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SAVETHINK EATREDUCE YOUR FOODPRINT

Your handy guide to sustainable Living, Working & Eating

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Learn how you can: Eat, Think & Save

The theme for this year’s World Environment Day celebrations is Think.Eat.Save. Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint. According

to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of

food is wasted. This is equivalent to the same amount produced

in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.

Given this enormous imbal-ance in lifestyles and the

resultant devastating effects on the environment, this year’s

theme – Think.Eat.Save – encour-ages you to become more aware

of the environmental impact of the food choices you make and empowers you to make informed decisions.

While the planet is struggling to provide us with enough resources to sustain its 7 billion people (growing to 9 billion by 2050), FAO es-timates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost. Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contribu-tor to negative environmental impacts.

This year’s campaign rallies you to take action from your home and then witness the power of collective decisions you and others have made to reduce food waste, save money, minimise the environmental impact of food production and force food production processes to be-come more efficient.

If food is wasted, it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of all the food are also lost. For example, it takes about

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Your handy guide to sustainable Living, Working & Eating Department of environmental affairs

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1,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk and about 16,000 litres goes into a cow’s food to make a hamburger. The resulting green-house gas emissions from the cows themselves, and throughout the food supply chain, all end up in vain when we waste food.In fact, the global food production occupies 25% of all habitable land and is re-sponsible for 70% of fresh water consumption, 80% of deforestation, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the largest single driver of biodiversity loss and land-use change.

Making informed decision therefore means, for example, that you

purposefully select foods that have less of an envi-

ronmental impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not flown halfway across the

world and therefore limit emissions.

So think before you eat and help save our envi-

ronment!

World Environment Day was estab-lished by the United Nations General Assembly to mark the opening of the 1972 Stockholm Conference. Celebrating World Environment Day is about the inspirational power of individual actions that collec-tively become an exponential force for positive change. By celebrating World Environment Day, we remind ourselves and others of the im-portance of caring for our environment. Remember that every action counts, so join us: every year, everywhere, everyone!

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June is Environment Month

The earth’s temperature is increasing. Unless we play our part, this will have serious consequences on our water systems which is not good for a continent already in short supply of fresh water.

www.environment.gov.za or call 086 111 2468To see how you can save the future, visit:

The theme for this year’s World Environment Month celebrations is: Think.Eat.Save.

Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint.

Take action & see how each of our decisions to reduce food waste will save money, minimise the environmental impact of food production & force food production processes tobecome more efficient.

Learn more at: www.environment.gov.za or call us on: 086 111 2468

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Food Waste Facts

The impact of food waste is not just financial. Environmentally, food waste leads to wasteful use of chemicals such as fertilizers and pes-ticides; more fuel used for transportation; and more rotting food, cre-ating more methane – one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change. Methane is 23 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. The vast amount of food going to landfills makes a significant contribution to global warming.

•Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted.

•Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).

•The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world’s annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).

• Food loss and waste also amount to a major squandering of resources,

including water, land, energy, labour and capital and need-

lessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contribut-ing to global warming and climate change.

• In developing countries food waste and losses occur main-

ly at early stages of the food value chain and can

be traced back to financial, managerial and technical

constraints in harvesting tech-niques as well as storage –and

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cooling facilities. Thus, a strengthening of the supply chain through the support farmers and investments in infrastructure, transporta-tion, as well as in an expansion of the food –and packaging industry could help to reduce the amount of food loss and waste.

• In medium- and high-income countries food is wasted and lost main-ly at later stages in the supply chain. Differing from the situation in developing countries, the behaviour of consumers plays a huge part in industrialized countries. Moreover, the study identified a lacking coordination between actors in the supply chain as a contributing factor. Farmer-buyer agreements can be helpful to increase the lev-el of coordination. Additionally, raising awareness among industries,

retailers and consumers as well as find-ing beneficial use for save food that

is presently thrown away are useful measures to decrease

the amount of losses and waste.

• In the United States 30% of all food, worth US$48.3 billion (€32.5 billion), is thrown away each year. It is esti-mated that about half

of the water used to pro-duce this food also goes

to waste, since agriculture is the largest human use of

water. (Jones, 2004 cited in Lundqvist et al., 2008)

•United Kingdom households waste an estimated 6.7 million tonnes of food every year, around one third of the 21.7 million tonnes pur-chased. This means that approximately 32% of all food purchased per year is not eaten. Most of this (5.9 million tonnes or 88%) is currently collected by local authorities. Most of the food waste (4.1 million tonnes or 61%) is avoidable and could have been eaten had it been better managed (WRAP, 2008; Knight and Davis, 2007).

