Klein Kitchen & Bath (https://kleinkitchenandbath.com/) , a remodel and design firm, wanted to find out just how wasteful we Americans are, and surveyed 3,200 of us to find out how much we threw away this past year…

The first discovery was that Texan households waste $1,100 worth of food annually, or in other words, over a quarter (27%) of their food each month – because it’s gone past its expiration date*. In fact, Texans are among the most wasteful in the country.

To find out how each state compares, check our interactive infographic map: kleinkitchenandbath.com/2018/12/10/guilty-of-food-waste

Here is some advice on how you can be more resourceful with your food, and so hopefully will be able to throw less away in the future:

–Freeze your food. You can actually 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–Donate the items you might be close to throwing out which aren’t yet out of date.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.

“It seems we need to educate ourselves a little better on what we can eat and when,’ says Eric Klein from Klein Bath & Kitchen. “Just being familiar with the difference between, say, sell-by dates and use-by dates can help us be less wasteful.”

Source:  data calculated by using the amount spent annually by each American household (figure taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics), and asking households how much food they throw away at the end of every month (%).