Consumable Waste

Most of the food I eat comes in packaging, pretty much all. I’ll be using eggs for an example. Eggs come in a Styrofoam box or like holder so then the eggs can’t move around and crack or break. Eggs come in Styrofoam because it helps maintain a cold enough temperature to make sure no bacteria grows on the eggs. The packaging is positive for the consumer because it makes sure their eggs don’t go bad and it makes sure their eggs don’t break. This packaging can be negative also because when Styrofoam is being burnt for energy, it gets released into our air that we breath which can lead to pollution and health problems. After we eat the food inside, we throw it into the garbage to make sure it doesn’t stick around the house and get all gross. After a day of throwing the Styrofoam it could just be sitting in our garbage cans outside waiting for the people from the City to come pick it up. After a year the Styrofoam is in a factory where they try to burn it down but Styrofoam takes 500 years to fully break down. After 100 years the Styrofoam has probably made a bit of progress breaking down but still has another 400 years to go. Food waste is sometimes used to create electricity for power homes. Food waste also is bad for the earth because when it rots it releases some stuff into our atmosphere which is apparently 25 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. To decrease the amount of food waste we can: shop for only an amount of food that we need, don’t over serve at the dinner table only give the amount people want or need, we can save and eat leftovers the next day or later that day, follow the expiration date, when a food is about to expire its best to eat it before it expires and not to throw it away.