Post by GloryBee Sustainability Manager Shandy Carroll.
It’s a New Year, and time to start working on those New Year’s resolutions. One of the top sustainability goals at GloryBee is to reduce food waste. In the USA, 30-40% of our food supply is wasted, throughout the supply chain. This means that every stage of food production, 30-40% is wasted and ends up in landfills, where it adds to methane emissions (Methane is 40 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than Carbon Dioxide).
At GloryBee, we are working to reduce food waste in much the same way you could at home:
- Plan: We try to buy only what we need.
- Storage: Packaging is important! Correct packaging prevents food from going bad unnecessarily.
- Manage leftovers: Left overs in a tote, drum or bag are tracked and donated to Food for Lane County or the Eugene Mission before they expire.
- Compost what is left.
Bonus step: Measure what matters! Keep a spreadsheet of food waste and aim to reduce that number every year.
To learn more, here’s an interesting podcast on ending food waste.