Artist Narcelio Grud from Brazil has created urban artwork out of discarded fruits and vegetables to raise awareness about food wastage. According to some statistics, people who live in developed countries throw away 30 to 50 percent of their food.
Grud’s project, called “Tropical Hungry,” shows an open mouth made of food collected at local markets. Grud collected and separated the produce by color and got to work.
The significance of his project can be seen by a new report by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, which has found that somewhere around ”30 and 50 percent of all the food that’s produced on the planet is lost and wasted without ever reaching human stomachs.”
The report notes that “the potential to provide 60–100% more food by simply eliminating losses, while simultaneously freeing up land, energy and water resources for other uses, is an opportunity that should not be ignored.” The report also points out that agriculture isn’t the problem—engineering is:
Controlling and reducing the level of wastage is frequently beyond the capability of the individual farmer, distributor or consumer, since it depends on market philosophies, security of energy supply, quality of roads and the presence of transport hubs. These are all related more to societal, political and economic norms, as well as better-engineered infrastructure, rather than to agriculture. In most cases the sustainable solutions needed to reduce waste are well known. The challenge is transferring this know-how to where it is needed, and creating the political and social environment which encourages both transfer and adoption of these ideas to take place.
If you’re looking for a way to not waste food, then look no further! As we’ve shared before, iRecycle®, powered by Earth911, launched an upgrade to help consumers learn how to properly dispose of unwanted leftovers.
iRecycle shares:
With nearly half a million downloads, iRecycle is already the premiere application for local disposal information. Earth911′s mobile application is based on Earth911′s one-of-a-kind recycling directory, with over 1.5 million local recycling and proper disposal opportunities for 350 different materials in every U.S. ZIP code. Users input a ZIP code, address, city or their current location and a material to find the most convenient solution for disposal.
“iRecycle is a great example of how Earth911 is moving recycling forward. With nearly half a million downloads already, we’re headed for an even more explosive release with this new version,” said Corey Lambrecht, President of Earth911, in a press release. “We’re leading the charge to get consumer products recycled by using our data – the best single resource available to make this a reality.”
According to the press release, the new version of iRecycle features:
- iRecycle iOS v2.5.1 – optimized for iPhone 5, Retina iPad, and iOS 6
- iRecycle Android v1.5 – optimized for Android devices. Support for many screen resolutions, including tablets
- iRecycle now has a single focus: finding recycling centers
- Vibrant color display to help distinguish categories
- Social sharing of recycling listings is even easier with Facebook, Twitter, SMS or email
Hi! I don’t want to sound like a “negative Nancy” here, but a new app is not going to reduce our culture’s food waste. Don’t get me wrong, what iRecycle is doing is a great idea to help dispose of food once it has actually become waste, but we also need to solve the root of the problem. Sadly, the root is a societal problem, and not one that has a quick solution. We need to change the way we think about food – learn how to be resourceful again, like in the agricultural days when food was scarce and a supermarket wasn’t on every corner. How many times have you thrown food away just because you didn’t like it? I know I am to blame, among others. We have to learn how to appreciate what we have, and not just throw it away because there is so much food available. We also need to reduce our consumption. (I.e. Don’t buy 10 lbs of bananas because they are on sale and then throw half away when they get “too brown”.) Okay, so that’s my two cents. I can promise you that I will try to reduce my waste, because the only way a huge problem like this can be solved is by individual initiative.