let’s say for breakfast today you had a scrambled egg, a cup of coffee and a slice of cantaloupe. while you get points for washing your dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, what did you do with your eggshell, coffee grounds and cantaloupe rind? bonus points if you put them in your compost bin and minus points if you put them in the trash.

americans produce nearly 34 million tons of food waste each year and if this statistic doesn’t scare you then keep in mind that when food breaks down in landfills, it emits methane which is 21 times more dangerous then carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

one way to reduce our food waste is to save all of our food scraps and compost them. in turn, compost creates more nutrient rich soil that’s used to grow more nutritious produce. yet, composting in a city can be difficult. however, compost cab is a unique d.c. service that picks up your food scraps for you, and delivers them to local dmv farm to be turned into compost. with just four families alone, compost cab can save over 2,000 lbs. of food from landfills.

if composting is not your thing, be sure to try one of these 34 other ways to waste less food!

sam cohen is a student at the george washington university.