10 Daily Habits That Accidentally Harm The Environment - Page 5
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Stocking up on food
An estimated 30 to 40 percent of food goes to waste in the United States. That is, of course, tragic for our wallets, but it’s also part of a butterfly effect that harms the environment in many ways. First, when food goes in the trashcan instead of your body (or a compost), it winds up in landfills. If you’re throwing away packaged foods, you have to account for the additional trash created by that packaging. Next, there’s the fact that, far down the line, grocery stores order product based on the rate at which consumers buy it. Food manufacturers and farms produce that product at the rate at which it’s ordered. American’s habits of overstocking on food they throw away means more food is ordered, and produced, than necessary, which means more energy is used and a larger carbon footprint is created. Buy only what you need – including food.
