805 million people worldwide do not have enough food, yet 1.3 billion tonnes is wasted globally each year. The production of food through processing and agriculture emits 22% of all carbon emissions, causing global warming and harmful damage to our planet. If food is wasted unnecessarily, our atmosphere is polluted by food processing for no reason. And producing a single hamburger? 2400 litres of water.
Energy is used to generate power. This power supports many of our daily living activities, from transport to technology. However over 80% of fuels used to generate energy are non-renewable (finite) and will one day run out. In addition, the burning of these fuels is the main contributor to global warming via carbon dioxide emissions.
Only 0.5% of our planet’s water is both drinkable and accessible. Yet 80% of waste water from human activity is discharged into rivers and oceans. Our water supply is being polluted more quickly than it can be replenished.
Single use plastics are disposable. After being used once, they are thrown away. The energy taken to produce that item (water, electricity, fuel, manpower) is instantly wasted. But what happens after that? They can’t break themselves down, so inevitably much of the world’s single use plastic ends up in landfill or our oceans, harming wildlife and further polluting our environment.
Fast fashion is the clothing equivalent of single use plastic. Not only does the production of clothing consume a shocking amount of energy and hidden water (2700 litres for one t-shirt!) synthetic materials cannot easily break down in landfill once disposed of.
