5 ways food waste is destroying our beautiful planet

7 Countries That Waste the Most Water

• Canada– population in thousands: 30 889- 29.1 m3.
• Armenia– population in thousands: 3 090- 27.3 m3.
• New Zealand– population in thousands: 3 906- 26.1 m3.
• USA– population in thousands: 288 958– 22.6 m3.
• Costa Rica– population in thousands: 3 963- 19.9 m3.
• Panama– population in thousands: 2 979- 18.5 m3.

Food waste that ends up in landfills produces a large amount of methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2. If you look at land usage, around 1.4 billion hectares of land, which is roughly one-third the world’s total agricultural land area, is used to grow food that is wasted.

• It wastes water. Water is essential to life, and it’s no surprise it’s essential to food production as well.
• It releases Methane. When food is thrown out, it eventually makes its way to landfills (which can themselves be a problem for the environment).
• It wastes oil.
• It wastes land.
• It harms biodiversity.

Eight Ways to Reduce Waste

1. Use a reusable bottle/cup for beverages on-the-go.
2. Use reusable grocery bags, and not just for groceries.
3. Purchase wisely and recycle.
4. Compost it!
5. Avoid single-use food and drink containers and utensils.
6. Buy secondhand items and donate used goods.
7. Shop local farmers markets and buy in bulk to reduce packaging.

One of the bigger reasons to reduce waste is to conserve space in our landfills and reduce the need to build more landfills which take up valuable space and are a source of air and water pollution. By reducing our waste, we are also conserving our resources.

The causes of food losses and waste in low-income countries are mainly connected to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques, storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions, infrastructure, packaging and marketing systems.

Investing in cost-effective solutions to reduce food waste by 20% in the U.S. over the next 10 years would generate a net economic value of $10 billion for consumers and business, reduce water demand by 1.6 trillion gallons or 1.5% of U.S. freshwater withdraws, create 15,000 new jobs, and divert 9.5 million tons of …

As well as reducing environmental damage, avoiding and minimising food waste will help us to feed the world’s growing population and contribute to a sustainable future for agriculture in Australia. And it’s something we can all contribute to, whether we’re dining out or eating at home.

The market failure of food waste is, in essence, that more food is produced and consumed by the group than needed as individuals. FAO estimated about one third of our food produced in the world is lost or wasted3. These costs can be associated with production and end-of-life disposal of the waste.

An oversupply of food within the retail food market has led to high levels of food waste which generates various negative externalities. These externalities include the release of harmful greenhouse gasses, the foregone opportunity to divert food, and foregone cost savings to retailers.

Food waste ends up wasting nearly a quarter of our water supply in the form of uneaten food or over $172 billion in wasted water. When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a significant source of methane – a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

The cost of food waste to the Australian economy is estimated to be around $20 billion each year. Australian consumers throw away around 3.1 million tonnes of food—that’s close to 17,000 grounded 747 jumbo jets. When food waste is sent to landfill, it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

For example, wildlife may die of starvation, disperse and live elsewhere, or switch their dietary preferences to other wild prey or livestock, with the latter potentially resulting in increased human-wildlife conflict. Monitoring of such impacts may be necessary when reducing the availability of food waste to wildlife.