Just did the math on my food waste for one week and it's gross

I decided to actually weigh what I throw away for 7 days in my apartment in Denver. Ended up tossing 4.2 pounds of food just from spoilage and leftovers I forgot about. That works out to like 218 pounds a year from just me alone. Has anyone else tracked their waste and found numbers that made them change how they shop?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan9151mo ago

Started doing this a few years back and it was honestly humbling (and gross, as you said). Ended up changing how I shop completely - now I make a rough meal plan before I hit the store and only buy what I know I'll eat within the week. Freezing stuff has been a game changer too, especially bread and leftover sauces that would just sit in the fridge until they turned fuzzy. The biggest shift for me was realizing I didn't need to buy in bulk just because it was on sale.

logan6321mo ago

It's wild how this one small habit shows a bigger thing. People just buy stuff without thinking about the whole chain. Like grabbing avocados on a whim then forgetting them behind the milk. We're trained to see grocery shopping as stocking up, not planning meals. That bulk sale mentality bleeds into everything else too. Clothes, gadgets, whatever. Just acquiring without a real need.