This holiday season, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) encourages people to save money and protect the environment by reducing the amount of wasted food that gets thrown away. In 2011 alone, Americans generated 36 million tons of food waste. Most of this went to landfills to decompose and produce methane—a powerful greenhouse gas over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
One way for organizations, families, and individuals to get started on reducing their food waste is by joining EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. Challenge participants save money, help communities, and protect the environment by purchasing less, donating extra food, and composting. Businesses and organizations throughout RegionVI participated in the challenge this year, diverting hundreds of tons of food waste from landfills.
“Our country is blessed with abundant food resources, but too much of that is senselessly wasted,” said Regional Administrator Ron Curry. “By using only what we need, we can save more for those who don’t have enough and fight climate change at the same time.”
Six organizations in EPA Dallas Region have participated in the Food Recovery Challenge for several years. The University of Texas at Austin; the University of Texas at Arlington; the Dallas Stars and American Airlines Center; Ortega National Parks Systems, Carlsbad, N.M., Trading Post; and Ortega National Parks Systems, White Sands, N.M., trading post combined to divert over 1.04 million pounds of food waste from landfills in 2013. In addition, 29 new members joined the challenge in 2013, including Sprouts grocery stores, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Dallas Convention Center and Dillard University in La.
EPA thanks these partners for their hard work in fighting climate change through reducing their food waste.
