Updated on 05/04/17 | Originally Published on 04/14/16
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pounds of CO₂e
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The annual amount of food waste Americans generate has tripled since 1960
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Since 2000, the amount of food and yard waste we create has increased each year
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Both of these are true
Both food and yard waste qualify as “organic waste,” and diverting all of it from landfills is just as important as recycling.
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Neither of these are true
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Food and yard waste are the second- and third-largest parts of our waste stream
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Food composting collection programs served over 2.8 million households in 2014
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The financial loss of food wasted in the US is about $522 per person per year
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Food waste is only a financial and ethical problem, but it is not an environmental one
Trashing uneaten food wastes the energy used to produce it. And in landfills, all organic waste emits methane, a greenhouse gas.
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When dining out, ask for a paper doggy bag for any uneaten portion of meals
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Only buy the ingredients you know you will need when grocery shopping
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Find out if your city has an organics program that accepts food waste for composting
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All of the above
Nationwide, about 5% of our food waste is composted instead of trashed. This number’s going up, but there’s room for improvement!
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In 2014, over 21 million tons of yard trimmings were composted (almost a five-fold increase since 1990)
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From 2013 to 2014, we increased organic waste diversion by 600,000 tons
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The U.S. now composts an average of 0.4 pounds of organic waste per person per day
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These all sound positive to me
Since food and yard waste are two of a few categories whose recovery rates rose from 2013 to 2014, let’s keep up the good work!
A GROWING CHALLENGE. AN OBVIOUS SOLUTION.
These days, recycling is almost universally available, and more and more people are actually recycling. But solutions for organic waste (like food and yard waste) have been slower to catch on. Organic waste shouldn’t go to landfills, and that presents opportunities. Find out more in this short quiz!
