Waste Less Week

Waste Less Week: 7 Days to Less Food Waste

Households throw away about US$728 per person every year of food. Most of it didn't need to be wasted.

One small mission a day, a couple of minutes each. Backed by research and built into Pantry Pic. Scan your kitchen, cook what you have and plan before you shop. Keep your streak going for a week and see the difference.

Free on the App Store and Google Play

Why Food Waste Matters

The numbers are big, but small daily actions make a real difference.

US$728

wasted per person each year

EPA 2025

60M+ tons

of food wasted by US households annually

ReFED / USDA

1B+ meals

wasted globally every day

UNEP Food Waste Index 2024

Your 7 Missions

One small mission a day. Finish all seven to earn the Kitchen Hero badge.

Day 1

Scan Your Kitchen

Snap your fridge and pantry so you know exactly what's in your kitchen, wherever you are.

Day 2

Cook From What You Have

Let Pantry Pic turn what you have into dinner, and save one recipe you'd cook this week.

Day 3

Plan Your Week

Tap a day this week and pick one of your saved recipes.

Day 4

Shop Only What You Need

Tap a planned meal's missing count and add only what you need to your shopping list.

Day 5

Use First

Cook what needs using first. Tap Use It Up on the Pantry tab for recipes built around it.

Day 6

Cook and Keep Leftovers

Cook a recipe, mark it as cooked and log any leftovers so they get eaten.

Day 7

Use Your Freezer

Freeze bread, herbs, ripe bananas or leftovers you won't use in the next 2 days.

What You'll Learn

Evidence-backed habits that reduce food waste.

How to see everything in your kitchen at a glance

How to cook meals from what you already have

How to plan meals around existing ingredients

How to shop for only what's missing

Which ingredients to use first

How to make sure leftovers get eaten

How to use your freezer to buy more time

How Pantry Pic Helps

Every Step, Powered by Your Kitchen

Pantry Pic turns the guide into action. Each mission connects to a feature that makes reducing waste easier.

Scan Your Fridge and Pantry

Take a photo and see all your ingredients. No manual entry, just snap and go.

Use First

A Use First group at the top of your pantry shows what to cook with soon, estimated from when you added each item.

Recipes From What You Have

Generate recipe ideas based on your available ingredients. No extra shopping needed.

Meal Planning and Smart Shopping

Plan your week, and only add missing ingredients to your shopping list. No more over-buying.

Common Questions

Food Waste Guide FAQ

Everything you need to know about Waste Less Week

About two minutes. Waste Less Week is built to fit a busy schedule, with one small mission a day.

No problem at all. Research shows that missing a single day does not derail habit formation. Pick up where you left off whenever you're ready.

Not at all. Pantry Pic builds recipes from what you have, from simple meals to something new. Waste Less Week works for every skill level.

That depends on your household, so we will not put a number on it. What we can say is that the UNEP Food Waste Index 2024 puts household waste at close to a fifth of the food available to consumers, and the habits in this guide are aimed squarely at that.

Yes. The figures shown are tuned to your region, and the habits, like scanning your kitchen, cooking from what you have and planning before you shop, work anywhere.

Finish all seven missions to earn the Kitchen Hero badge and 5 Recipe Pictures. Research shows the average time to build an automatic habit is 66 days, so keep using Pantry Pic to scan, plan and cook. The habits get easier over time.

Cook Something Amazing with What You Already Have

Join the movement to reduce food waste and make mealtime easier. Pantry Pic turns your pantry into a recipe book, one snap at a time

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