Eliminate waste and we fix much of what's plaguing us

By Edward Humes / For the Los Angeles Times

What if the looming calamities of climate change, plastic pollution, the energy crisis and our whole environmental dilemma are symptoms of just one malady and it’s something we actually can fix?

That’s right, the planet is fighting a single archvillain: waste.

Americans live in the most wasteful civilization in history. This goes way beyond what we roll to the curb each week. It’s rooted in what we eat and drink and how we cook. It’s the main thing you pay for in your utility bills and at the gas pump. Waste is so deeply embedded in our economy, products and daily lives that it’s hard to see clearly, or to see at all.

Thinking of seemingly unsolvable Earth-destroying crises as byproducts of waste is powerful and hopeful. There’s no partisan divide where one side says, “Yay waste!” Instead there are ordinary blue state and red state people at work in our neighborhoods right now, showing us how to tackle waste and the catastrophes it drives; and saving, even making money while doing it.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-eliminate-waste-and-we-fix-much-of-whats-plaguing-us/