Save Food, Spend Less Challenge 2026

Hennepin County | Ramsey County | Washington County

October 1 - October 31, 2026

grace's points

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
107 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

18

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

3.9

pounds

food waste prevented
UP TO

1.0

zero-waste meal

consumed

grace's actions

Shopping

Stick to Your Grocery List

I will only purchase the items on my grocery list and avoid impulse purchases.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Storage

Create an Eat First Area

I will create an "Eat First" area in my fridge to prioritize food that needs to be used right away for my household of 4.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Befriend My Freezer

I will freeze leftover food items or meals for later. The freezer is my food-waste-reduction friend!

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Storage

Rotate My Foods

When I restock my fridge or pantry, I will put new items in the back and bring older items to the front to be used first.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Community

Keep all food out of the garbage

In addition to using up my edible food, I will separate and compost my food scraps using backyard composting, curbside pickup, or a drop-off program.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Learn About Food Storage

I will learn about food storage and store food based on best practices to keep it from spoiling before it is used.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Planning

Plan a Leftovers Day

I will plan a meal to use up leftovers by creating a tasty smorgasbord or using a recipe that repurposes them.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Planning

Keep a Food Inventory

I will take a fridge and pantry inventory to stay up to date with what I have at home before I go grocery shopping.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Storage

Did you find that you were storing food incorrectly? Which items have you changed?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 12:08 PM

I found out that i am storing cucumbers incorrectly! Cucumbers last very long when they are submurged in cold water and stored in the fridge, they stay crisp and perfect for 2+ weeks.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

How has your awareness of the food you waste changed since you started separating it from other trash? Did anything surprise you?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 12:06 PM

My family has a compost bin and 14 chickens we rarley every waste food because if something isnt good for my family to eat we give it to our chickens and if its moldy we put it in our compost bin which has food scraps and chicken poop which we use as fertilizer in our garden. It suprises me how well our garden flourishes every year. we always end up canning, giving away to the local free fresh produce market.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Planning

Are there food items you have been better about using up and not wasting since you started keeping an inventory of what's in your fridge?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 12:01 PM

We have a Whiteboard list that we write our groceries list on, that way we know when to buy something again. Caesar salad dressing doesn't get used very often so we have also started writing down expiration dates of certain items so that way we don't have to waste food.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Planning

What kinds of foods do you like to eat as leftovers? If you or your household members don't like eating leftovers, are there any foods you would be more willing to try than others?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 11:58 AM

My mom made a green chili chicken enchilada soup about three months ago and froze the rest of it, she recently reheated it and it has been our best leftover meal. Everyone loves eating leftovers in our house.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Storage

What kinds of food are on your Eat First shelf? Has creating an Eat First area helped you reduce food waste?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 11:53 AM

Lettuce and fresh fruits are in a special area with a bright yellow sticky note to remind everyone to eat it before it goes bad. We now don't open up the fridge to find moldy fruit and slimy lettuce because we have and eat first area.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Storage

How has rotating your foods changed your awareness of what you have on hand? Have you changed any of your shopping habits because of this practice?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 11:51 AM

My family was bad about rotating Yogurts around in the fridge so we eat the older stuff first. it has also helped me realize there is more food in my fridge that i originally thought. Now that we started rotating foods around we waste less food

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Storage

Do a bit of research about foods that freeze and revive well. What can you put in the freezer that you didn't know you could?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 11:48 AM

Flour! I had no idea that this can be put in the freezer!

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- H McCrillis 10/04/2026 11:29 PM
  
  I had to remind myself we could freeze that. Now to clear out some room in there….
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Shopping

What are some of the things you typically buy that you weren't on your list? How do you think you might limit some of those purchases?
grace manthei 10/02/2026 11:45 AM

we typically shop at costco so we buy a lot of stuff in bulk, when we do this we save money and trips to the store because we have a large pantry where we store food. Shopping in bulk helps us limit random purchases

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