Foods Consumable Waste Assignment

The food I eat usually comes in a plastic wrap both tight and loose, a plastic container, or a cardboard box. Occasionally a wax lined container as well. Out of all the items in my kitchen the main package resource is unfortunately un-recyclable plastic. The close second is as well plastic but is the recyclable kind. I think that plastic is the main package resource because its cheap and durable. Some plastic packaging allows for the consumer to see their product. This is a pro for the marketers as they get to show off their items easily. Plastic also can’t easily break by dropping on the floor. This allows for easy transportation of the product. Packaging does have its pros though. If packaging did not exist germs from hands could easily infect other foods in the stores. No one is going to take an unprotected bagel from the store. Packaging protects food from damage too. Soft and delicate foods without packaging would easily be smashed or cut. Consumers aren’t going to buy smashed eggs. The cons of packaging are the space it might take up. Say you have a box to fit in the freezer and it’s too big, that food will have to go buried in the freezer unprotected. Another con is when the food inside the packaging is gone. The consumers have no longer use for it and don’t want to see it anymore. Naturally they would then throw it in the garbage and if a decent person, would recycle when possible. Unfortunately, most of the food packaging goes in the garbage. This garbage will then go to landfill waste. Packaging waste after one day will probably be in your home garbage or recycling bin. In one year, any garbage will most likely be in a landfill. This is where any unusable waste goes. Landfills are huge piles of garbage with nothing to do, it will eventually decompose but this takes years. If it was recycled it could be at the recycling plant still, at a landfill, or in someone’s home as another item. After 100 years only some waste will decompose as landfills are made for storage and not decomposer. Other waste could stay intact for thousands of years or maybe even forever. Food waste if in a compost plant decomposes after some time. This could be days to years. Food waste can also be turned into energy or fertilizer. Even some animals could snack on some food waste as even untouched food is wasted! The first tip I would suggest for reducing food waste would be to use smaller plates. We always eat with our eyes and we find it unsatisfying when the plates are not filled. This leads to leftovers and adds to the food waste amount. The second tip would be to start a compost. This allows for any peels or scraps to be properly decomposed. You can then use this as a fertilizer for a garden! The third tip would be to have a smaller fridge. It’s also unsatisfying looking at empty spots in the fridge, so we tend to fill them up with not needed food. A crowded fridge blocks other food items making you forget that you have them too. This leads to an unnecessary rot of food.