• CETONLINE - Free Assistance to Reduce Wasted Food for New York Businesses 

• Green Restaurant Association - Resources and Consultation

• Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) - backyard & community composting

• savethefood.com – meal planning, shopping, storage, Guestimator

• Scrapfoodwaste.org

• LoveFoodHateWaste.com – recipes for leftovers, portion planner, also an app

• foodshift.net/reduce-your-waste/– tips to reduce waste, online Pledge

• wastedfood.com – Jonathan Bloom’s blog, author of “American Wasteland:

• albany.cce.cornell.edu - Cornell Cooperative Extension, composting

• BuyLocalGrowLocal.org - Sustainable Directory, Compost sites

• Pledge to Fight Wasted Food - Take the Pledge today and learn how to become a Zero Waste Food Champion

Save money and save the planet! Cookbooks to cut down on Food Waste. 

• In “Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals,” Lindsay-Jean Hard’s recipes show how we can make delicious foods from carrot greens, broccoli stems, water from canned beans, and more—all while saving a little bit of money.

• In “Cured: Cooking with Ferments, Pickles, Preserves & More,” Steve McHugh and Paula Forbes provide a comprehensive guide to curing and preserving, plus recipes like kimchi meatloaf; creamy smoked seafood, parsnip, and celery root soup; and smoked nut chocolate tart.

• In “Cook More, Waste Less,” Christine Tizzard provides tips for saving money, helping the planet, and getting the most out of ingredients that are perhaps a little past their prime.

• In “Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking,” Margaret Li and Irene Li provide more than 80 recipes and 150 tips to transform fridge leftovers and reduce grocery expenses.

• In “The Low-Carbon Cookbook & Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Combat Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-Based Recipes,” Alejandra Schrader offers up 140 plant-based recipes with low carbon footprints and local ingredients to help us combat climate change from our kitchens.

• In “The Preserving Garden,” Jo Turner explains how to create a garden that will provide food year-round. The book profiles 43 different plants, which are featured alongside recipes to make the most of those ingredients, too.

• In “The Less Waste No Fuss Kitchen: Simple Steps to Shop, Cook and Eat Sustainably,” Lindsay Miles helps eaters reduce their waste—from reducing single-use plastic packaging to making the most of food scraps—beginning at the store.

• In “The Zero Waste Chef,” Anne-Marie Bonneau shows that making the most of leftovers is simple and free.

• In "Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money By Wasting Less Food," Dana Gunders—a food waste expert who is the Executive Director of ReFED—provides recipes and strategies, plus helpful checklists, to guide us through a zero-waste lifestyle.

• In “Waste Not: How To Get The Most From Your Food,” the James Beard Foundation rounds up 100 recipes from chefs including Rick Bayless, Elizabeth Falkner, and Bryant Terry to help people use up ingredients that often get scrapped.

• In “You Can Cook This! Turn the 30 Most Commonly Wasted Foods into 135 Delicious Plant-Based Meals,” Max La Manna identified 30 of the most commonly wasted ingredients from tens of thousands of social media responses, and created recipes including cauliflower ragu, coffee grounds pancakes, and stems and herbs pesto pasta.

Watch our 2/2/21 presentation on YouTube:

 Food Waste and You: Strategies to Save Food, Save Money, and Save the Planet

co-sponsored by the Albany Public Library, Zero Waste Capital District and the Albany City Sustainability Advisory Committee

Too Good To Go App

Albany Times Union. By Lilli Iannella, Staff Writer Aug 11, 2025

The app has recently gained traction in the Capital Region, as Too Good to Go started adding more partners earlier this summer, said the company’s U.S. public relations manager Molly Sposato. Its official launch in the Albany area will occur at the end of August, Sposato said. On Friday morning, more than 30 restaurants in the greater Capital Region and northern Hudson Valley had food listed on the app.

While it’s newer to the Capital Region, Too Good to Go was founded in 2015 and aims to combat food waste. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, around a third of food is wasted across the nation. Food waste in landfills contributes to more methane emissions than any other landfilled materials, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the emissions contribute to global warming.

The app allows users to select from a variety of businesses near their area offering “surprise bags,” which are reserved earlier in the day for a later pickup time. What customers get in the bags depends on the day and what food the restaurant has left, which is typically available for pickup at the end of the day.

The only other programs in the Capital Region similar to Too Good to Go are food banks and pantries, said Amanda Jurgelon, a Zero Waste Board member. Given how widespread online ordering has become, Jurgelon thinks platforms like Too Good to Go will continue to impact local communities, from fighting food waste to food insecurity.

“In this age and day, things are changing. I think we need to put more of an emphasis on these apps,” Jurgelon said. “When you use an app that allows you to do something mobile-y, it kind of takes the stigma away and allows for members to use these resources that otherwise wouldn’t be utilized.”

https://www.toogoodtogo.com/about-us/in-my-area

Feed It Onward

Turning Food Waste into Opportunity Across America

Feed It Onward is a new initiative of the Trump EPA that lends a national platform to spotlight the farmers, businesses, nonprofits, military partners, and communities making sure good food goes to people — not landfills. Feed It Onward connects food donors with communities in need while reducing the environmental impact of food waste in landfills. We partner with private and public groups to highlight food waste and recovery efforts, connecting food providers with opportunities to reduce our nation’s food waste.