Opinion: Food waste can worsen the drought – here’s how you can help
We depend on fresh water to survive, and there’s not that much to go around. California is in the midst of a historic drought, and in San Diego, we’re constantly told that we need to save water. We’ve heard a lot of these tips before: shorten your showers, “if it’s yellow, let it mellow,” don’t water your lawns, replace your garden with native plants. But with a drought of this scale, they might not be enough. … Shop smart, plan meals, and take steps at home to prevent food waste. When food is wasted, so are all of the resources that went into producing it — land, labor, fuel, energy, and water. Every year in the United States, wasted food consumes 5.9 trillion gallons of fresh water, or 14 percent of all the water we use.
-Written by Jessica Toth, the executive director of Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, a San Diego area environmental nonprofit that focuses on waste, water, and soil.