Giveaway: $100 in Gardening Items through “Use It Don’t Waste It Challenge”

UPDATE: This giveaway has ended. Winner will be announced soon!

I mentioned last week that I was going to be starting a “Use It, Don’t Waste Challenge” for the month of April. This is a challenge to all my readers to be conscious of what they are buying and eating throughout the week so that they don’t have food that goes unused and has to be thrown out. I challenge my readers to get their refrigerators cleaned out and to be aware of what we have that’s soon expiring or at the point of no longer being good and trying to use those in our weekly meals so they aren’t wasted.

As you can see, I took time yesterday in cleaning out my fridge and trying to organize it in a way that things wouldn’t fall into the “invisible zone” of the fridge–you know the one where your food disappears to and only returns after its gone bad and you ask yourself, “When did I make that?” I’ve also added a 13×9 Pyrex dish to my bottom shelf that I’ll be using for defrosting foods. I’ve done this before and it helps prevent any defrosting spills in my fridge. My plan is to keep washing it and leaving it there at all times so I don’t need to worry about finding room for it. That way, I can quickly defrost foods when I need to.

I put my fruit and veggies that could easily spoil in some Produce Saver containers. This helps extend the life of them so I can hopefully use them throughout the whole week. I’m hoping to get all non-meat food scraps/peels into my compost bin. I’ve made a menu plan for the week and I even added notes as to what we have for possible snacks. Hopefully this will help make sure everything gets used.

And the picture of the over-ripe bananas I shared with you? Those will be made into banana bread that I hope to post later this week, if it turns out. (They are currently in the freezer!) Throughout the month, I’ll be sharing ways that I’ve found on how to limit what gets wasted in our house.

And now for the giveaway info. In order to enter the $100 in Gardening Items Giveaway, you must pledge to take the “Use It, Don’t Waste It Challenge.” Not only will it give you entries into the giveaway, but it might help you save money on your grocery budget during the month! The winner of the giveaway will get a $100 Gift Card to the store of their choice for buying gardening needs. What a great way to help you start a new garden–or expand on one you already have!

HERE’S HOW TO ENTER:

NOTE: Beneath this posting is the word “Comments.” This is where you’ll put your entries. Only entries on this posting will be counted.

1) To enter the giveaway, leave me a comment on this posting letting me know that you accept the “Use It, Don’t Waste It Challenge” and also leave a tip on how you plan to not waste food, or anything else, this month.

AFTER THAT, you can do these for extra entries:

2) “Like” Coupon Geek on Facebook or Follow me on Twitter and leave a separate comment letting me know you have done this. If you are already following , thank you and make sure you leave a 2nd comment letting me know.

3) Subscribe to my email newsletter or RSS Feed and leave a separate comment letting me know you have done this. If you are already subscribed, thank you and make sure you leave a 3rd comment letting me know.

4) Blog, Tweet or Share on Facebook about the giveaway. Make sure you come back and leave a separate extra comment letting me know that you’ve done this.

Entry is open to US residents only through 11:59PM CST on Monday, April 16, 2012. There are a total of four entries allowed per person. Winner will be chosen using a giveaway service and contacted by email. If you’re the winner, you’ll have only 48 hours to respond or an alternate will be chosen.

Good luck to all of you who enter!

This giveaway is sponsored solely by Coupon Geek as a way to encourage my readers to reduce food waste and to help save money on their grocery budgets!

Important Note: All comments are moderated so there will be a delay from when you post your comment until it’s visible under the giveaway. If you are reading this via Email Newsletter, you’ll need to come to the site in order to be able to enter as that’s where the comments field is located and hosted.