waste and energy

Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill
This paper did a great job identifying the "inefficiencies in the U.S. food system from the farm to the fork to the landfill." By doing this, it is apparent that this is a problem that must be address at every level of the food supply chain in order to gain lasting results. Although the paper did not go into much detail and research, it raised some viable and reasonable solutions that could help the problem.

"Doing so will ultimately require a suite of coordinated solutions, including changes in supply-chain operation, enhanced market incentives, increased public awareness and adjustments in consumer behavior."

Americans Waste $130 Billion a Year on Energy

"There’s a vast lack of knowledge, even in business, about how and where energy is consumed."

I think this is the biggest problem. As a country, we are disconnected and uninformed about how things actually work. From expiration dates on food to energy consummation, most people simply do not know what is happening on the base level.

As the article stated, the best thing we could do is create more readily available information and resources for our citizens. At the end of the day, it is a personal lifestyle choice. I believe if we inform citizens from a younger age they will have a better view of how our actions impact our world and earth.

Top 10 Energy Pigs in the Plug
Basically what I got from this article is that we love using energy and sometimes we aren't even aware that we are doing so. Almost every aspect of life as we know it revolves around using energy and to us it is merely plugging in a charger or device into an outlet.

Growing up, my father always unplugged the microwave and televisions between usage and taught my sisters and I to do it also. It is a habit for me now. My sister and I unplug the microwave after each use and use a surge protector for everything in the living room which is turned off/unplugged when it's not in use. While this is normal to me, I understand it isn't convenient for our fast pace lives, but I do think we could all be more mindful about our actions and roles on earth!

Waste not, want not

I like how the documentary provided historical context. Yes, we all know the history of the U.S., but we all forget that the lifestyle was very different back in the day. According to Gunder’s article, Americas waste 50 percent more than they did in the 70s, and I’m sure a much larger percent during the World Wars. So, not only are we stuffing ourselves more, but we’re wasting more. I honestly think people put less value on this likes the environment, food, the value of one dollar and other people. We have detached ourselves so much that empathy no longer moves us to take action.

Obviously, we all need to eat healthier, recycle and reuse. On the larger level, corporations need to be more socially and environmentally responsible. This is one of the reasons why I disagreed with Mackney and Sisodia earlier…They looked at the big picture instead of at the smaller responsibilities. There’s no reason why nice grocery stores shouldn’t be in low-income neighborhoods with just as good quality of food. It is appalling that grocery stores discard food so easily. If anything, they should be sold at discount, given to nonprofits or even out on a table for people to take, especially the homeless. What’s worse is that merchants and buyers buy food based on its prettiness. It should be ok that carrots are crooked.

The environment and energy consumption is a realm that needs help and support by the government. It should be affordable for people to buy environmentally friendly products. Companies and construction should inform consumers of their options and push for such products. Yes, we pay for our utilities, but is it enough money to curb our excessive usage? Should water be so cheap when people take 30 minute showers? There’s no incentive to save when it is cheap and at the flip of a switch.

I can see how we use more energy and power because we certainly have a lot more things to plug into the wall. I wasn’t surprised about most of the items on E Source’s energy-consuming and power-drawing lists, but I was surprised about the hair dryer and fish tank. These two items would not have crossed my mind. I don’t know much about power, energy and cars. But, even hybrid cars need electricity, which usually needs coal, which is a huge polluter in itself. 

Waste in America

Power plugs

I enjoyed going through the slideshow of the top 10 power-sapping plug-ins and realizing that none of these things are things we actually need to get by, even a dishwasher or a a/c unit or space heater. I counted three things I use in my apartment on a weekly basis: the dishwasher, the a/c unit and the microwave oven. But most of the other things I didn't use on a regular basis, but are things I can see the regular American household using, with the execption of the popcorn maker.

Americans wasting $130 billion

I think the point of the article was offset some by the author admitting this was all very boring and that some of the solutions weren't even necesarry to be summed up. But the most interesting point was that it costs more money to save energy. Obviously, as we stand right now, we'd rather save money than take drastic means to save electiricty.

Reducing FoodWaste

My favorite two numbers from the beginning are that half of our country's land is used for food production — that's pretty incredible. And then: 40 percent of the food that's created doesn't go eaten. That's not very good for efficiency, a waste of land, manpower, energy and resources. Of the five listed categories of things we waste, the three least-wasted are things used for cattle while the most-wasted thing is seafood, which I would think we don't have that much control over the reproduction and rearing process, and then fruits and vegetables.

