Overconsumption
Consumption has become a part of daily human life. It is not wrong to consume, but we are consuming at an ever-increasing rate. We continue to buy goods and services, especially in the technological and entertainment industries, and our increasing desire to have more comes at a price.
The resources on our planet are limited, and increased consumption means that now 80% of the world's resources are used by 17% of the global population, depriving others of food, water, health, and sanitation for the sake of our luxury goods. |
"Too often the environment is seen as one small piece of the economy. But it's not just one little thing, it's what every single thing in our life depends upon." |
Waste
"Up to 40 percent of the food in the United States is never eaten. But at the same time, one in eight Americans struggles to put enough food on the table". - National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) |
Overconsumption has led to many people having an excess of "stuff". Much of this excess ultimately gets thrown away. This is especially evident when it comes to the case of food, where about 1/3 of the food produced in the world goes to waste.
Food loss occurs in all stages of the supply chain, from its initial production down to its final household consumption. Mass production of food items means that food is often wasted in the best interest of efficiency, and a focus on consumerism means that markets will throw out perfectly good food if they don't believe it is appealing enough for customers to buy it. |
Emissions
All stages of the food supply chain impact the environment. The harvesting, processing, transportation, consumption, and disposal of food all contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Studies have shown that food production is a huge drain on the planet's resources. Forests, grasslands, and mangroves are cleared around the world in order to make room for raising crops, which has caused billions of tons of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere. Consumers are asking for more and more, which is causing more of these resources to be cut down.
In reality, we are already producing more than enough. Food that is produced but uneaten is estimated to take up 1.4 billion hectares of land, which is about 30% of the world's agricultural area. All of this wasted food ends up releasing methane as it decomposes, which is 25x more harmful than carbon dioxide. Because of all this, food production has generated more greenhouse gases than transportation. |
"Cutting down on food waste could have nearly the same impact on reducing emissions over the next three decades as onshore wind turbines." - Chad Frischmann, Vice President and Research Director of Project Drawdown |