MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ohio (WKEF)– After all the Thanksgiving fun is done, Montgomery County Environmental Services is reminding us of the importance of properly disposing of food waste. Dayton 24/7 Now’s, Kysha Hancock caught with Environmental Services about ways to get rid of your uneaten holiday food, all while keeping the environment safe.

Randi Dillon public information officer with Environmental Services told Hancock more than 300 million pounds of food are thrown away during Thanksgiving across the country. Here in Montgomery County, they’re expecting record breaking numbers after the holiday is over.

“Montgomery County residents dispose of about six pounds of trash per day and during the holiday season we see that number increase, so we want to remind people you wanna reduce reuse, recycle all year round,” said Dillon.

Environmental Services is encouraging families to think before trashing their uneaten food as it can have negative effects on the community.

“When you are putting all this in a landfill, and it breaks down those landfills are actually releasing methane gas so that’s typically where we see the increase of greenhouse gases is around that because of the methane production,” said Dillon.

However, Dillon told Hancock there are ways to prevent this methane gas from coming into your environment by creating other ways to put your extra food to use instead of throwing it away.

“Having reusable containers to give your family some extras so they can take some home and then you also get that out of your housefind a recipe, make a sandwich out of that thanksgiving dinner. Donate anything that you do not use to the food bank, nonperishable food item that can be given straight to the food bank in the time of need,” said Dillon.

Montgomery County has more resources and tools to help you keep your community safe. You can visit the county’s website to learn more.