Editor’s note: The following is a monthly column about the world of recycling, diversion and sustainability as seen through the eyes of Michelle Metzler, Waste Management, Public Education & Outreach.

In the dark corners of refrigerators throughout America, boxed leftovers and extra groceries are often neglected and sentenced to an unforgiving, fuzzy fate. Placed in a petri dish, these colorful moldy items can easily be passed off as amateur science experiments.

Science fair entries or not, let’s call it what it is – food waste.

According to the EPA and USDA, 30-40 percent of the American food supply is wasted at the consumer level, and food waste is one of the single largest components of our waste stream.

The average U.S. household throws away one-quarter of all of the food it buys. That means for every four bags of groceries that an average household purchases, it is putting one of those bags directly into the trash. Essentially, we aren’t just letting food mold, we also aren’t using what we already have.

Food isn’t the only thing thrown away when we don’t clean our plates. We also waste hidden energy inputs such as water and fuel used to produce, package and transport food.

Luckily, there’s a simple and easy two-prong approach to fighting food waste: prevention and proper management such as composting.

To prevent food waste, shop and eat smart. Check your pantry, cupboards, fridge and freezer for ingredients you already have before you go shopping. Be mindful of food that is likely to spoil and move it to the front of the fridge. Plan meals around what food expires the soonest.

Don’t forget to be creative. You can use leftovers to make a variety of soups, smoothies, sandwiches and baked goods. You could discover a new recipe.

Another way to prevent food waste is proper management. The EPA reports that 95 percent of food waste is sent to landfills, where organic material breaks down slowly and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Instead of scraping your plate into the garbage, collect food scraps in your kitchen and place them in your yard waste container. This guarantees that your organic waste goes to an industrial composter where it will break down and transform into soil.

On a smaller scale, there are also many home composting methods. A fan favorite of home composting is using worm bins. These wiggly critters will eat extra scraps and moldy food not fit for human consumption.

More information on backyard and worm bin composting is available at your.kingcounty.gov.

Michelle Metzler is the Education & Outreach coordinator for Waste Management (wm.com).