In the United States, we often times take many things for granted. One out of many the examples are our resources. We have so many things available to us that we occasionally do not even think about how, or where we got them. Like food, The United States has some of the richest soil in the world, so as a result, we are able to grow a lot of our food. Right along with water, we have fairly easy accesses to water, which allows us to grow high yield crops. We have all types of clothing available to us; whereas many other countries may not have any way to even get clothing. Take gas, for example, it is such a valuable thing we have as a society, but do we ever think about where that gas came from and how it got there? Most people do not. Nevertheless, there are places in this world that people may not even have cars available, yet alone gas. If one were to ask someone who lives in the United States if we are a nation of excess, they would most likely say yes. In present society, especially here in the United States, we waste a lot of things that many people in the United States, and in other parts of the world would die for. Food, water, clothes, gas, the list goes on and on with things that we waste in the U.S., but why is it that Americans waste so much? Americans waste large amounts of food, clothing, money, and numerous other items, simply because we are a wasteful society.
As Americans, we waste more food than many countries even consume. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “The average American trashes 10 times as much food as a consumer in South east Asia” (Hsu). That is about equivalent to eating 10 meals to a consumer in South East Asia’s one meal. We throw away our left over food just because we are done ea...
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...ff every month you have to pay interest, which is a waste of money because you paying extra for that money you spent. This is just a couple of examples of how we waste money in today’s society; the list goes on and on. From the interest on loans, to buying a $3 Starbucks drink. We are so spoiled as Americans that some people don’t even think about it. However, it also goes down to it being your money, if you earned it, you should be able to spend it on what you want, even if it is a total waste in someone else’s eyes. That’s the joy of being an American, being free, and being able to do whatever we want with your money without being contested for doing so. However, that doesn’t mean that we should not do something’s to conserve our resources because it can benefit you, but it also can benefit other people that may not have the same luxuries that other people have.
Have you ever felt like you are spending too much money at a time, on pointless items? Statistics show that American’s consumption rate of goods has increased by forty-five percent in the last twenty years (Statistics-Consumption/quality of life pg. 194). Americans are experiencing a thing that is many times known as “Affluenza”, this is when someone buys more items, such as clothes, cars, houses, or any unnecessary items. Many people talk about this so-called “Affluenza”, like it is a medical term. The word Affluenza is pretty much saying that people make money and work hard for their money and they like to buy nice things, because they can and they have the money to. They are fortunate enough to be able to have these nice things for themselves because they work so hard for it. Many Americans are not satisfied with their positions because of false ads, selfishness, and jealousy. Some celebrities, some of the wealthiest people on the planet have committed suicide because they are not happy with what they have and they feel like they need more items, when really they have everything they need to be happy, but they suffer from Affluenza and make these bad decisions.
it's certain characteristics that set us apart from other countries. The fact we are self-reliant, and
The passage written by Bill McKibben, entitled “Waste Not, Want Not” was written to bring to the forefront the huge amount of waste that a small community of only 500 people accumulate in a small amount of time. He educated the reader by showing in detail the amounts of waste that is created on a daily basis. The wasteful effects on the environment are then discussed in greater detail, that many people do not stop to think about. Last, the focus on how waste affects the economy and the personal time that is lost because of the massive amount of waste that we accept in our daily lives.
America is wasting their finite resource, such as coal and nuclear when we could actually be using renewable sources that will never run out. Most of our country’s citizens have never thought about where their
Americans are accustomed to wasting whenever they get the chance to, without thinking of the consequences it has on the environment. The overconsumption encouraged by the industrial economy has led to environmental issues. The essays "Waste Not, Want Not" by Bill Mckibben and "Forget Shorter Showers" by Derrick Jensen provides readers with various points on waste, how much of it there is, and the dangers it has caused to the environment; each giving their own side on the culprits behind damaging the world. Jensen claims that the largest contributor to the environment problem is the industrial economy (341).