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• In the USA, organic waste is the second highest component of land-fills, which are the largest source of methane emissions.

Sources: Global Food Losses and Food Waste - FAO, 2011

Sustainable consumption: Doing more and better with less

Our planet’s regenerative capacity is being greatly exceeded as the world’s population is now producing and consuming more resources than ever. In fact, in developed and developing countries, people are acquiring much more than what they actually need and therefore pro-ducing an enormous amount of waste.

Our growing population puts so much pressure on the environment that

nowadays the natural resourc-es are no longer as abun-

dant as they used to be. How we use and dispose of non-renewable re-sources is radically al-tering our ecosystems and even the planet’s renewable resources (such as water, tim-

ber or fish) are rapidly being exhausted. We

have now reached a tip-ping point where the quality

of air and water needs to be improved, the level of production

needs to be balanced and the amount of waste generated needs to be reduced.

Sustainable consumption is all about ‘doing more and better with less,’ through reducing resource use, degradation and pollution while in-creasing the quality of life for all.

The massive consumption of both renewable and non-renewable re-sources contributes to a massive loss of biodiversity – with current

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extinction rates of birds, mammals and amphibians estimated to be at least 100 times, but possibly over 1,000 times, higher than pre-indus-trial rates. The poorest population is most affected by such changes giving that they rely directly on natural resources — such as fishing, small-scale agriculture or forestry — for their livelihoods.

Pollution and over-exploitation of the world’s resources are increas-ingly compromising 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 ac-

cess to their fair share of resources.

There are many possibili-ties as for how we can

change our unsus-tainable consump-

tion habits while also improving our quality of life. To do more with less is es-sential for us to live within the re-sources the plan-

et has to offer. Changing our cur-

rent living standards requires us to adopt

innovative and creative solutions on the way we use

and dispose the products and services we own and consume. This could

enable a transition to more sustainable activities and lifestyles while also protecting the world’s natural resources.

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A to Z ENVIRONMENT TIPSIt takes only a few simple steps to change our behaviour into habits that make good economic and ecological sense.

It is said that it takes the mind 21 days to absorb a new behaviour into a habit. Together with your family, friends and colleagues, try to adopt at least two of the following green economy tips each month, so that you become life-long champions of the green economy:

Act now to save the future as well as rands and cents. Simple things like planning your trips in advance to find the shortest route, reduces your driving time and fuel use, should you get lost. When you are shopping with your children, teach them by example that using cloth bags and buy-ing energy saving bulbs today actually saves money and the environment in the long term.

Bring a cloth bag to do all your shopping, but not just for groceries. Take a cloth bag on your trips to the mall when you shop for clothes, small electronics or other products. A sturdy, reus-able bag will last for years, and only needs to be used five times to have a lower environmental impact than a plastic bag.

Bring a mug with you whenever you go for take-away beverages, so you avoid using paper cups. Most paper cups are made in a way that makes it more difficult for them to degrade, and in some ways more hazardous to the planet than the plastic cup. So why not just bring your own mug for your favourite beverage?

Check energy requirements before you buy any new appliances for your home or office equip-ment. A cheap kettle, printer or stove might use a lot more energy than a slightly costlier option, which is more modern and energy efficient.

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Take the running costs into account when looking at the total cost of ownership. Think about how much heat new equipment could produce too and whether it could increase your air conditioning bills.

Cancel junk mail and unwanted publications. Also consider subscrib-ing to the electronic versions of your favourite newspapers and maga-zines, or sharing a subscription with a friend or colleagues.

Compost your organic food waste. Your kitchen is an excellent source of free compost. Vegetable peels, egg shells, paper and even certain types of tins provide minerals that will nourish your home, school or community garden.

Don’t let the tap run when brushing your teeth. You will save money on your monthly water bill in the long term if you use one cup to gargle or you only open the tap for a few seconds, only when you need to rinse off.

Dripping taps drain your pockets! Check the taps and pipes at home and the office for any leaks and drips. Leaking plumbing wastes a precious resource and also costs you money.

Ensure that all photocopying and printing in your home, school or office are produced in dou-ble-sided format on recycled paper. Question whether you need to produce copies at all. You will save money and trees.

Engage in an environmental activity like school or neighbourhood beautification or tree planting.

