Around one-third of all food produced annually is wasted, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. This is disheartening, especially because almost a billion people go hungry every day and yet, we do not stop the wastage.

A few days ago, I went to Pizza hut here with my friend and couldn't believe my eyes. It was so annoying to see a man (and many others) piling his salad bowl/plate almost a foot high with salad just because he wants to make the most of a salad bar while still obeying the famous salad bar rule: one plate, one visit. Later, as expected, he wasted most of the salad which is so unfortunate as that's not only a wastage of food but also wastage of all the resources that have gone into producing that.

People suddenly feel too peckish to obey the 'no seconds' rule on restaurant side salads and stack their salad bowls really high to beat the restaurant rule which allows you to eat whatever you manage to pile on your plate but doesn't allow you to come back to the salad bar for more.

People, thinking that they've only got one plate and one trip to the salad bar, overestimate their appetite and stack their plate as they feel they have paid and want their visit to be worth it. As a result, they fill their bowls to overflow, one they won't eat it all which is a waste & two they need to learn portion control.

Artistic people were getting around the 'one-trip' rule by creating incredible towers of salad by first placing carrots, then boundaries with cucumbers and filling potato salad in between to utilise every inch of the plate space, ignorant of the fact that their stomach doesn't have that much space.

Pizza Hut, which has more than 10,000 restaurants in 100 countries around the world, has a 'one plate, one visit' decree in almost every country. Imagine how much of the salad/food is wasted because of this strange and senseless rule of the restaurant.

I could not resist raising this issue through the newspaper  'Gulf News' with 2 objectives-

1.       to bring it to the kind attention of authorities and Pizza hut owners/managers and request them to look into it, review this rule and stop/correct it to stop food wastage.

2.       to urge rest of the readers not to waste food

The online link is:

http://gulfnews.com/your-say/your-reports/stop-the-concept-of-salad-stacking-1.2064074

Several years ago, Pizza Hut announced it was removing salad bars from its restaurants in China as part of a menu revamp. 'Salad stacking' practice is believed to be the reason Pizza Hut removed salad bars from its restaurants in China.

Let's not be greedy. Take what you eat and Eat what you take. We must learn to control our portion as that's one of the best ways to control weight gain too.

We have talked and written about resource depletion last month. Wastages like these contribute to resource depletion. Also, we must not shy away from leading a frugal lifestyle.

Frugality has helped a couple in the United States raise 13 children, own a 7-bedroom house, and 15-passenger van — completely debt free. But some say frugal living demands too many cutbacks on daily expenses, to the point of reducing the quality of life. Others say its benefits go beyond saving. I am of the opinion that frugality is not giving up fun, it is just making careful choices regarding purchases and saying NO to wastage of any kind. In a world where the culture of consumerism is flourishing, choosing a frugal lifestyle can sometimes mean living as an outcast. People may say you're cheap or tight.

My family and I do not spend on buying new gadgets or furniture just because the old one is no longer in vogue. When we go to a restaurant, we order first less and then if needed order more rather than over-ordering in one go. Even then if we are not able to finish everything we ordered, we do not hesitate to ask the waiters to pack the left over for us to carry home (to eat later). We have been living a frugal lifestyle, and we have realized that there are more benefits to frugality than what meets the eye. Frugality doesn't just benefit people it benefits our planet too. By making fewer purchases and consuming less, we positively impact the environment in a number of ways. Reusing and recycling old items means less trash in landfills, less energy used for production, packaging, and shipping. And buying a cheap, fuel-efficient used car (or ditching it altogether in favour of a bike or public transportation) helps reduce pollution and greenhouse gases. The bottom line: Being frugal means consuming fewer of the planet's resources.

The frugal life is always the environmentally friendly life. Nearly every frugal strategy doubles as an environmental boon: driving less, rarely buying new things, not wasting food, using our heat and A/C sparingly – it's all connected. Frugality is good for humanity too. It means being less wasteful with our already scarce resources. And when we make a commitment to wasting less in general, we're reducing our carbon footprint and freeing up resources for others who might desperately need them.

As an International Correspondent of ALSEW (Association of Life Sciences and Engineering Writers), I write about environmental issues. Recently I wrote about FRUGALITY to promote it. The online link to the article in ALSEW is:

http://alsew.org/environmental-science/frugality-saving-resources/

Though frugal people are trying hard to make things they do have last longer, they don't have to spend time shopping around for something new – like spending quality time with family, cultivating a new hobby, or simply relaxing. Frugality isn't a tactic it's a mindset and a joyful lifestyle. Frugality isn't  a sacrifice it's a means to an end. Frugality is a positive principle to promote sustainable development.