3 Pantry Tips for this Thanksgiving

If your pantry is filling up for the holidays, we have some tips you won’t want to miss!

Thanksgiving is here, the holiday season is upon us and that means its time for holiday parties and family feasts!  But while you’re stocking up your kitchens for all the festivities, you may notice not only is your pantry overflowing but your household waste is increasing. In fact, according to the EPA, the volume of household waste in the United States generally increases 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – about 1 million extra tons! So, if you need to lighten the load for your kitchen pantry and the environment this Thanksgiving, check out these 3 tips:

First, Minimize Food & Packaging Waste with Shelf Stable Products.  It's a guarantee that several of your Thanksgiving recipes will be calling for broths, soups, sauces, so look for products in environmentally friendly, shelf stable packaging such as Swanson’s Broths or Hunts Tomato Sauces. Store them in the pantry until you need them, and once opened, if your recipe only calls for half of it, you won't need to worry about wasting the rest! Packaged in cartons, there’s no issue with holding onto leftovers, cartons can be stored in the fridge after opening to minimize food waste and packaging waste.

Next, Create Pantry Space with Cartons. What’s Thanksgiving without pumpkins and cranberries! In fact, you’ll probably be stocking up on a lot of these for the entire holiday season. So, to save space, try products packaged in cartons that will stack neatly into your pantry. For example, a new smart twist, to that must have cranberry loaf, Pacific Foods Cranberry Sauce in a carton. The geometric shape makes them easy to organize and store.

Finally, Don't Let Beverages Fill the Fridge. It’s not the holidays without a holiday beverage and while most beverages end up in the fridge, try loading up your pantry with something like Tazo chai latte and for something fun for the kids you can try horizon organic milks that are small enough to hide away. And don't worry, you won't have to fill up the fridge, stack and store your shelf safe milk boxes for the kids or your Tazo Chai Latte for after dinner neatly in the pantry until you are ready to use.

Have a Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving!