It Is Not that Important, It Is just Garbage.
“Today
humanity uses the equivalent of 1.75 Earths to provide the resources we use and
absorb our waste.”
Every day I witness the amount of garbage students produce
in the cafeteria. Though most likely the easiest solution, using disposable
trays and plastic utensils, I do not understand the rationale for the current
wasteful system that is in place for school lunches. The worst part of this is
that we are allowing children to destruct the planet that they need in the
future, simply because is cheap and easy? Are they even aware of it? Are we
being good role models?
Large, unnecessary amounts of garbage are being produced
every day throughout our school systems. There are better, more eco-friendly
and sustainable approaches to reduce the amount of waste.
Everyone has basic needs like food, shelter, and clean water.
However, the desire of human wants tends to require more than the basics. Unfortunately,
most people have no idea of the amount of the resources needed to fulfill their
“needs.” Modern science has long reached the consensus that mankind’s greed and
apathy is negatively affecting the planet. Raising awareness within our community,
though grassroots activism, about these persistent and solvable problems is
perhaps the only way in which change can occur.
Have you ever heard about the ecological overshoot?
According to the Global
Footprint Network, “since the 1970s, humanity has been in ecological
overshoot, with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate
each year. Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.75 Earths to provide the
resources we use and absorb our waste.
This
means it now takes the Earth one year and eight months to regenerate what we
use in a year. We use more ecological resources and services than nature can
regenerate through overfishing, overharvesting forests, and emitting more
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than forests can sequester.”
Pope Francis commented on the issue, “The fact that has
shocked me the most is the Overshoot Day: By July 29th, we used up all the
regenerative resources of 2019. From July 30 we started to consume more
resources than the planet can regenerate in a year. It's very serious. It's a
global emergency.”
The picture bellow shows countries in red that has an
ecological deficit reserve.
While the picture shows how nations are performing, an
Ecological footprint can
give you an idea of how many resources you, as an individual, are requiring
from Earth. It can show you how many Earths it would take if everyone else on
Earth had the same lifestyle as you. They also inform your individual “overshoot
day” for this year; and offer solutions to change some of your unsustainable
habits. I was surprised to find that it would take two Earths to generate the
resources needed if everyone had the same lifestyle as me. I am making drastic
changes to my behavior and I challenge you to click on the link above, answer a
few questions, and to paste in the comments bellow. How many Earths would take to live your lifestyle and what
is your overshoot day? What can you do to make your life more sustainable?
In order to
live more sustainably, I will commit to shopping at farmers markets, favoring a
diet of plant-based foods rather than meats and processed foods, changing the
windows in my home to save on energy, and use green products in my household cleaning. By shopping locally, produce is not only fresh, it also requires
less from the environment. Food does not have to travel long distances,
reducing the amount of gas emissions. I wish I had time to care for a garden
and grow my own food. Last summer, I taught a class of urban farming for the College
for Kids program at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. During this class, I
grew a few tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, onion and cilantro. It is a
something I will pursuit when I have more time like Rosa bell and Will Allen. By
changing to double panels windows, I will save on heat. Since “coal and oil are
two of the major sources that produce large amount of carbon dioxide in the air”,
using less energy will reduce amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Green cleaning means that I will be
only using substances like baking soda, vinegar, and lemons to clean the home
surfaces. Those are natural green cleaners. Marc Lallanilla, in 8 Tips for Green Cleaning, provides important information on how
to make your house clean and safe while starting green cleaning.
References
Global
FootPrint Network. “How Many Planets Does It Take to Sustain Your
Lifestyle?” Ecological Footprint
Calculator,
www.footprintcalculator.org/.
Lallanilla,
Marc. “Green Cleaning - Tips for Green Cleaning.” The Spruce, The Spruce, 27 June 2019, www.thespruce.com/tips-for-green-cleaning-1708700.
Mailhes,
Laetitia, and Social Media. “Earth Overshoot Day 2019.” Earth Overshoot Day, Global Footprint Network, 6 Oct. 2019,
www.overshootday.org/.
Minnessota
Pollution Control Agency. “Case Study: Schools Move to Reusable
Utensils.” Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency, MPCA, 2
Apr. 2018,
www.pca.state.mn.us/living-green/case-study-schools-move-reusable-utensils.
Randy Olson.
“The Plastic Apocalypse: with Randy Olson, Nat. Geo. Photographer.” Breathe Project, Breathe Project,
breatheproject.org/event/the-plastic-apocalypse-with-randy-olson-nat-geo-photographer/.
Rinkesh. “What
Is Sustainable Energy and Its Types.” Conserve
Energy Future, 4 Jan.
2017, www.conserve-energy-future.com/sustainableenergy.php.
Union of Concerned Scientists. “Benefits of Renewable Energy Use.” Union
of Concerned Scientists, 14 July 2008,
www.ucsusa.org/resources/benefits-renewable-energy-use#.V8XbovkrKM8.
National Geographic India. “Planet or Plastic Pledge - #ChooseThePlanet - Schools in India.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Oct. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMbNrdCzeWA.
I am so embarrassed to say this but my "Overshoot day" is March 15th, and it would take 4.8 earths to generate the resources if everyone lived like me. How absolutely crazy, and something I had no idea had such a GREAT impact! Things I can do: carpool, change diet to more plant based, and shop at more local markets that support the farmers and the great things farming does to our eco-system.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you say "human wants tend to require more than the basics", I think this is so true. Like I have brought up in my blog posts, my family tells me "your eyes are bigger than your stomach" because I take too much food and then it goes to waste. I have been trying to cut back on this especially in restaurants and when I make meals at home. I work in a hospital so I too see food go to waste by the patients everyday, similar to how you see kids waste food in schools. I feel the american diet consists of overly filling our plate, could it be this simple as cutting back portions to cute back waste?
Great blog post, you really voice your opinion and bring up great thinking points for us viewers. I was able to easily follow this weeks post, good job!
Emily you're embarrassed? My day was March 7th and would take 5.4 earths. I know a large amount of it probably comes from my miles of driving to work every week. Other than that everything was in the middle or lower. It is sad to think that just myself alone is causing all of this damage and there being billions of people living on this planet. We have such a large impact as individuals and how much a simple change in our daily lives could affect theses numbers.
ReplyDeleteWe do need to teach our generation the importance of waste management. Since single use plates and utensils came out, we thought it was simpler than doing dishes and using water. We may have decreased one problem, but caused another. Like you stated schools are one of the worst places that have noticeably increased their use of plastic dishes. What is that teaching the next generation? Maybe we can fix that by going back to reusable dishes and instead of detention where kids just sit for a few hours doing nothing, they use that time helping clean. Or even volunteering hours for helping out. We can teach kids how to manage time and help improve our planet.
This was an enjoyable and educational post. Thank you for sharing and getting our minds thinking what we as individuals can do differently.
My personal overshoot day is May 27th. It would take 2.5 earths, if everyone lived like me. This number is still far too high. My biggest issues were around food. If I can work on reducing the amount of meat I eat, along with shopping at farmers markets or creating my own garden, that would really help bring my number down.
ReplyDeleteWhen you were talking about how you witness a lot of waste in the cafeteria at school, something you said really stood out to me. You said something along the lines of are we allowing our children to destruct the planet simply because it's cheap and easy? In the United States especially, we are focused on getting this cheap and making sure it is the easiest way possible. However, when it comes to the environment, we can't afford the chose the cheap and easy way out. We need to purchase the quality products that are more expensive, but will last 10x longer. We need to educate the children on the issues starting at a young age, because they need this planet.
I really enjoyed your post this week! I found it really enjoyable, with a lot of good information that was very intriguing! Great job!
Peter, you hit a home run with the food waste in our school systems. It is not only happening in Milwaukee it’s going on in Kenosha too. This elementary school was in a food desert. Trust me I was saddened too. I could not believe how quickly K-5 students threw food away. Most of the students see something they don’t like in their plastic package they would toss the food before getting to their lunch table. What we decided as lunch staff, we would collect the food before they tossed the food away. Yes, we stood near the garbage cans so the food would not get in the trash. If you noticed there is always other students who are hungry and want seconds. We would give the food to the student who wanted seconds so it wouldn’t go into the trash. (Shhh.)
ReplyDeleteToday, we are living in different times and hopefully one day. Some Will Allen’s will speak and educate about the importance of saving the landfills. Then our farmers will be allowed to come and pick up the compost and do as Will Allen. When he talked with the store managers convincing them how important it is to use the spoiled or bruised fruits and vegetables for gardening and farming. That alone was a stack of money saved for the grocery stores.
My hope and dream are farmers will have a day to collect wasted food from the school lunches and grocery stores. Then they can replenish our food chain for us to support our local farmers. Additionally, it wouldn’t take much fuel, and the fruits and vegetables will attain freshness with less bruises and spoilage because we will be local. Wisconsin needs to go back to being more sustainable and utilize the new technology available in the farming industry. By the way, your picture is beautiful, but it seems too close near the city…scary😊