As America celebrates Thanksgiving this week, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler reminds families and communities to consider the environment when planning their annual dinner and be mindful about wasting food. “Over 70 billion pounds of food waste reaches our landfills every year, contributing to methane emissions and wasting energy and resources across the food supply chain,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This holiday season, we must all do our part to help people and the environment by preparing only what we need, cutting down our food waste, and sharing or donating what we can to feed others.”
EPA estimates that more food reaches landfills than any other material in everyday trash, constituting 24% of municipal solid waste. This wasted food contributes to landfills being the third largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States. Reducing food waste and redirecting excess food to people, animals, or energy production provide immediate benefits to public health and the environment, including:
- Reducing methane emissions from landfills.
- Saving money through thoughtful planning, shopping and storage.
- Supporting your community by donating untouched food that would have otherwise gone to waste.
- Conserving energy and resources, preventing pollution involved in the growing, manufacturing, transporting and selling of food.
EPA works with federal partners, non-profits, public and private organizations to reduce wasted food across the food system. This past year, EPA and USDA welcomed four new members to the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions group. The 2030 Champions are businesses and organizations that have made a public commitment to reduce food loss and waste in their own operations in the United States by 50% by the year 2030. EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge works with over 1,000 business and organizations to set data-driven goals, implement targeted strategies to reduce food waste in their operations and report results to compete for annual recognition.
Source: WOAY
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