Taking a look at Project Drawdown’s solutions to climate change
From a young age, my parents trained me to clean my plate after every meal. The large amount of food waste I would see on the conveyor belt in Burwash dining hall in my first year shocked me. Food waste is a big problem globally, responsible for about eight percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Food production consumes a large amount of water, energy, land, and fertilizer, and so reducing food waste is ranked third in Project Drawdown’s solutions for mitigating climate change. In low income regions, food waste generally occurs earlier in the supply chain; food often spoils in storage or distribution. Food waste in higher income areas mostly occurs later in the process as both consumers and retailers may decline food due to its less-than-perfect appearance. There are posters hung up in Burwash about the impact of food waste, right by the conveyor belt, which is definitely a reasonable effort, but more systematic changes need to be made. Project Drawdown suggests that lower income regions ought to focus their efforts on improving facilities for storage, production, and distribution. In higher income areas, like Toronto, we can make use of food destined for landfills through organizations such as Flashfood, which allows consumers to purchase food with bruises, discolouration, or approaching expiry dates, at a reduced cost. In making small changes to our consumer behaviour, by limiting food taken from buffets or purchasing food headed to landfills, we can participate in the efforts to reduce the impact of food waste on climate change.
Selected climate change solutions compiled and ranked by Project Drawdown (for the comprehensive list, go to https://www.drawdown.org/). See the following issue for the next proposed solution
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