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Anna Marie Castro's avatar

Anna Marie Castro

County of San Diego

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 660 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    27
    food items
    properly stored
  • UP TO
    3,762
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    73
    pounds
    food waste prevented
  • UP TO
    10
    pounds
    food waste recorded
  • UP TO
    157
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    5.0
    zero-waste meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    5.0
    zero waste recipes
    cooked

Anna Marie's actions

Planning

Gleaning

I will glean backyard produce and create a recipe plan for full utilization, i.e. sharing with friends, canning, preserving, etc.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Cooking

Revive Limpy Produce

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

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Storage

Veggie Snacks

Place cut carrots and celery in jars filled with water to keep them fresh, crisp and easy to grab for up to a week. I will properly store 6 veggie snacks.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Potatoes

Store potatoes with an apple to avoid early sprouting. Keep them away from onions and in a cool, dark place. I will properly store 5 potatoes.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Leafy Greens

Roll unwashed lettuce in a dry towel, then store in a sealed bag in the refrigerator. I will properly store 2 leafy greens.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 2 packs of berries.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Apples

Store apples up to 7 days on the counter, then move them to the refrigerator. Keep them away from bananas and avocados as they speed ripening. I will properly store 12 apples.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Shopping

Tap the Salad Bar

For recipes that call for small amounts of different vegetables, shop at the salad bar to get exactly what you need.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Shop the Bulk Bins

Grains, nuts, and other dry goods are often sold in bulk bins that allow you to purchase only the quantity you need.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Shop More Often

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

COMPLETED 0
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Eat Before Shopping

Those who grocery shop on an empty stomach spend 64% more than not-hungry shoppers. Resist impulse buys by shopping with a full stomach. Eat a snack or a meal before going grocery shopping.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Meal Prep Mania

I will meal prep 5 meals.

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 23
DAILY ACTIONS

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?


  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 3/01/2020 6:46 PM
    I started off  with a curiosity about this program and I am so excited that it has changed my family's thoughts even more...we had a system we were using already, but this just made us even more aware as to not buying so much so we don't waste... love this program.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 3/01/2020 6:42 PM
    Wow as each day goes by it's surprising what you end up as your waste. My family is so enjoying this that they want to keep this as a regular routine.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/27/2020 11:15 PM
    I was talking with my co-workers about this program and what I had to do and how this has changed what my family was already  doing and taking it to another level with weighing out of waste. I wish that people would have to do this on a regular basis so they might come to understand what we are doing by throwing away perfectly good food because we bought too much or we ate out again or we didn't want to take time to make something with the food already purchased...

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/27/2020 11:08 PM
    This has been a a brilliant learn experience I feel all families shoydo daily so they can start seeing what it is you each waste and how it really does effect us.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/27/2020 11:05 PM
    So we had aan issue with some bananas we had that all went bad...we had them in the refrigerator and then went to eat one and they seemed to have been petrified. So alot of waste to end this day.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/27/2020 5:53 AM
    Okay now my daughter had alot of waste with noodles and heavy vegetables weighing in with a whopping 3 ounces... that's high for us... we've been keeping it very low... we'll try harderharderand see what we can do to eliminate the waste.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/26/2020 11:21 PM
    Things have been going really well we have been going through food at a pretty good pace and we haven't had too much waste.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/22/2020 12:19 PM
    Okay today we had a little more than normal waste only because my son went through the cabinet and pulled something out we rarely use and I said wait a minute let me see that jar, and sure enough the dry good went bad so it was a bit on the heavy side...oh well stuff happens.

    • Jesse Kuneff's avatar
      Jesse Kuneff 2/26/2020 8:03 AM
      That will happen- stuff gets pushed to back of cabinet that is the whole "out of sight, out of mind". I have to be more mindful of that. That's why need clear cabinets and fridge doors.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/20/2020 5:57 AM
    I hadn't posted since we had The Long weekend and I have been working late so not much has been on the waste pile which is a good thing.

  • Anna Marie Castro's avatar
    Anna Marie Castro 2/14/2020 4:18 PM
    Okay I'm trying to keep my numbers at alow counts but there are days when we miss something in the back of the fridge...oh wel we're still doing really good....