Have you ever thought about how much food you waste everyday? The unfortunate truth is, the amount of food you wasted could have saved someone's life, yet it ended up being thrown in the trash. As a matter of fact, food waste is a serious issue that wastes $31 billion in Canada each year. We can help reduce this high amount by changing our aesthetic desires, shopping intelligently and understanding food date labels. Every single one of us is guilty, but we can make up for our wrong doings. In fact, it’s much easier to help than you may think.
Why does North America consume so much unneeded product? We are greedy. As soon as we have money in our bank account, we spend it without hesitation, on products we think will make us happy. If you compare what you have in your house to what somebody in a place like Africa has you will be appalled at how much stuff you have. As a society we consume much-unneeded product, because humanity as a whole is very self-minded, we take advantage of how privileged we are, and we will never feel satisfied with what we have.
Each year about 27% of America’s food gets thrown out, with more than 300 pounds of food per person ending up in the waste stream. The disposal cost of such food exceeds one billion dollars in local tax funds annual...
A lot of people like clothes and that may be what they spend most of their money on. Sometimes we have too much clothes that instead of donating them to people in need, they choose to throw them away. Living in America is the best thing that could happen to us. Everyone is free here and yet people still take their freedom for granted. Not everyone can say that they are free and have everything they need to
This does not only apply to food, it also applies to merchandise such as cars, houses, clothes, and other material items. Many people do not need those ten sports cars in the garage of their mansion. Furthermore, “The poll found that 63% of respondents are concerned about the amount of food wasted in the United States… the respondents were shown facts about the environmental, economic and social impacts of food waste, 60% said the impacts were more than they expected. Knowing the facts, a full 73% said we should all try to make it a high priority to limit food waste,” (Leibrock). Ultimately, many people realize how much products are being wasted, and their impact on the world. Also, a large percentage of people believe something should be done to prevent how much resources are
According to our reader, "there seems to be an inverse relationship between GDP and the quality of life. The more GDP grows, the more the quality of life deteriorates. This made me think about how much Americans waste food and natural resources. For example, FOX had a show, where people tried to out eat each other. The glutton and wastefulness was appalling, and at the same time, entertaining to some.
Reducing Food Waste In America America as a whole wastes a lot of food. America can save on food waste if consumers would purchase only what they need, stores and restaurants give surplus food to shelters and soup kitchens, and schools had waste education and waste reduction programs in place. First, America would be able to save on food waste if consumers purchased only what they needed. People would not have to worry about forgotten food that will expire and needs to be thrown away. Another way consumers can prevent food waste is creating a food menu before they go to the shopping for food, by doing this consumers will only buy what they are going to cook, thus leading to less food waste.
I have chosen the topic of food waste and the impact on the environment. I will discuss the ridiculous amount of food that is wasted each year and the staggering amount of waste that could be avoided just by planning ahead, and purchasing from farmer’s markets and avoiding the main stream supermarkets who set such high standards on the aesthetic of produce that tonnes are wasted for no reason other then shape.
There are realistic solutions that we should look into in order to curb this detrimental trend. Because we can do quick little time-saver runs to the nearest mega-store, we really have lost the need and, in some cases, the ability to be creative or resourceful. Instead of contributing to consumerism by buying new clothes and household goods, we can try finding and using things that were already purchased and perhaps slightly used. (Obviously not toiletries, food, or undergarments.) There are oodles of resale shops and rummage sales that contain great products for almost always half the price or even cheaper. By not shopping at such places as Goodwill, Salvation Army, and the like, we just keep adding more and more to the already vast amount of products that are already out there and not in use. It is wise to not contribute anymore to consumerism and waste-increase by buying used items. Perhaps we should only buy new things to supplement our needs. It is unrealistic to advocate that everyone in America stop buying new things altogether. We should buy them in moderation, but there are things we can do before and after purchasing these things. Three simple solutions are pre-cycling, re-cycling, and re-using. Pre-cycling is used to prevent as much waste as possible by simply seeking out products with little, less, or no packaging.
The average American tends to go through 4.6 pounds of trash a day, 1,675 a year. That’s 600 times their body weight. Every day Americans throw away enough garbage to fill 63,000 garbage trucks. From all that garbage, half can be recycled. That is enough to fill a football stadium from top to bottom every day. Europeans produce 16 metric tons (35,274 pounds)