It is common knowledge that humans contribute to climate change. When we think about how we contribute to it, it is easy to think of fossil fuels, deforestation or manufacturing. However, I do not think people think about how much food wastage contributes to climate change. 

I recently saw an article by Monica Woods from ABC10 that was titled, “If food waste were a country, it would rank as the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas.” Curiosity got the best of me and I looked at how big of a country this would be and it turns out it would “approximately be as big as Canada and India combined.” If that does not seem as big as it sounds, then it should be known that that amount of food would be able to feed the 800 million hungry people on the planet, according to Sacha Koolen, a writer at food inspiration magazine. Can you imagine 800 million people in one room wanting food but not being able to get it because it is being thrown away? 

It is saddening but it is our reality since everyone does it, sometimes without even realizing it. There is a lot of plate waste in the dining hall which is when people get served food but end up not eating it and it goes to the trash. I am guilty of this too when I want to try something new and it turns out that I do not like it so it ends up in the trash. And if you could not tell that people are throwing away a lot of food from the pieces left around the trash bin, then the horrible smell coming from the inside should be enough to know. 

When food is thrown away it often starts to rot and decompose hence the putrid smell coming from there and then that is when it is time to take it out to the dumpster. From there, what happens to the food? Well the garbage trucks collect it and bring it to landfills. From there it is coupled with a bunch of other thrown away foods where they all start to decompose and the problem there is that it produces methane, which is one of the main greenhouse gasses that is contributing to the greenhouse effect. 

Greenhouse effect is essentially when greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere traps heat to Earth’s surface. It does occur naturally because we need it so that Earth’s climate is comfortable enough to support life. However with those additional greenhouse gasses, like methane, it is making it warmer than it should be and thus contributing to climate change. 

There are a lot of things contributing to climate change that are not always in our control, but this is something that we can change one person at a time. Instead of getting too much food when you first get in the dining hall, start off small and eat what you can and if you feel like you can eat more, get more. In general, be more conscious of the amount of food that you are getting and the effects it has on the environment. It might be a small impact but it does make a difference.

Photo by: Sarah Chai  via  Pexels