Dive!

Great documentary. First, to prove that dumpster-diving isn't so disgusting (the whole class was grossed out at the beginning) and then that it could help stop hunger in isolated situations. Hopefully high-profile things like this can spur action. 

America's Waste

Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill

• "There was once a time when we wasted far less, and we can get back there again. Doing so will ultimately require a suite of coordinated solutions, including changes in supply-chain operation, enhanced market incentives, increased public awareness and adjustments in consumer behavior."
• Personally, I think that's wishful thinking. Of course, it would be great if we could revert back to our old ways and not waste as much. But I just think America, despite our great successes and first-worldliness, is on a downward spiral toward environmental chaos, and there's no turning back. Politicians aren't in power to make the world happy and healthy - they're there to further their own agendas.
• I feel so fortunate to have grown up in the United States and to have had the childhood that I did, but politically, America is the devil (I apologize for always being so pessimistic). Sure, the UK and the EU have taken steps to combat food waste, but they're a lot more environmentally conscious than we are. We have so much space to set up shop that this concept of "too much waste" doesn't seem to take hold, whereas Europeans, with such little space to work with, can see the effects of such waste immediately.
• "There is the plain economic truth that the more food consumers waste, the more those in the food industry are able to sell."
• The simple supply and demand of economics. My own family has so much extra food lying around in freezers, the pantry and the refrigerator, all because we thought there might be a need for it one day. Once my mom finally decides to do a deep cleaning to only keep what is still fresh of what we normally eat, I can safely say that at least 70 percent of the food in my house will go in to the dumpster. And I'm sure my family isn't the only one like this. Plenty of American families go to the grocery store and buy things that they might one day use, not what they absolutely need. This constant surplus encourages producers to produce even more, which results in even more waste.
• "Standardize and clarify the meaning of date labels on food so that consumers stop throwing out items due to misinterpretation."
• I must admit, I have fallen victim to this misinterpretation as well. It wasn't until I was throwing away a loaf of bread on the printed expiration date and my mom explaining what the "Good by" date meant that I actually understood.

Americans Waste $130 Billion a Year on Energy

• "U.S. businesses and individuals could save money, curb emissions of global warming pollutants, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and cut energy consumption by 23 percent by 2020, merely by taking sensible, practical steps to use energy more efficiently."
• I can agree with a statement like this. I believe in campaigning to make a difference in the individual's way of life, but when it comes to trying to make a difference with government officials, I generally have no hope.
• "Buyers of new homes neglect to ask about the insulation's R-value."
• What's an R-value? There's a reason for all these "market failures!" We don't know a thing about them!
• Impressive numbers.
• "To accelerate that progress, McKinsey says we need federal, state and local government action, more education of consumers and businesses, and greater alignment among utilities, regulators and consumers of energy."
• Aha, that is where our problem lies. Unless something drastic happens that will make those people in power change their minds, they are not going to sacrifice any time or energy on something that doesn't personally benefit themselves.
• Gigatons and quadrillions? What is this, math class? I can't wrap my head around numbers like those. 

 
Energy Waste Rebounds: Top 10 Energy Pigs in the Plug

• "Indeed, commercial energy use per square foot of commercial building space has declined by 25% and residential energy use per capita household has fallen by nearly one third since the late 1970s."
• Because it saves money. Not necessarily because people want to be more environmentally-friendly.
• "On the contrary, while base building systems have become more efficient, plug loads have done something closer to the opposite."
•  Very interesting. I've always been under the impression that sockets use less energy than the so-called "base systems."
• "High capacity color copiers are the largest common plug loads in offices, one of which consumes about as much as about 30 laptop computers."
• WHAT.
• "Video game consoles, especially those from 2007, and room dehumidifiers are among the largest energy consuming plug loads on an annual basis."
• I guess now we have a good reason to tell my little brother to take a break from playing video games.
• A major portion of the power is used when the electronic device is turned off or in standby mode, which is commonly called "phantom power."
• There are a lot of things I could be turning off, I suppose...
• "North American households waste about $7 billion a year on phantom loads" = "50 million tons of carbon dioxide, or enough electricity to power 6 million households"
• Incredible.
• The coffee machine is #7??
• More important: the hair dryer is #1?!