Eco Friendly Promotions for National Canned Food Month

In the dead of winter in Northern climates, it’s difficult to find out of season fresh produce like tomatoes, peaches or cranberries. You may be able to find these products in the produce aisle this time of year, but do they actually taste good? And then there are canned fruits and vegetables that are flat out easier to use in canned form like canned pumpkin and canned artichokes. If you’ve ever cooked an artichoke during their peak growing season in the spring, you know how laborious the process is.

There is nothing like shopping summer Farmer’s Markets and enjoying deliciously fresh local produce, but there are a number of benefits to canned food, especially this time of year. Grocery stores typically have canned foods on sale in February so it is a good time to stock up. Canned foods have a very long shelf life.

Steel, including food and pet cans, is one of the most recycled materials in the U.S.
Here are some facts about steel from Waste Management, North America’s largest residential recycler:

• Steel cans make up about 90% of the U.S. food can market.
• Americans use about 100 million steel cans every day. That's 36.5 billion cans a year.
• About 71% of steel cans are recycled, making them one of the most recycled packaging products in America.
• In addition, steel cans typically contain at least 25% recycled steel, but many are made almost entirely of recycled steel.
• Where does this recycled steel come from? Mainly from scrap metal.
• Recycling steel saves at least 75% of the energy it would take to create steel from raw materials. That's enough energy to power 18 million homes.

In addition to the recycling benefits of steel cans, using them can also reduce waste. It’s not uncommon for fresh produce to go to waste because it was forgotten about or spoiled early. People typically use aluminum foil to store unfinished canned foods in the fridge. While aluminum foil is recyclable, many curbside recycling programs are not equipped to process foil. Aluminum foil is easily contaminated with food and when it is, it cannot be recycled. Instead of foil, choose a reusable lid for canned goods. Eco friendly promotional food lids make great giveaways for canned food manufacturers, agriculture associations and grocery stores. Pet related businesses such as dog and cat food companies, pet retailers and veterinarians use these lids for pet promotional items. Eco Promotional Products offers two varieties of USA Made, reusable canned food lids.

Don’t ever let your canned foods go to waste. If the expiration date is approaching and you won’t be able to use, donate to your local food pantry. However, remember food pantries do not accept expired food so keep an eye on the expiration dates of items in your pantry.