To cut back on food waste at home, try doing a "family-style" dinner where you and your guests serve yourselves in the kitchen and bring your plates of food to the table. When we plate food at the dining table, we tend to overindulge and leave food on the plate. That food ends up in the trash instead of being saved for leftovers. With nearly 1.3 billion tons of food going to waste every year globally, small actions to cut back can go a long way to reduce landfill waste and save money, too.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

The more you can do to help bring dinner to the table quickly, the better. The next time you’re boiling water for pasta, consider placing a metal steamer basket on top of the pot and then placing the pot’s lid on top of that. This action allows you to do double duty: You can cook the pasta and steam veggies or a protein like fish at the same time. Not only will this save time, but you’ll save energy, too. And remember, when the pasta water cools down, you can freeze some in ice cube trays to make starchy cubes to use as a thickener the next time you cook.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Turn off auto-play on streaming platforms and social feeds so videos only play when you choose to watch them. Auto-playing content quietly consumes data and energy, even when you’re not paying attention. Disabling it also helps curb mindless scrolling, making it easier to reduce social media use and be more intentional with your time online. This is a simple way to give yourself more digital-free peace and help the environment, too.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION