By Lena Kim, part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Recovery Challenge team

The holidays symbolize family, friends, food, festivities, and it is a season of caring and giving. This holiday season, you can give back to yourself, your community, and your environment with one small act – reducing the amount of food you waste.

Wasted food is the number one material that goes into municipal landfills and incinerators. All this wasted food generates methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 20 time more potent than carbon dioxide. Much of the “waste” is not waste at all, but is actually safe, wholesome food that could be donated and potentially feed millions of Americans.

And here’s the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie - by reducing the amount of food you waste, you’re ultimately giving a meaningful holiday gift to yourself, your family and your community. With this intangible gift of mindful action, you’ll do far more than simply reduce food waste; you’ll save money, protect the environment, and help neighbors in need. Now that’s a gift that packs a punch.

Take a stand and rethink your food. Take these 10 simple steps to make your holidays happier, your wallet fatter, and your environment cleaner.

1. Shop your refrigerator first. Take a peek in your fridge and freezer before heading to the store, and plan a meal around what you already have before buying more. Presto- money saved without leaving the house!
2. Take time to plan your menu before you go shopping. Once in the store, buy only items on your list. If it’s not on the menu, it either won’t get eaten or will replace something that’d been planned- either way will waste food and money. You’ll save money and waste less food by shopping smart.
3. Buy only what you will realistically use. Buying in bulk only saves money if you can use the food before it spoils. Will you really use that industrial-sized cereal box or gallon jug of soy sauce? If not, return it to the shelf!
4. Choose produce that may not be cosmetically perfect, but is perfectly edible. Seasoned cooks know that those slightly bruised apples taste just as yummy in that pie, and misshapen potatoes taste smashing when mashed. This sends signals to the grocer that cosmetic flaws are okay and means that blemished produce doesn’t need to get trashed before reaching store shelves.
5. Know when food really goes bad- you may be surprised. Most food products indicate a “best by” date. This isn’t an expiration date, but a time in which the contents will be best to consume. Ask your grocer or contact the product manufacturer for more details before you toss out those canned goods, cake mixes or bottled condiments.
6. Act like a top chef and use all the edible parts of the food. Stale bread can be used to make croutons, beet tops can be sautéed for an inventive side dish, and green onion tops make an even more flavorful broth.
7. Freeze, can or preserve surplus fruits and vegetables. Don’t know what to do with all those apples? Homemade applesauce is a cinch to make. Plus, did you know the secret to freezing most vegetables is simply to blanch them in boiling water first?
8. Eat or share all your leftovers. Put leftovers in reusable containers, and share with family, friends, neighbors. Everyone knows ham, turkey and cranberry sauce tastes even better the next day!
9. Donate whole, untouched food from parties to your nearby food bank or homeless shelter. In fact, plan a get together with friends and neighbors for a food packing party the morning after that big event. Uneaten, nourishing food will go to a good cause, and it gives you yet another excuse to gather with friends and family in support of a meaningful cause.
10. Compost food scraps rather than tossing them in the trash. Your garden will benefit from the added nutrients, and your kids will learn an invaluable lesson in environmental protection. Don’t know where to start? Check out EPA’s composting website for easy, quick tips.

This holiday season, and throughout the year, rethink your food and Feed Families, Not Landfills.

Are you struggling to get the child support payments you’re owed? This how-to guide can help.

If you’re celebrating the holidays with kids, discuss these tips from Kids.gov with them. 

November celebrates National Adoption Month across the country. The month focuses on raising awareness about adoption, educating communities about the challenges and myths around adopting children, and draws attention to thousands of children in foster care who need good homes.

If you’re thinking about adopting a child:

• Educate yourself on common adoption myths and how to make the process the easiest for you
• Know that on average, it takes a year from the time you contact an adoption agency to the time a child is placed with you
• Remember there are several steps in the adoption process, including: completing an adoption home study, getting approved, and being matched with a child
• Have appropriate expectations and avoid judgments based on information you’ve read.

Learn more about adoption in the United States.

November is recognized as Military Family Month. It is a time to celebrate and honor service members and their families and thank them for their sacrifice to our country. These are just a few of the many resources available to help military service members and their families:

• Deployment Guide: This interactive resource is a free tool for service members of all branches and their families to use while preparing for deployment, during deployment, and when returning home from deployment.
• Combat Stress: Operation Enduring Families provides a five-step educational and support program for veterans and their families after they return from combat. The program includes sessions on family relationships, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, communication and intimacy and anger. The sessions strive to address challenges, offer resource and garner hope.
• Child Care: While a family member is deployed, the spouse at home can feel an extra burden of child care. The Department of Defense (DoD) offers child care services for family members to help them get affordable and quality child care. The DoD currently has over 800 child care centers and oversees family programs across the country.

Find more resources for military families.