Educate your friends on how individual actions can have an exponen-tial impact and motivate action for WED.

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Fair trade is fabulous! Supporting fair trade schemes helps producers get a fair price and even ensures further investment into improving their communities. Look for Fair Trade products which ensure bio-prospectors (communities in-volved in growing indigenous material for trade or research) aren’t exploited.

Fridges are big energy users. Decide what you would like before opening the fridge. Keeping the door open for longer than needs be, uses up energy. You can also save energy by ensuring the door seals are clean and that the door closes properly. Remember that your fridge will work most efficiently at 4oC

Form a group of peers or colleagues to oversee the greening of your school, neighborhood or workplace with recycling, car pooling, or en-ergy-efficiency.

Grow an organic garden and your own delicious food. The average home only needs a patch of ground about the size of door, to grow a vari-ety of vegetables and herbs to supplement their diet.

Give green gifts. Consider giving seeds, veg-etable seedlings, memberships to an environ-mental organization or adopting animals at a

zoo or game park as a creative and greener option to traditional gifts.

Go electronic for bills and payments: at home, in the office, at the bank etc. This will cut down on paper and is often much faster and cheaper than postage.

Hang it out to dry. Traditional clothes driers are en-ergy intensive. If possible, dry your washing on a clothesline outside. If this is not an option, dry your clothes with the spin cycle as it is 20 times less energy intensive as heat.

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Improve the insulation of your home – it will really help your energy consumption…and reduce your monthly bills!

Invest ethically. Ethical investment is a way of using your money to put pressure on companies that harm the envi-ronment or people. By investing your money ethically, you can also support progressive firms like renewable energy suppliers.

Join a local environmental or conservation group. You can team up with those around you and make a real difference for your community.

Jog outside and save the energy you would have used on the treadmill! You will also save money on gym memberships and reduce the emissions you would otherwise have created by driving to the gym.

Keep your kettle energy efficient. When using a kettle, only boil as much water as you need. It will save electricity and boil water more quickly.

Keep your cup! When travelling on airplanes, ask to reuse your cup. When visiting a friend’s home for a party, reuse your glass. That will also help to reduce the amount of water needed to wash dishes.

Local is lekker, so consume locally. You will help re-duce the demand for cutting down forests in foreign countries to meet export demands. Locally grown food also has a shorter distance to travel from the field to your local shop, meaning less emissions from its transport and freezing to preserve it.

Lights out when you leave a room. Always switch off the lights when you leave a room at home, or when

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you leave your classroom or office for the day. It saves energy and the electricity bill.

Motoring the green way. Are you in the market for a new vehicle? Consider purchasing one of the many hybrid cars now on the market. You will save drastically on fuel costs and cut down emissions.

Mobilise your networks! Message your friends on social networks about green living and tips. Your messages on Facebook, Twitter,

WhatsApp, YouTube, email signatures and other platforms can reach an ever widening global audience and help spread the news that Green is In! It doesn’t matter how, just get the word out!

Night lights or bright lights? Consider installing a motion sensing security light at your home, school or business. This kind of light will turn on when there is some movement in the area, rather than illuminating empty premises for hours on end.

Organise lift clubs to work or school. Find out which of your colleagues or classmates live around you and organise a lift club. Sharing transport this way can help you save money, cut emissions and get to know your peers in an informal setting.

Optimise the use of your washing machine – use the cold-wash option to significantly save

energy and reduce your daily carbon emissions.

Offset your travel whenever possible. International airlines increasing-ly provide an option to offset your travel when you book your tickets.

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Put pesticides away. Avoid using pesticides in your home, school or community garden and opt for natural, cheaper alternatives. Some pes-ticides also kill beneficial creatures like spiders, ladybirds and lizards who naturally eat some of the insects that destroy plants. Chilli powder, crushed garlic and citronella oil mixed with water can be safely used on plants to keep bugs away.

Play outside! Encourage children to switch off the television or com-puter and play outside. Contact the Department of Environmental Affairs for more information about the Kids in Parks programme.

Quantify how much money you could save each cold winter if you lowered the tempera-ture inside your home by 2 degrees Celsius. It could reduce your energy consumption by 14 percent!

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Reducing your con-sumption and impact helps take pressure off the world’s natural resources. Reuse glass jars of jam, mayonnaise and other products to store odd and ends in your home. Recycle paper, cardboard, wood, glass, cans, tins, and plastic bottles. Compost food waste if you can.

