May 22, 2023
In the United States, a staggering one-third of all food - roughly 130 billion meals annually - gets thrown out. The same is true almost everywhere else in the developed world. Each year, food scraps thrown out by Americans causes an estimated 170 million metric tons of carbon emissions from the landfills this discarded stuff gets thrown in - the CO2 equivalent of 42 coal-fired power plants.
But there’s a simple solution, beyond simply reducing waste. According to a new study in the journal Scientific Reports, composting food scraps results in 38 to 84 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than tossing them in landfills. Unlike trash in landfills, compost heaps are watered and turned, which aerates the decomposing waste and prevents bacteria from churning out as much methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
“Composting still has some methane emissions, but it’s much, much lower because most landfills aren’t turned as frequently,” said Whendee Silver, an ecologist at the University of California Berkeley and a co-author on the study.
Garbage dumps generate one third of all methane emissions in the U.S., in part because the most common item in them is food. A handful of states and cities have passed laws to mandate curbside compost pickups and to prevent food scraps from entering landfills. But much more needs to be done by both us and the authorities.
Moral of the story? Compost your food scraps.