It’s nuts how resources that are wasted in the United States.
Americans are equipped with enough resources, but most of them go to waste due to lack of proper skills on how to handle them. Or, it’s just the culture of people where others are not more concerned about the resources because to them, there appear to be plenty.
Common resources required for daily living include water, food, gas and electricity, among other resources.
Several research projects that have been carried out to show how resources have been lost.
Water waste
Water shortage is experienced in 36 states in the U.S. and about 1.7 trillion gallons of water go to waste each year, according to Columbia University.
Natural gas waste
Americans use gas in many different applications. It is used in homes for cooking, among other usages. A lot of wasted gas goes to waste due to usage of gas burners, which are not efficient, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. There are many other factors such as leaky gas pipes can as well can also lead to loss of fuel.
Electricity waste
The DOE estimates the electricity consumption in the U.S. at 100 quadrillions. The energy wasted is estimated at 1.7 percent, according to Penn State University. The electricity energy ends up in waste for various reasons.
Food waste
Americans waste half of all food, according to The Atlantic. Actually, an unfathomable amount of food (more on this in a minute). There is a belief that food is plentiful in America. Eaters are very picky. If something is wilted or doesn’t look “perfect,” we have a tendency to throw it away. Poor food processing and storage methods also lead to food spoilage.
This is just one of many ways how Americans waste money. Here are the top 10 ways, according to CNBC.
Why it is so necessary to conserve resources? Here are two reasons:
You don’t waste money
First and foremost, wasting resources will lead directly to losing money. It is estimated in the Atlantic article that each family in the U.S. throws out an average of approximately $1,600 of food each year. That wastes gas and electricity, which leads to higher bills that you might not “feel,” but add up really fast.
For electricity, the average American household uses 168 cubic feet of natural gas, according to Peoples Gas. That’s at an average cost per home of $19.26, according to New York State, using a New Yorker’s home as a case study. All these little things add up to the loss of about $2,500 or so each year.
Helps future generations
Now, we can’t be all selfish. When resources go to waste, we end up polluting the environment more. Our misuse of electricity will lead to burning more fossil fuel so that the energy can be generated. The process leads to the production of more greenhouse gases, which contribute more to pollution of the environment. This, in turn, contributes to climate change, so if even for selfish reasons we save natural resources, we all come out ahead, including our kids, our kids’ kids and on.
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Photo credit: Elevate via Unsplash