This is part of our Summit Sponsor Series, which features articles written by sponsors of the ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit about the food waste work they are doing. All views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ReFED.

Here’s a mind-boggling fact: the average U.S. household spends almost $1,900 a year on food that is not eaten (assuming 2.5 people per household).

At the June 2024 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit in Baltimore, MD, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack introduced the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics. In his remarks, Secretary Vilsack expressed that the key to changing behavior around food waste will be to “measure, monitor, and verify.”

At Mill, we’re on the same page. If each household understands how much food (and money) they are wasting, they can and will take action.

It’s why when we designed Mill—the food recycling system that turns food scraps into clean, dry grounds (that can feed farms or gardens)—it was so critical to us to include technology that allowed users to track their waste behaviors.

At the ReFED Summit, Mill released first-of-its-kind data (seriously, it has never existed before), aggregated from millions of device days from April 2023 to May 2024, that shows unequivocally that Mill is having an impact by educating people about the waste they are generating while simultaneously providing a tool that can address that waste in a climate-friendly way.

First, to set a baseline, people are using their Mills consistently. The median household added 5.5 lbs of food scraps per week. After using Mill, nearly 60% of households realized that they produced more food waste than they had thought, most commonly influenced by a combination of the Mill food recycler and the app.

And, having perspective on food waste seems to be having a marked impact on behavior. Over the first three to four months of Mill usage, we are seeing a ~20% decline in pounds of scraps added, and then stabilization.

In a time of record inflation and rising food prices, a 20% reduction in food waste could save the average American household at least $380 per year. As supported by the recent results from our year-long pilot with the City of Tacoma, Washington, every day Mill customers are keeping food out of the landfill and money in their pockets.

At Mill, we’re having a blast engaging with everyone from community and municipal leaders to thoughtful first graders (who have some very astute questions). We’re eager to collaborate with any interested parties, so please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]

It’s only waste if we waste it!

P.S.: For Summit attendees who expressed interest in trying Mill, you can use this link to get $200 off. We are confident you’ll love it, but just in case, every shipment comes with a 90-day risk-free trial. I’d be thrilled for you to try it out and share what you think.

Harry Tannenbaum is the President and Cofounder of Mill. He was an early leader at Nest, helping to build and grow the Nest Learning Thermostat, which saved enough electricity to power all residential households in the U.S. for a month. He is thrilled that he hasn’t seen a fruit fly in years.