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Tracey Ngo's avatar

Tracey Ngo

Center for Educational Excellence

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 799 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    2.0
    advocacy actions
    completed
  • UP TO
    2.0
    documentaries
    watched
  • UP TO
    6.0
    food items
    properly stored
  • UP TO
    2,409
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    35
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    48
    pounds
    food waste prevented
  • UP TO
    100
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    6.0
    zero waste recipes
    cooked

Tracey's actions

Planning

Date Labels Demystified

I will not toss food once it is past the best buy date. "Expiration" dates misleadingly refer to quality, not safety. Use your senses and best judgement.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Shop with Recipes In Mind

Create a shopping list with specific recipes and meals in mind. Purchase only what's on the list when you do groceries.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Skip the Cart

Bigger carts make us feel like we need to fill them! Use a hand basket to improve grocery store discipline and prevent over-purchasing.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Fridge Inventory

I will keep a fridge inventory to stay up to date with what I have in my fridge before I go grocery shopping.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Save the Peels

When life gives you lemons (or any other citrus peels), use the rinds to make a nontoxic cleaner.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Cooking

Food Preservation

Extend the life of your food by trying different preservation strategies like pickling, drying, or jamming. I will try 3 preservation techniques.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Cooking

Repurpose Leftovers

Give leftovers a new life! For example, use leftover rice to make fried rice. I will try a recipe that repurposes leftovers 3 times.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Planning

Eat Me First

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

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Storage

Berries

To keep berries fresh, place them on top of a paper towel in a sealed container to absorb excess moisture and reduce chances of molding. I will properly store 1 packs of berries.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Bananas

To keep bananas from browning quickly, break up the bunch and separate. Don’t store bananas with apples, which speed up ripening. If the stems came covered in plastic wrap, do not remove the plastic until ready to eat as this will slow the release of ethylene gas. I will properly store 5 bananas.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food Waste Tracking

Food Waste Tracking

Ready. Set. Record!

For each day during the food waste tracking week, record your food waste. This action accepts one entry per day, so be sure to enter one total for food waste across all of your meals, or weigh all of your food waste once at the end of each day. Please use ounces for unit of measurement.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Keep it Local

Purchase local, seasonal produce, which will likely stay fresh longer as it was picked more recently than supermarket produce.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Support Imperfection

20 billion pounds of fruits and veggies go to waste on farms every year, often because they don't live up to the cosmetic standards of grocery stores. Buy ugly produce at the grocery store, farmers market, or sign up for an ugly produce CSA box.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Shopping

Shop More Often

Grocery shop more often, and buy fresh foods in smaller quantities.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Dumpster Diving Discovery

Watch this video and get a glimpse of what is actually getting thrown away in our trash cans and dumpsters.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Watch John Oliver Food Waste Episode

Watch a Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episode on the topic of food waste and learn about the scope and scale of the issue.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Cooking

Fruit Smoothies

Freeze fruits nearing their end and use in smoothies. You can even try freezing avocados (see Resource)!

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Revive Limpy Produce

Rescue limpy produce like leafy greens or carrots by soaking in an ice bath.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Swap This for That

Missing an ingredient for a recipe? Check this list to find the best substitutes.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Compost

I will compost my food scraps.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food Systems

Advocate for More Food Options

I will advocate for local and/or organic food options at work or on campus.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Policy to Action

I will read about about state and federal legislation that can impact food waste reduction and recovery.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?