Here are some fascinating facts and figures about three types of waste from the article in the url below. First, food waste:
"According to a 2013 study from the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment, just under 40 percent of global crop calories are used to feed animals, most of them from corn and soybeans grown at an industrial scale. It's a particularly inefficient way to feed people: It takes about 100 calories of grain to produce just three calories' worth of beef, or 12 of chicken."
Second, clothing waste:
"The Rainforest Action Network has found that about 120 million trees from existing forests are cut down for textiles every year. … one study showed that about 2,900 gallons of water can be produced to make a pair of jeans."
Third, e-waste:
"About a third of the global population was expected to have an internet-connected phone by 2017, according to a report from eMarketer. In the United States, the typical home has 65 electronic appliances, according to a study from Natural Resources Defense Council."
And, the following two quotes are from the article in the second url below, which focuses on the waste being generated by food-delivery apps in China:
"Scientists estimate that the online takeout business in China was responsible for 1.6 million tons of packaging waste in 2017, a ninefold jump from two years before. That includes 1.2 million tons of plastic containers, 175,000 tons of disposable chopsticks, 164,000 tons of plastic bags and 44,000 tons of plastic spoons. Put together, it is more than the amount of residential and commercial trash of all kinds disposed of each year by the city of Philadelphia. The total for 2018 grew to an estimated two million tons."
As a result:
"China is home to a quarter of all plastic waste that is dumped out in the open. Scientists estimate that the Yangtze River emptied 367,000 tons of plastic debris into the sea in 2015, more than any other river in the world, and twice the amount carried by the Ganges in India and Bangladesh. The world's third and fourth most polluting rivers are also in China."
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2020
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler5e
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
Small Steps Take Aim at a Global Threat: Waste
By Tatiana Schlossberg
May 28, 2019
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
B3
China Chokes on Takeout Plastic
By Raymond Zhong and Carolyn Zhang
May 28, 2019
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
B1, B5
