People celebrate the holidays with plenty of food from sweet treats to turkey dinners.

However, about two-thirds of the food makes it into our bellies and the rest ends up in a landfill.

Food waste accounts for about 27% of garbage at Cary’s landfill, according to Srijana Guilford, the town’s waste strategy and impact consultant.

The town of Cary is encouraging people to bring food scraps to the Citizen’s Convenience Center at 313 North Dixon Ave. The town collects and composts unused food. Cary is also building a second drop-off site in 2024.

• Food compost items accepted: Food scraps, coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea bags, paper towels, napkins, paper plates , BPI-certified compostable items, pizza boxes and pet food.
• Food items not accepted: Plastic bags, plastic packaging, Sytrofoam, metal cans, liquids, oils, twist ties, rubber bands, labels and stickers.

Cary’s landfill is expected to be full by 2045. It’s a common problem at landfills across the U.S.

In America, about 700 billion pounds of wasted food gets dumped each year. Thanksgiving accounts for 300 million pounds of wasted food.

“I feel, as a society, we are quite wasteful,” said Jessica Atta, who was was dropping off unused food. “It’s a shame really, it really is.”

It provides for Cary residents to utilize the city’s free food waste drop-off.

“I just want to be a little bit less wasteful when it comes to consuming goods and reduce my trash output,” Atta said.

Cary has collected and composted more than 160,000 pounds in two years.

More can go in the town of Cary’s bins than the typical person’s backyard compost. It’s because it’s going to a commercial facility. People can drop off anything with this BPI certification on it. The town provides free compost bags. People can drop off paper plates, paper towels, napkins, meat, cheese and turkey carcasses.

Recycling organic waste can help to protect the climate by reducing methane emissions from landfills.

“A significant fraction of food waste becomes methane that escapes into our atmosphere,” said Beau Hoffman with the Department of Energy. “And that is, depending on the time cycle 30 to 100 times worse than carbon.”

A recent survey by Cherry Digital found the typical household in North Carolina wastes $915 of food each year. The national average was $907. The survey found almost one-quarter of people’s food is thrown away because items are past their “best by” date.

The survey found only about one-quarter of North Carolinians knew the “use-by” date signifies the last day of the product’s peak quality, leading many confused consumers to throw away food that’s still edible.

“We want folks to think about source reduction all the way around when you’re thinking about food scraps,” Guilford said.

Advice on how to be resourceful with food

• Freeze your food. You can freeze the food right up till the use-by date, and it will be good to eat months later! (Just double check what you can or can’t freeze – not everything can go in, like soft cheeses).
• Freeze milk into an ice cube tray! As the survey revealed, most people will throw away dairy products first – well now they can use this handy tip instead of wasting. Use the frozen milk cubes in coffee or tea.
• Put your herbs into a glass of water to prevent them from wilting quickly, they will last much longer.
• If yogurts are getting near their use-by date, you can mix them up with some over-ripe fruit for a smoothie or even freeze into ice-lollies!
• Turn stale bread or crusts into breadcrumbs by putting them in a food processor. Fantastic when mixed with herbs or onions as a stuffing for chicken or to top baked fish.
• When cooking with foods such as potatoes, broccoli, or carrots, use it all. You don’t need to remove the peel or cut the stems off, as they often have additional nutrients in! And if you don’t like the peel or stem, you can compost what you don’t use.
• Donate the items you might be close to throwing out which aren’t yet out of date. There will be plenty of food kitchens nearby that would really appreciate anything you have which is going spare.

Food waste drop-off sites in central NC

Wake County

• Convenience Center #2, 6120 Old Smithfield Road in Apex
• Convenience Center #4, 3600 Yates Mill Pond Road in Raleigh
• Convenience Center #7, 9024 Deponie Drive in Raleigh
• Convenience Center #8, 2001 Durham Road/Hwy. 98 in Wake Forest

Orange County

• Eubanks Road Waste and Recycling Center
• Walnut Grove Church Road Waste and Recycling Center
• High Rock Road Waste and Recycling Center
• Carrboro Farmers Market
• Chapel Hill Farmers Market
• Eno River Farmers Market