e -bulletin - oilweb · think. eat. save. reduce your foodprint the focus of the 41st theme for...

05. JUNE. 2013

E -Bulletin

S & E Department, Oil India Limited, Duliajan - 786602, Email id: [email protected]

An initiative of Safety & Environment

Department

Forward

Pollution and over-exploitation of the world’s resources are increasingly com-

promising our own wellbeing and quality of life. The planet cannot afford to

continue taking this path. A transition towards a more sustainable lifestyle is

crucial to enable future generations to have access to their fair share of re-

sources.

Need of sustainable consumption of food cannot be stressed enough. Chang-

ing our current living consumption pattern requires us to adopt simple solu-

tions on the way we consume, buy or dispose the food. This could enable a

transition to more sustainable activities and lifestyles while also protecting the

world’s natural resources.

With this special issue of E– bulletin on World Environment Day, it is our en-

deavor to raise awareness in each of us to take a mindful look at our food pur-

chasing and consumption patterns, and alter them to reduce our personal and

household levels of food waste. The need of the hour is that we Think before

we Eat and help Save our planet.

Team Editorial

Sri A. K. Acharya

Dr. B. N. Sahoo

Ms. B. Das


World Environment Day a time for hope

World Environment Day is held each year on June 5. It is one of the principal vehi-cles through which the nations promote environmental awareness & encourage the world to take positive environmental action. Through World Environment Day, the UN Environment Programme is able to per-sonalize environmental issues and enable everyone to realize not only their re-sponsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sus-t a i n a b l e a n d e q u i t a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t . World Environment Day is also a day for people from all walks of life to come to-gether to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and fu-ture generations. WED Mission: To raise support for a more sustainable future as the devastating

effects of climate change continue to affect us all.


Significance Celebration of World environment day today has gained a lot more importance than just an anniversary as it constantly reminds us of our inadequate measures towards curbing environment degradation It is observed every year to promote awareness on the importance of preserving our biodiversity, the need to identify problems related to the environment and ways to take corrective action. WED is a means to tackle environmental chal-lenges that include climate change, global warming, disasters and conflicts, harmful substances, environmental governance, ecosystem management and re-source efficiency. World Environment Day has received tremendous support from the public, non-profit organizations and governments around the world. Various awareness cam-paigns - beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events and much more - are organized to spread the message, which is to improve the quality of life of all living beings on this planet without harming nature. All the activities of World Environment Day are carried out to spread eco-awareness and increase green footprint.

Inception World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stock-holm Conference on the Human Environ-ment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of UNEP. It is hosted every year by a different city and commemo-rated with an international exposition through the week of June 5.

Think. Eat. Save. Reduce Your Foodprint

The focus of the 41st theme for World Environment Day is Think.Eat.Save.,

with host country Mongolia. Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food

loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint due to tremen-

dous waste of food that exists in our world today and the enormous environ-

mental footprint that humans leave on our planet. The UN’s Food & Agricul-

ture Organization (FAO) estimates that 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted or

lost each year, the equivalent of all the food produced in sub-Saharan Africa.

At the same time, one in seven people goes to bed hungry every night and

20,000 children under the age of five die daily of hunger-related causes.

Food is one of our most basic needs and recognised as a human right in over 160 countries worldwide. It is estimated that forty to fifty percent of the food produced each year goes to waste. In addition to this, increasing global food demand places a heavy and growing burden on the ecosystems that provide our food. Modern agriculture has become a key driver of biodiversity. Today, food consumption and production are responsible for 20-30% of all environ-mental impacts in the world, not only contributing to climate change, but also to air and water pollution, drought and soil erosion.


The impact of food waste is not just financial

but environmental too. If food is wasted, it

means that all the resources to grow such as

time, energy, land, labour fertilizers, pesti-

cides and to transport it gets lost and inputs

used in the production of all the food are also

lost. For example, it takes about 1,000 litres

of water to produce 1 litre of milk which ends

up in vain when we waste food.

Food Waste, one of the great paradoxes of a planet subject to huge imbal-ances in the redistribution of wealth and food resources. With the motto Think Eat Save, World Environment Day seeks to create awareness about the thorny question of food waste. Thinking, therefore, about how we act in regard to re-sources, not just food resources, in our daily lives, avoiding irresponsible be-haviors. Understanding how Eating is a necessary way of sustaining our-selves. Saving as much as we can from what we have, out of respect for the global population, our health and our planet.

When food is wasted it goes into our do-

mestic rubbish bins, it ends up in landfill where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 25 times more potent than the CO2 from your car’s exhaust!?

Global food production is responsible for 25% of all habitable land, 70% of fresh wa-ter consumption,80% of deforestation and 30% of GHG emission ( source: UNEP )

If we planted trees on land currently used to grow unnecessary surplus and wasted food, this would offset a theoretical maxi-mum of 100% of greenhouse gas emis-sions from fossil fuel combustion.

The irrigation water used globally to grow

food that is wasted would be enough for the domestic needs (at 200 litres per per-son per day) of 9 billion people - the num-ber expected on the planet by 2050.

10% of rich countries' greenhouse gas

emissions come from growing food that is never eaten.

A third of the world's entire food supply could be saved by reducing waste – or enough to feed 3 billion people; and this would still leave enough surplus for coun-tries to provide their populations with 130 per cent of their nutritional requirements.

Food Waste Facts


Steps for reducing ‘foodprint’?

Reducing your foodprint is easy! By making informed food choices (such as buy-ing only as much as you need, choosing seasonal and local food, eating organic and loving your leftovers), we can reduce our food waste on and ease the burden on our planet to produce food and reduce greenhouse gases unnecessarily enter-ing our atmosphere. What you can do

Think before you Eat and help Save our environment!

Plan meals and buy only the ingredients needed for each to avoid food waste.

Reuse leftovers.

Eat less meat

Choose fair trade food and products.

Grow your own food at home.

Recycle organic waste.

Eat seasonal, fair trade, organic and local!

Buy only as much as you need

Look for produce with minimal packaging (eg. bananas don’t need packaging

because their skin protects the fruit from spoiling)

Save your food in airtight containers or by freezing it

Compost your scraps

The UNEP is asking us to think before we eat and help save our environment! There are many ways we can make more informed decisions in your food choices.

We can all make a difference by purchasing organic food that does not contain

harmful chemicals or buying locally-grown food that does not need to be shipped

across the country to reach our nearest grocery store.

By reducing our foodprint, we will not only reduce the amount of food waste in our

own homes, but will also reduce the environmental impact of food production and

save money as well.

Sign the

PLEDGE I pledge to reduce my food waste and help save the environment

Name: Email id:

And mail it to [email protected]


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