Humans have to deal with health issues of their food waste

Humans have to deal with health issues of their food waste; however, animals have no contributions to food waste, but they still suffer from the consequences. Wild animals are often attracted to garbage. However, the open garbage is not always leftover food; it can be plastic or other non-digestible items. “In the maned wolf, however, non-digestible anthropogenic waste (e.g., plastic) has been found to comprise 14.1% of all diet items and to be present in up to 40% of scats” (Newsome). Wild animals are not only threatened by non-digestible waste, but also possible vehicle collisions. Open food garbage is often located near human community. In 1970s, the mortality rate of grizzly bears by vehicle collisions increased due to dumpsters near the Yellowstone National Park (Newsome). Reduction of open garbages can reduce the mortality rate of many wildlife.
Along with health and animal effects, food waste contributes to the environmental problem. After food waste is taken out from dumpsters, it is dumped at a landfill site. “33 million tons, was thrown away, making food waste the single largest component of municipal solid waste reaching landfills and incinerators” (Bell). Landfills were designed to safely get rid of garbage; however, it is a contributes to the greenhouse gases. According to Juen Guo, food that decays in landfills produces high quantity of methane, which is 25 percent more harmful than carbon dioxide (Guo). There are many other factors that contribute to greenhouse gases, such as the burning of fossil fuels; it is difficult to decrease the use of fossil fuels without finding another substitute. However, food waste is something which can be reduced. The production of methane from food waste is already a problem, but the amount of food that is wasted by just resturants is another problem. “As much as 10 percent of the food a restaurant buys ends up in landfills” (Barclay). The restaurant industry is huge, and so is its contribution to food waste. Food waste is already a problem, and it becomes even more dangerous when it leads to other problems such as greenhouse gases.