant 2 Garden transforms local restaurant food waste in the Chinatown International District of Seattle through a hyper-local community composting facility.

Promoting urban agriculture and food access

• UTOPIA Washington's Food Access Network
  UTOPIA Washington's Food Access Network champions food sovereignty, cultural preservation, and sustainable agriculture to create a healthier, more equitable future.
• City Fruit Seattle
  City Fruit harvests urban fruit to increase access to fresh produce for food-insecure communities in Seattle.
• Seattle Giving Garden Network
  The Seattle Giving Garden Network  is a volunteer-run organization that connects community and individual gardens dedicated to growing and donating fresh produce to local food banks and meal programs.

Education, celebration, and awareness

• CHOMP!
  CHOMP! is King County's local food and sustainable living festival. Held at Marymoor Park, the event features local farms, chefs, and organizations specializing in healthy and affordable foods, sustainability, and social justice.