When people talk about the environment the subject usually revolves car emissions, which means chatter about the usual suspects, cars, factories, big corporations that pollute rivers and cities, but very few people talk about food. Not only does the production of food make up a large percentage of the world’s carbon emissions in the form of farm equipment, methane gas from cows, and the enormous amount of energy it takes to create feed to fatten up cows and pigs, but once the food has been consumed the leftovers can also pose a threat to the environment. Recent studies have shown that food waste is one of the biggest issues when it comes to diverting rubbish from landfills.
Most people believe food waste to be organic matter that will biodegrade in the soil. While this is true food waste can also release harmful methane into the atmosphere which is far more harmful to the environment than carbon. This is why Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has asked citizens of the United Kingdom to be more careful when throwing out their waste from the holidays or any other time of year. Benn also went on to add that Defra had talked about banning certain items, such as food, from entering landfills, which would make it obligatory for Brits to separate their food waste. Currently only around a third of the local councils in the UK collect food waste, which is another thing that Benn hopes to change.
Nearly eighty percent of those polled by Defra said that they would use a separate food rubbish bin if one were made available to them.
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