For those who have attended some of the classes that the county has put together on composting, and if you were an attendee, you know that I get pretty excited about composting. It is one more way that residents can use a tool, along with recycling at home, to control what gets put into the landfill. And, it is pretty simple to do too!

As we move into the holidays, we are absolutely flooded with chances to eat and food becomes a main part of how we celebrate the holidays. We can combat food waste throughout the holidays by using some common sense and not overdoing cooking and baking so that we end up throwing food away.

We can also learn more about what it means on packaging when we think something is expired. The terms “Best By,” “Sell By,” “Expires on” and more recently, “Best if Used By” appear on packaging to help residents determine the quality and freshness of any given product. It can be confusing to anyone to understand what these terms mean. Because of all of these different terms, confusion over the dating system causes residents to waste 20 percent more food.

The FDA supports, instead, dating information that says “Best if Used By.” These labels are not mandated by the USDA or the FDA but instead are determined by the manufacturer of that given item. These statements do not reflect that a product is expired but that a product should be used by the date given for the product to retain quality, freshness, and flavor.

The FDA does not require manufacturers to place quality-based dating on packaged food except for infant formula.

Food items that have changed color, texture, or scent should not be eaten and these can be composted for the most part. Many different items can be composted at home whether you have a compost bin or a compost pile at home.

The basic list includes: fruits and vegetables, eggshells, grass clippings, plant trimmings (even houseplant trimmings), leaves, weeds without seeds, pine needles, coffee grounds and coffee filters, tea bags, paper napkins, paper towels, cardboard egg cartons, hair and nail clippings, real flowers (no plastic ones, please), cotton balls and cotton swabs (with paper sticks), pizza take out boxes, chopsticks, popsicle sticks, toothpicks and shredded paper.

If you are not sure how long to store certain foods, there is a great app for your phone that can help you out. The FoodKeeper app (http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/foodkeeperapp/) can help residents determine how long food will be kept in the refrigerator, freezer, and on the shelf in your cupboard.

One last piece of reducing food waste is to make sure that your refrigerator and freezer are set at the appropriate temperature. Residents who are not sure what temperature their freezer or refrigerator is set at can use a thermometer to double-check the appropriate setting. Refrigerators should be set at 40 degrees Fahrenheit and freezers should be set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

If you have made too much, use your freezer to store items. Remember to put a sticker or tape on the container and label it with what is inside the container and the date that it was placed into the freezer. Remember that food should not be kept out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours unless you can keep hot food hot and cold food cold.

Composting and/or reduction of food waste is just as important as recycling for reducing waste going into the landfill. Lyon County residents do a great job not wasting food in the first place. Thanks for all that you do for the environment! For more information, you can reach the Environmental office at (507) 532-1307 or the Lyon County Landfill at (507) 865-4615.