This month, the Green Team blog will focus on food waste and easy steps you can take to reduce your own foodprint.

Do you know how much food in the US is never eaten?  Do you know how much it costs financially and environmentally?  If you don’t, you are not alone.  According to a new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, three-quarters of Americans don’t realize how much food enters the waste stream and believe they waste less food than the national average.

Here are the numbers across the supply chain for the US:

• 40% of food is wasted which is more than 20 pounds of food per person every month
• For a household of four, food waste accounts for $1365-$2275 annual losses
• 10% of the energy budget goes to getting food on our tables
• 50% of land is used for food production
• Rotting food in landfills accounts for 16-25% of methane emissions (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas)
• Since the 1970s, food waste has increased by about 50%

What do these numbers mean?  I’ll give it to you straight: Americans are wasting the equivalent of $165 BILLION (yes, DOLLARS!) and 150 TRILLION CALORIES EACH YEAR.  With the amount of food wasted in the US each year, 2 billion people could be fed for a year.

Are you surprised by these numbers?  Would you like to do something about it?  Reducing your foodprint is easy and makes a huge and immediate impact.   Here are some quick and easy steps to save money and the environment:

1. Shop wisely — meal planning, using shopping lists, and buying only what you’ll need (bulk bins are great for this!)
2. Freeze unused ingredients — leftovers and most produce freezes beautifully
3. Buy funny fruits and vegetables
4. Donate your unwanted or unused non-perishable foods to food pantries in your area

Resources:

You’re Wasting More Food Than You Think; Mother Jones

Wasted Food: U.S. Consumers’ Reported Awareness, Attitudes, and Behaviors; PLOS One

The Environmental Impact of Wasted Food; Fast Company & Inc.

Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill; NRDC Issue Paper

This Year’s 12 Greatest Strides Towards Reducing Food Waste; NRDC

Think.Eat.Save

How to Freeze and Store Food; Cook Smarts

Wow, it’s already September…how did that happen?!  It’s a good thing that the BCC Green Team is ready for the new semester!  As we enter a new academic year, we’d like to share some of our successes and challenges with you.

Successes:

• We have a new logo!  And be on the lookout for our very own BCC Green Team Stamp of Approval!  If you see either of these logos on table tents, posters, or announcements, you will know that it is in line with the mission and goals of the Green Team.
• Have you tried out one of the three shiny new water fountains on campus?  Located in Field and SBA, these water fountains provide filtered water and a bottle refilling port.  More coming soon to campus!
• Since 2009, we have reduced our trash by 40%!!  That’s huge!  Your efforts are making a huge difference!
• In 2015, we are composting over 2700 pounds of waste every week.  That’s 2700 pounds of compostable waste that’s staying out of our already-crowded landfills.
• Thanks to the gallant efforts of Kevin Kennedy and Katie Hickey, almost all of the containers and utensils are compostable!  And that includes the green straws!
• For an easy-to-follow and detailed list of what can be recycled and composted, please check out our very own Recycling/Composting page.
• BCC ranked 8th in the nation for RecycleMania with a recycling rate of 70.6%!!  We ranked higher than any other school in Massachusetts!  GO BCC!!!

Challenges:

• Even with our terrific recycling and composting numbers, 21% of our waste (by weight) is from paper towels and napkins.  Both are compostable and the Green Team will be looking into providing more composting opportunities.
• By volume, plastic bags represent 33% of our waste stream.
• Special events at Paterson and other locations on campus generate a lot of trash.  Do you have any ideas on how to best address this situation?
• As of 2014, the small appliances in offices (refrigerators, coffee makers, etc.) generated 4 metric tons of CO2.  Would you be willing to have a conversation with the Green Team about reducing our campus’ carbon footprint?

If you have any ideas for greening the campus or would like to get involved, we’d love to hear your ideas!  Please join us or contact Charlie Kaminski at ckaminsk@berkshirecc.edu