Reducing Food Waste to Save Global Warming

You’re in Grade 9 science class. Your project is to think up a specific solution for global warming. Some decided to plant more trees, I back then said plastic chemical recycling. We can also remind ourselves to pull the plugs, use renewable energy; here I already have 4 solutions and there should be much more. Despite the many solutions we have, this environmental issue is continuing to become a bigger threat each year.

Why? Very simple, because we need to take action, and every one of us is required to be more aware of how serious this problem is. This isn’t persuading people to join an organization, but first let’s start with considering what your refrigerator contains.

Food waste is such an underrated cause of global warming. Since we live very close to food, we are too familiar with this issue in our daily lives. We miss the chance of noticing how big the impact can be by improving it. So why not get a better understanding about food waste and learn the ways we can change this situation ourselves?

Food waste is actually progressing global warming in a variety of ways. Many might not know, but it is considered as one of the major effects of global warming.

Globally, wasted food accounts for about 8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Take the U.S. as an example, the carbon footprint of U.S. food waste is greater than that of the airline industry. The environmental consequences of producing food that no one eats are massive.

Also, the food waste that ends up in landfills produces a large amount of methane, which is a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2. For the uninitiated, excess amounts of greenhouse gases such as methane, CO2 and chlorofluorocarbons absorb infrared radiation and heat up the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change.

In turn, problems in the future resulting from climate change such as lower yields, higher prices, a loss of nutritional value and supply chain disruptions, will increasingly affect food security.

Wasted food accounts for 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and the ones that end up in landfills generate a large amount of methane. The waste affects global warming, and global warming develops an inconvenient environment for food to be produced. This turns into a negative cycle which will continue to worsen the situation more and more as time goes by. Improving food waste can slow down global warming, and by doing it now can save our future.

I persuade all of you to regard food waste for a reason: us households are actually the biggest cause of food waste. There is a necessity for us to be cautious about how our daily actions are largely impacting the environment, and be more responsible for how we face food in our families.

Households are responsible for the largest portion of all food waste. In the US, an average person wastes 238 pounds of food per year, which is 21 percent of the food they buy. About two-thirds of food waste at home is due to food not being used before it goes bad, in other words, Food Spoilage. Improper storage, lack of visibility in refrigerators, partially used ingredients and misjudged food needs are some of the examples that cause food spoilage. The remaining third of household food waste is the result of over-preparing, people cooking or serving too much food. Cooking portions have increased over time, and large meals often include more food than we can finish.

Households are responsible for the largest portion of all food waste. Overbuying and poor planning are some other causes. They all can be prevented with more understanding and consciousness towards the problem.

Food waste is an important topic that needs to be more discussed and given attention. It is problematic enough to affect global warming, but can be prevented with more knowledge and understanding from every one of us. For us to not be the cause of an issue torturing ourselves, how about we start listing the minimum ingredients needed, organizing your refrigerator? Many a little makes a mickle. With your awareness, small actions will start making a change.