Today, October 16, is World Food Day, and OzHarvest will show Aussies that tackling climate change starts with your plate! The social media campaign #countmein aims to inspire individual action and show that making small changes to your own food waste is one of the few personal habits that can actually help restore the planet.
Food waste is often over looked in the climate change debate, but is in fact a major contributor responsible for 8 per cent of global greenhouse gases (more than the aviation sector!) as food left to rot in landfill produces methane—a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Figures recently released from the Federal Government’s National Baseline Report reveal Australia is wasting over 7 million tonnes of food each year, which equates to 298 kilograms of food per person, making Australia the world’s fourth highest food waster per capita.
OzHarvest Founder and CEO, Ronni Kahn AO says people are experiencing ‘eco-anxiety’ as most feel helpless in the battle to protect the planet, but reducing food waste is where we can all make a difference every day. “The amount of food we waste is hard to visualise as once it goes in the bin it’s out of sight and out of mind, which leads us to think we don’t actually waste that much. 298 kg per person is a staggering amount – the same weight as six adult kangaroos. Urgent action is needed if we are to achieve the national target to halve food waste by 2030,” Kahn says.
“Cutting back on our individual food waste is the single most powerful way we can take action against climate change. It’s an easy win, both for your pocket and the planet. So from today, we’ll be asking people to #countmein and share what small changes they will make to reduce their food waste.”
Readers also enjoyed this story on a charity partnership between Coastrek and Beyond Blue.
