Our food habits needs to change. Join our monthly challenge in the One Planet Life app and reduce your waste for a greener tomorrow.
For the month of May, One Planet Life is thinking critically about food consumption and waste. Did you know that almost 30% of all waste in landfills is food? Or that an estimated 30-40% of food products are discarded instead of consumed? Annual food production emissions account for a whopping 25% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. But the sources of food production emissions may surprise you.
In general, what you eat matters more than eating locally. Annual food transportation emissions are far less than the emissions produced by cattle production or food rot. As Bill Gates highlights in his book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions we Have and the Breakthroughs We Need:
You may know that cattle produce a lot of methane, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases in terms of contributing to warming temperatures. But did you know that throwing away food is also a significant contributor? When food rots, it also produces methane. And we throw away lots of food every year. The equivalent of 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide, to be exact. The key message here is, we can reduce food industry emissions by living more consciously.
Make a difference and live more consciously by joining One Planet Life’s Reduce Waste Challenge. The monthly challenges found in the One Planet Life app are designed to encourage lasting, sustainable habits through small, incremental actions. Each challenge includes a series of Joyful Changes that layer on top of your existing sustainability journey. Our monthly challenges cover a wide range of activities and are designed to help motivate and inspire you in new and exciting ways.
The Reduce Waste Challenge targets the incredible amount of waste that is discarded globally.
This challenge includes activities that encourage participants to eliminate unnecessary waste surrounding our food habits. In addition to food waste, single-use plastic is pervasive in our current food culture. Reduce your waste by using reusable water bottles and containers daily and composting your food scraps. You can also participate in a pantry challenge, support local farmers and CSAs near you, and more. You have the power to make a difference for our planet!
How Can I Join?
Signing up for monthly challenges couldn’t be easier! In the One Planet Life app, click on the “Challenges” tab, then click “Join Challenge.” Once you sign up, your current Life Center will display a set of temporary, challenge-specific Joyful Changes in addition to your existing journey-specific Joyful Changes. Any Joyful Changes with a trophy indicator are specific to the Reduce Waste challenge, and will only appear in your Life Center for the month of May.
Every time you complete an activity, mark it as complete by tapping on the radio button next to the Joyful Change. Check the “Challenges” tab weekly to see how your completed actions are adding up and who is climbing the challenge leaderboard.
Reduce your waste and join the OPL community challenge on the One Planet Life app today!
If you enjoy this challenge, consider signing up for either the Food Focus Journey or the Reduce Waste Journey to increase your impact for the next 12 months. Looking for sustainable products that can help you in your journey progress? Consider an Eco-Journey Starter Kit, which has been thoughtfully curated to help you live more sustainably. Together, we can reduce our waste and our carbon emissions.
