Food Waste is the action of throwing away perfectly good food because it is considered not fit to eat. This differs from food loss, where food is lost unintentionally such as a banana falling out of the back of a truck when it is being shipped.

Food Waste is a continuing problem for humanity, especially in industrialized countries. Every year, 222 million tons are consumed in industrialized nations while in the United States, food and organics are the second most disposed item in landfills.

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Other Sources

David Suzuki Foundation. “Help end food waste.” David Suzuki Foundation. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/help-end-food-waste/. Accessed August 2, 2016.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. “Food Loss and Food Waste.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/en/. Accessed August 2, 2016.

United Nations Environment Programme. “Food Waste: The Facts.” World Food Day. http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/food_waste_the_facts. Accessed August 2, 2016.

Fossil Fuels are non-renewable fuels made from the fossilized remains of animal and plant matter that have decomposed over millions of years. Fuels that fall under this category are natural gas, coal, gasoline, diesel, and fuel oils (the last three being refined versions of crude oil). These fuels are used every day to power cars, generators, and sources of heat.

Though they are the preferred for of energy and heat, fossil fuels have a huge environmental impact. As they are burned, fossil fuels release pollutants that include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. These pollutants contribute to some different environmental issues such as smog, acid rain, and climate change.

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Other Sources

BBC. “Making Crude Oil Useful.” BBC 1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway/carbon_chemistry/crude_oilrev1.shtml. Accessed August 2, 2016.

Government of Canada. “Fossil Fuels.” Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. https://www.ec.gc.ca/energie-energy/default.asp?lang=En&n=1F4E5D8A-1. Accessed August 2, 2016.

Footprint Neutral/Negative is the idea of committing human activities that will neither increase nor reduce a person’s ecological footprint. This also means that sustainable actions done by a particular person can cancel out activities that could enlarge their footprint as long as the sustainable actions are equal or greater than the negative ones.

An example of an action that could be footprint neutral/negative can be found in insulating a house. While purchasing and installing the new insulation will have adverse effects, the insulation will keep heat and coolness in the house longer, reducing the amount of energy needed to control the temperature of the room and countering the negative actions that would increase your ecological footprint.

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Other Sources

Foodprint Network. “Glossary.” Footprint Network. http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/glossary/. Accessed August 3, 2016.