About That $3,000 Bag of Groceries in Your Trash

"A family of four in the United States throws out more than $3,000 worth of food a year, which translates to roughly 35 million tons of food discarded annually."

"The annual greenhouse gas footprint of uneaten food is 154 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent, comparable to the emissions from 36 million passenger vehicles."

"The production of wasted food required about 9 trillion gallons of water, resources that were never consumed by humans and ultimately went to waste."

American households waste over $3,000 worth of food annually, totaling around 35 million tons or $259 billion in discarded calories. This waste contributes to a greenhouse gas footprint of 154 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent, equivalent to the emissions from 36 million vehicles. Additionally, the production of this uneaten food consumed approximately 9 trillion gallons of water. Food waste is the largest component of landfilled material in the U.S., highlighting the urgent need for awareness and action to mitigate this issue.

Read at Earth911