8 Ways Your Eating Habits are Affecting Climate Change

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On a yearly basis, global food waste adds up to...

roughly 1.4 billion tons or 1/3 of all foods produced for human consumption, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That includes food that's lost or becomes spoiled and goes uneaten. What's more, the US is at the top of the list for throwing out the most food per year: about 40 million tons (80 billion pounds), or approximately 219 pounds of waste per person. Food waste not only has disastrous effects on the environment but it also represents wasted energy at all levels of the food production process. Everything you throw out ends up rotting in landfills, which produces large quantities of methane.

What can you do? Don't buy more food than you need. Try to create weekly meal plans so you can anticipate the quantities you need. Stick to buying shelf-stable foods in bulk, while limiting perishable items to reasonable quantities that can be stored in the fridge or freezer. Start composting leftover food scraps, if possible, or look for ways to reuse them in other dishes.