Replace traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. This can save up to 80% on your next electricity bill and last up to 8 times longer. You can go a step further and invest in LED light bulbs which use far less electricity and last far longer than even compact fluorescent bulbs. Yes, they are expensive, but they will pay for themselves over their 10-year life-span.

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Solar energy is hot news. Mzanzi has an abun-dance of sunshine for most of the year. Turn your own home into a clean power station by fitting solar panels on the roof. This will cut down your monthly spend on power.

Sacrifice something small each month – eat lo-cally grown vegetables instead of imported vege-tables; do without steak as cattle ranching is high

impact!; carpool with co-workers; take your bike to work etc.

Take a hike! Instead of a costly activity this week-end like going to the movies or shopping, why not take a walk, hike or have a picnic with friends at your local park or nature conservancy?

Turn it off when not in use. Turn off your televi-sion, radio and computer at the plug when they are not in use. Standby mode can be deceptive because these electronics continue to use power

when they are not completely switched off.

Understand your options. Learn about the small ways you, as an individual, can make a positive impact on the environment.

Use rainwater for your indoor plants – they love it, and you’ll save water at the same time.

Use public transport. Taking either the Gautrain, Metrorail, your local taxi or bus service are all

more environmentally friendly ways to get to school or work, when compared to travelling in a private vehicle, especially if you were to travel alone

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Vehicle maintenance can help go green. Have your vehicle checked and serviced regularly for oil leaks, tyre pressure and excessive exhaust emissions. A modern vehicle operating in peak condition will have less of a negative impact on the environment than a leaky, fuel guzzling and smoke emitting one.

Working together we can do more. Individual actions, when multiplied, can make an exponential difference to the planet!

Waste is wealth! Before you throw away bottles, paper, plastic containers and tins, consider recycling them to raise money for your school or making them available

to someone less fortunate, who is a waste collector.

X-ray your activities and habits. Spend one week noting down all your daily activities that use up energy and have an impact on the environ-ment. At the end of the week write down solutions for each item that can help to save energy and decrease any negative impacts.

Youth Month is also Environment Month. Create platforms in your community or school for young people to learn and participate in environmen-tal initiatives. If you are a young person lead by example to show your peers that caring for the environment is cool!

Zip around your neighbourhood on your bike, kick-scooter or your own two feet. Get some fresh air by using your own energy to get to your local spaza shop, run errands or to visit friends.

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Sustainable consumption: Doing more and better with less

Our planet’s regenerative capacity is being greatly exceeded as the world’s population is now producing and consuming more resources than ever. In fact, in developed and developing countries, people are acquiring much more than what they actually need and therefore pro-ducing an enormous amount of waste.

Our growing population puts so much pressure on the environment that

nowadays the natural resources are no longer as abundant as

they used to be. How we use and dispose of non-renew-able resources is radically altering our ecosystems and even the planet’s re-newable resources (such as water, timber or fish)

are rapidly being exhaust-ed. We have now reached a

tipping point where the qual-ity of air and water needs to be

improved, the level of production needs to be balanced and the amount

of waste generated needs to be reduced.

Sustainable consumption is all about ‘doing more and better with less,’ through reducing resource use, degradation and pollu-

tion while increasing the quality of life for all.

The massive consumption of both renewable and non-renewable resources contributes to a mas-sive loss of biodiversity – with current extinc-tion rates of birds, mammals and amphibians estimated to be at least 100 times, but possi-

bly over 1,000 times, higher than pre-industrial rates. The poorest population is most affected by

such changes giving that they rely directly on natu-

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ral resources — such as fishing, small-scale agriculture or forestry — for their livelihoods.

Pollution and over-exploitation of the world’s resources are increas-ingly compromising 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.

There are many pos-sibilities as for how

we can change our unsustain-able con-s u m p t i o n habits while also im-proving our quality of life. To do more with less is es-

sential for us to live within

the resources the planet has to

offer. Changing our current living standards

requires us to adopt inno-vative and creative solutions on

the way we use and dispose the products and services we own and consume. This could enable a transition to more sustainable activities and lifestyles while also protecting the world’s natural resources.

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315 Pretorius Streetcnr Pretorius & Lillian Ngoyi StreetsFedsure Forum BuildingNorth TowerPretoria, 0001

Call Centre: 086 111 2468

Postal AddressPrivate Bag X447Pretoria0001

www.environment.gov.za

think eat save - department of environmental affairs · to see how you can save the future, visit:...

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