Don't Waste Food
When I hear “don’t waste food”, I think of my grandma Ellen saying “clean your plate, there are children starving somewhere in the world”- I don’t know about you but as a kid this never made sense to me- it was like, “okay, granny, send this green bean casserole to Afrikastan”- no disrepect intended to the real suffering due to lack of food.
Seriously, as an example, think about how many times you’ve tossed a bunch of brown bananas. Now take a look back over your shoulder. This wasted food has a huge shadow- it takes a lot of energy to produce it , to grow it, to ship it, to distribute it, and to dispose of it. And what about water? Blue is the new green, right? There’s a a global fresh water shortage looming- and agriculture is the number one user of water on the planet. Wasted food has a huge water footprint- the water it took to grow those bananas is a complete, um... wash....now. Finally, most food waste goes straight to a landfill- where is it’s trapped between other waste, and is forced to decompose without air- thereby producing the most concentrated greenhouse gas- methane. Some 30% of the garbage in landfills is food waste.
It’s definitely a problem of abundance- and it’s an easy one to adjust. And, it's a direct cost savings for you, from the minute you decide to watch it. Look for waste reduction in fresh goods, restaurant orders, take out, and thrown out leftovers. Repeat after me: I won’t waste food. I won’t waste food. And if you DO buy something that's going to waste.... We have to insert the plug here: please please compost.
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