Public Service Announcement for Yokohama City

5th October 2022

October is ‘Reducing Food Waste Month’.

Reducing food waste is a universal issue that is also an SDG.

In Yokohama City, it’s estimated that around 18,000yen’s worth of uneaten food per person is thrown out each year.

But the cost of food waste doesn’t stop there.

Also wasted is, of course, the energy used to dispose of the food, as well as all of the energy that has been used up until that point, including in the production of the food, and the fuel used to transport it.

And the consumption of all this energy is one of the causes of global warming.

So food waste must be reduced to protect the Earth’s environment too.

If each of us gradually takes action in our daily lives, we can reduce food waste.

For example, when shopping, do you tend to pick products from the back of the shelf because they seem fresher? If everyone takes items from the back, then the products with a shorter life span will remain unsold, leading to food waste.

If we’re likely to eat something straight away, we should take it from the front.

Also, when eating out, do you end up ordering too much? It is said that over half of the food waste from restaurants consists of what customers leave on their plates.

Ordering only what can be finished, and enjoying eating it, will put a smile on everyone’s faces, be they consumer or restaurant worker.

There is a lot of action we take in our daily lives, so let’s each of us do what we can bit by bit to make a difference!