As per Dubai Municipality, 1,850 tonnes of food waste is thrown away each day during Ramadan (Month of fasting for Muslims across the globe). Apart from this month food waste is the year long & a global issue.

The problem with throwing away food waste in the bin is that there is an environmental cost associated with the collection and disposal of this kind of refuse. The thrown food lands in Landfills.

Landfills are not only unsightly they also present numerous environmental issues:

Furthermore, new landfills are expensive to build and because land is scarce, as new sites are driven further from city centers to rural areas, costs to maintain them are escalating.

There are three ways to kill this menace:

1.     Safe to eat leftover may be served to most needy.

2.     Install Food disposal machines at home.

3.     Cook the desired Quantity only (In households) & prepare food as per demand (In Restaurants)

Safe to eat leftover may be served to most needy:

It is a very novel, practical & ideal method. My mother implements this habitually. The left over, safe to eat food in given to the household help the next day & he relishes it gracefully. My Mom regularly keeps such food into the refrigerator & make sure to hand over to him the next morning. The same can be done by the readers.

At the national level UAE is doing this since 2004 but not at a grand scale. UAE Red Crescent manages a company named ?Saving Grace?. It collects uneaten food from hotels, restaurants and palaces and distributes it to families around Abu Dhabi and to labour accommodations. It has 15 refrigerated delivery vans to transport food safely. Private individuals should be mindful of how much they cook and should give away leftovers locally within their community. Saving Grace is also in talks with supermarkets to obtain nearly expired goods that are routinely thrown away because of customer-service requirements, but are still safe to eat.

Install Food disposal machines at home

At household level Food disposal machines are available that grind food waste into tiny particles that then go into the sewage system and can be easily dealt with at water treatment sites. Not only do food disposers help the environment but they also improve hygiene in the kitchen by getting rid of bacteria and foul odours. The key thing is to change people?s habits so that if food is being disposed of then it?s done in a way that is not harmful to the environment. It is a simple thing to do but it makes a huge difference to the environment.

Cook the desired Quantity only (In households) & prepare food as per demand (In Restaurants)

This easier said than done, but it is most effective method if put into implementation. It brings saving of precious food, reduces waste, lessen the burden on landfills & saves the further cost of disposing food or transporting the leftovers to the needy.

Source: Gulf News, Gulf Today