U.S. Municipal Solid Waste

People already have to pay for waste management and the idea of adding another monthly bill would not be the average American’s vote with the poor state of our economy. Especially, when the price would increase for the same amount of waste. Lastly, the average American would probably not pay for this extra cost because the waste is out of sight and is the least of their problems (Lecture 09/13). While the cost may be a discouraging factor of composting, there is so many ways our society would benefit from this

With the seemingly unstoppable growth of the world’s population and a projected global population of nine billion by 2050, the matter of whether or not there will be enough food to support the world’s populace is brought into question (Parfitt, et al., 2010). However, amid the concern for an adequate food supply, there is an immense amount of food waste produced by the world, including the United States. In fact, “according to the Natural Resources Defense Council as much as 40 percent of all food produced in the United States never gets eaten and typically ends up in the landfills or goes unharvested in the field “(King, 2015).

Food waste is an environmental, economic, and ethical problem that can lead to less calorie intake and unnecessary damage of our assets. Individual behavior can redesign food waste at home and lead to bigger changes in the ecosystem. The problem is Americans throw out more food than glass, paper, and plastic. Also about 25% of food grown, processed, and transported in the US will never be consumed. When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a significant source of methane— a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

Reducing CO2 emissions is an important part of a sustainable community, but changes in human behaviors are necessary to ensure these goals are met. An estimated 9.3 acres of farmland are lost every day in and around Austin. As of 2014 less than 1% of the food consumed in the region is produced locally, and of the food imported an estimated 97 thousand tons enters the landfill. This has a value of nearly $200 million. A great method for reducing food waste is composting, in the region approximately 1,837 tons, or 1.9% of the total waste, is being turned back into the soil. This is a part of Austin’s “field to fork” food system that addresses the growth, distribution, consumption, and recovery of food. Locally growing all food consumed in the region not only reduces transportation

An educational campaign should be launched to inform and encourage new behaviors. All consumers should be shown the benefit of composting versus traditional disposal methods. Once consumers have been properly educated, encouraging participation is key. This would include providing a composting method for waste to be properly composted. The food recycling program would provide the means for all associates to begin composting donations rather than disposing via trash receptacles. Food compost bins should be provided in any food service industry to allow for proper disposal of waste. Companies should locate composting facilities and begin distributing food waste to said facilities rather than traditional trash disposal services. If possible and practical, companies should work to create their own composting stations.

“Globally, we throw out about 1.3 billion tons of food a year, or a third of all the food that we grow” (Sengupta). In the United States 33% is from agriculture, 11% from postharvest, 10% from processing, 8% from retail, and 39% from consumption. Consumers are the majority of our waste, but there's not a lot of ways to prevent this.

From farm to table getting our food and produce to the consumer is a tricky task. Even with all the planning millions of food ends up wasted a year. Many steps are already taken to reduce the amount of food being wasted but are they enough? In America alone 200 to 250 pounds is wasted per person per year! According the world resources institute “32 percent of the world’s food was never consumed in 2009”.

This paper will examine the problem of food waste in the United States. Firstly, this paper will describe what food waste is, and why food waste in the American society is an immense issue that needs to be addressed. In addition, it will address the consequences of food waste and the possible problems that this issue may bring in the future. Secondly, the paper will discuss three policy solutions that would help solve the problem of food waste in the United States: provide an enhanced tax deduction for corporations that choose to donate their food to the food banks, performing an extensive study that covers every single aspect of food waste in the current food system, and require every citizen to compost their food waste. Afterwards, it will analyze the pros and cons, and the hypothetical strengths and vulnerabilities of each policy solution. Lastly, this paper will discuss personal opinions on the issue of food waste.

Food waste is defined as food that can be consumed but for whatever reason goes uneaten. It was first addressed in 1977 when a report was sent to congress from the General Accounting Office. Within the report the United States Department of Agriculture’s role in food waste as well as several other aspects of food waste such as pollution and growing populations are still relevant today were spoken of (Buzby et al. 1). However in the years following the publication of this report, food waste has not lessened and instead has exponentially worsened from twenty percent in 1977 to forty percent as of 2012 (Finn et al.

Food waste has significantly impacted the environment. Preventing food waste from ending up in landfills not only saves space in landfills, but also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Martin, 2008). “In landfills, organic materials, like food scraps and yard trimmings, are broken down by bacteria to produce methane. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is shown to have a warming potential of twenty-one times that of carbon dioxide” (Reducing Food Waste, 2013). “Landfills are the largest human-related source of methane in the United States, accounting for thirty-four percent of all methane emissions” (Main,

In the last several years, food waste has become an ever-growing issue in the United States. We are starting to recognize the significance of food waste and the impact it has on our economic, social, and environmental costs. Americans buy more food than they need, this is a commonly known fact. In the United States about 30-40 percent of the available food supply goes uneaten every year. In order to understand and eliminate food waste we must remember that food is the most powerful basic necessity for human beings.

Today landfills are severely overflowing in many cities, causing mayors, governors, and other office holders to call for emergency meetings to find solutions. The amount of half-eaten meals thrown away from schools is a staggering high amount. Landfills overflowing is a problem that every single person in the USA has to come to terms with. The overflow is the direct cause from everyone, from schools, to business', homes, etc... Everyone must participate in the solution. In schools meals are served on trays that are made of plastics, Styrofoam, and even cardboards. Foods are being thrown out whole and at the end of the day many schools are guilty of throwing untouched

People tossing out trash means that they don’t care what happens to it as long as it’s out of their car or house. People should think of the impact they can cause the environment if they recycle properly, reusing water bottles, and when they go grocery shopping bring a reusable bags that won’t be thrown out into streams and lakes that will cause pollution to the environment. If someone throws garbage where it shouldn’t belong then throw it out for them to keep the environment clean.

In 1970, when Americans produced 121 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), three-quarters went directly into landfills, one-fifth was incinerated, and less

There are some reasons for the problem. The first reason is that the effects of the thrown rubbish are very dangerous and extremely harmful. According to Miller (1987), global industrial organizations produce over 80,000 different chemicals (para. 5). Basically, garbage is old, dirty and wet, so that it is a perfect place for bacteria and other viruses to stay in. Rubbish growth in cities has been a problem all over the world for centuries. Landfills have always been regarded as sources of illnesses and unpleasant smells. The harmful wastes from the garbage spread through the ground from paint, chemicals, petrol, batteries, and other toxic materials that have been thrown away into the garbage. The toxic chemicals get into the water pipes and spread through the people’s drinking water. Another reason of that problem is that people have created all these disasters, which are connected with environmental pollution. The more modern technologies are created, the more unbelievable become wastes and remains of what is produced. From this, man is responsible for what he or she created and for the following consequences. Anxieties about the environment have made people more aware of their environmental footprints or the kind of waste they leave behind during their existence. The difficulty is that an average person leaves an incredible amount of wastes in his or her lifetime. According to Lovejoy (1912), all biodegradable substances, contained in