RESOLUTION: REDUCE WASTE?

Did you know that the average American family wastes $1500 worth of food each year? Fifty-three million tons of food waste is sent to landfills each year. These statistics only scratch the surface of our country’s waste problem. This winter and spring, you’re invited to be a part of the solution by participating in the Tangletown Neighborhood Association Low Waste Lifestyle events. Our events are all free, virtual, open to all, and offer concrete steps and tools to make an immediate impact. Even better, each event is paired with a giveaway of items that will help you reduce your waste! Registration is required for events and can be found at tangletown.org/lowwaste.
Our next event, Plan, Shop, Store: Creative Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste, will take place on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 10:30 a.m. This session will focus on how to modify your shopping habits and food storage to create less waste. You will leave this session with techniques for reducing your waste through better planning, shopping with a different lens, and modifying how you store and utilize food throughout the week. As a bonus, twenty attendees will win reusable produce bags.
On Wednesday, Feb.16 at 7 p.m., we’ll have a cooking class focused on reducing food waste. The executive chef of Chowgirls Catering will be sharing recipes for using up foods before they go to waste. There will also be a live Q&A where you can ask about your food waste challenges in the kitchen. If you’re a fan of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s Turkey Confidential, think of this as our version of Sustainability Confidential! Chowgirls was the first green caterer in Minnesota and is a leader in sustainable food and events in Minnesota. Twenty attendees will win a set of compostable bags for attending.
To wrap up our series, we’ll be presenting a session on Organics Recycling Made Easy. On Thursday, March 31 at 7 p.m., join us as we share all the tips and tricks for simplifying organics recycling in your home. Whether you’ve already got your green bin, are considering getting one, or utilize drop sites, we’ve got you covered. To help you get started or increase your use, 20 attendees will win countertop or freezer compost bins. Don’t forget to register for our events at tangletown.org/lowwaste.
As this is the season of New Year’s Resolutions, we’re encouraging you to make a commitment to reduce your waste. You can submit our commitment form online at tangletown.org/commit. We have a long list of suggestions for first steps you can take or ways to further your current efforts. Better yet, you’ll be entered to win one of two $50 gift cards to the winner’s choice: Tare Market, Zero-ish, or any Forever Ware participating restaurants.
These programs are the result of the hard work of the Tangletown Environmental Committee and the financial support of the Hennepin County Green Partners Grant. Our fall 2021 events focused on packaging waste addressing the problems with plastic, how to reduce your packaging waste, how to shop in bulk, and how to advocate for systems level change. In 2020-2021, we hosted a series of educational events focused on textile waste reduction. All past event recordings can be found at facebook.com/tangletown.
Finally, we invite you to subscribe to our Sustainability Sam monthly email newsletter where you can find out all about our environmental programs. To sign up, visit: tangletown.org/sam. The newsletter features our monthly blog answering submitted sustainability questions and features environmental information, events, programs, and more throughout the Twin Cities. We hope to engage with you on environmental education and action this winter and spring!
Reach out by emailing info@tangletown.org.