What Can We Do To Reduce Waste?

Sustainable living is hard enough, now add the pressures of a global pandemic and all bets are off. So we tracked down some experts and asked: What can we do to reduce waste?

"The single biggest source of waste that goes to municipal landfills is wasted food," Peter Wright, the Assistant Administrator of the EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, told Newsy. 

Why Does The U.S. Waste So Much Food?

In the U.S. about a third of the food produced is never eaten. That’s about 90 billion meals worth each year.

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"If food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest polluter after the U.S. and China," Lucie Basch, the co-founder of Too Good To Go, said. "It’s 50% of people who don't even know that there are several dates. The 'best before', for example, means that the quality is going to be perfect until that date. But it doesn't mean after that date you can’t eat the product anymore."

"To reduce your waste, you want to start looking at refusing taking things you’re going to have to throw away in the first place," Alexander Furey, the founder of Zero Waste Mindset, said.

"Stock up on maybe some pantry staples in such a way that rather than getting a bunch of small bags of things wrapped in plastic, you could get one thing that you then divide up among your community," Jocelyn Quarrell, the CEO and owner of Go Box, said. 

"Maybe doing a waste audit of your home," Furey said. "And every time you put something in the black bin, in the rubbish bin, write down what you put in. And then after a week, go back and look at your list and see if you can see patterns of the kinds of things you’re throwing away."

View more videos from our series "Simple Steps to Sustainability," where experts from around the world give us their tips and tricks on how to live more sustainably.