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Plastic vs food waste: Difference between revisions
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(Created page with "There's sometimes a '''tradeoff''' between food waste and plastic packaging waste. ===Examples=== {{empty}} ==See also== * Food waste") |
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There's sometimes a '''tradeoff''' between [[food waste]] and plastic packaging waste. | There's sometimes a '''tradeoff''' between [[food waste]] and plastic packaging waste. {{talk|Maybe this page should be renamed to [[Packaging vs food waste]] to make it more general?}} | ||
=== | ==Examples== | ||
{{ | * Frozen vegetables (more packaging) vs fresh vegetables (more perishing) | ||
* Individually portioned meals (more packaging per unit of food) vs large economic size (more likely to not finish all of it in time) | |||
** {{rb|Large format is probably more eco-friendly in this case, if you can make the effort to finish everything in time.}} | |||
* At a restaurant or event: taking home leftover food "to go" | |||
** {{rb|Taking it "to go" is almost always better than letting the food go to waste, even if some extra packaging is involved. But if you can find a way to avoid both, then that's even better. Don't listen to peer pressure to leave before you're done eating everything.}} | |||
==Seeking a fair comparison== | |||
Popular eco-influencers have been focusing a lot on eliminating packaging and avoiding "processed" foods. But a perishable diet could potentially lead to more food waste overall, if people aren't careful. There needs to be more awareness and effort to avoid this. | |||
Some things to note: | |||
* [[Food waste]] is a major contributor to [[deforestation]]. | |||
* Plastic is made from [[fossil fuels]], but most packaging is fairly lightweight - more fossil fuels are burned just by shipping the food ([[emissions of small vs large-scale food shipping|even in a "local farmers' market" scenario]]). | |||
* Plastic [[plastic pollution|pollutes the oceans and other ecosystems]], but maybe this depends on how it's disposed of? To what extent does throwing plastic in a regular garbage bin contribute to this? {{rn}} {{talk|Maybe move this question to the [[plastic pollution]] page?}} | |||
{{pn-block| | |||
'''Research needed:''' Math: | |||
* Wasting a kilogram of plastic is equivalent to wasting how many kilograms of food, all things considered? | |||
** Obviously this is a complex question that requires weighing a lot of different factors, and making somewhat arbitrary considerations. But we should at least try. Making a few rough estimates is better than having no answer at all. | |||
}} | |||
==What to do about it== | |||
* [[Make use of food before it goes bad]] {{talk|I also want to add another point - that you can force yourself to finish what's on your plate - why you shouldn't worry about overeating (because you can just eat less later or delay your next meal - see also [[intermittent fasting]]). I know this is a touchy subject and I'm still working on how to phrase it in a non-patronizing way.}} | |||
* There are some non-perishable foods that have a low packaging-to-food ratio. For example: Dried pasta, dried beans, flour, seasonings{{x|even though the ratio isn't great with spices, they're used in smaller quantities than other ingredients, so they don't contribute as much to overall plastic waste. I added this here because the other ingredients are pretty bland otherwise}}. | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Food waste]] | * [[Food waste]] | ||
* [[Plastic-free packaging]] | |||