A special section for correspondence and controversy

This paper gives crude estimates of the environmental consequences associated with the birth of one baby in the United States. We calculate the magnitude of one hundred environmental impacts which one American born today will cause over a lifetime. The impacts are grouped under five headings: waste generation, mineral consumption, energy consumption, ecosystem alteration, and food consumption. We also consider, but do not quantify, impacts on extinctions of species and indigenous cultures. Our purpose is to emphasize the role of population growth in the creation of environmental problems, and to make potential parents aware of their ability to impact the global environment. We conclude that one especially effective way for individuals to protect the national and global environment, and hence protect the wellbeing of all existing people, is to stop creating more humans.

The Environmental Impact of Gastrointestinal Procedures: A Prospective Study of Waste Generation, Energy Consumption, and Auditing in an Endoscopy Unit

SummaryA survey of the tourism industry on the island of Hawaii (the Big Island) in the state of Hawaii in the United States was conducted to collect baseline information on major resources (energy, food, and water consumption) and waste generation from five tourism sectors: accommodations, food and beverages (restaurants), golf courses, tourism services (tours), and rental cars. The questionnaire was developed and 50 establishments from the target sectors participated in this survey. Resource consumption and waste generation were calculated by the number of establishments, employees, and visitors. Using these factors and island‐wide statistics (the number of establishments, job counts, and visitors), this study estimated the current status of island‐wide water, food, and energy consumption and waste generation by these five sectors of the tourism industry. The estimate shows that the tourism sectors surveyed for this study account for 21.7% of the island's total energy consumption, 44.7% of the island‐wide water consumption, and 10.7% of the island‐wide waste generation. Using a per guest emission factor (such as per employee, guest room, and seat) provided in this study, the owners and managers of tourism establishments can calculate a baseline for each resource input and output. This is essential information to improve the industry's efficiency and result in economic savings.

The healthcare sector greatly impacts the environment through energy, transport, product use, disposal and food service. This requires significant interventions to reduce energy consumption and waste generation and increase customer satisfaction simultaneously. Considering the need to investigate food waste amounts and energy consumption in hospitals, the present research has a triple goal. First, it evaluates energy consumption and efficiency by comparing cook-hold and cook-chill catering. Second, it estimates the customer satisfaction of the served meals and third, it assesses the food waste quantities at lunch and dinner among hospital patients. Specifically, the research combines (a) the evaluation of the energy consumption, based on primary data collected in a cooking center with a production capacity of 1590 meals per production cycle; (b) the investigation of the consumers’ behavior among 984 patients located in nine different hospital units in Southern Italy; (c) the measurement of food waste based on questionnaire-survey data. Results highlight the reduction in diesel consumption (– 42%) and in electricity consumption (– 93%), as well as the reduction in food waste (– 85%) when comparing cook-hold with cook-chill catering. This research illustrates a guideline in the field of efficient catering. It helps identify sustainable pathways and interventions toward energy efficiency, customer satisfaction, and food waste minimization for policymakers, healthcare professionals, catering companies or patients.

Environmental and nutritional impacts of changing diets and food waste in Spain

Conceptual framework for the study of food waste generation and prevention in the hospitality sector

Integrating food loss and waste reduction policies with global dietary shifts: an economic modelling study.

Can we live within environmental limits and still reduce poverty? Degrowth or decoupling?

In intensive care units, it is noticeable that there is intensive use of resources in the treatment and care process, leading to a significant amount of waste generation. In addition, the demand for intensive care, increasing life expectancy and surgical interventions, complex comorbidities and ecological crisis make it necessary to make critical care more sustainable. To explore the perspectives of nurses working in surgical intensive care units regarding responsible medical waste management, energy and medication consumption. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted in surgical intensive care units of a university hospital in Turkey in November 2023. Twenty-three nurses filled in an introductory form and participated in a semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis. Three main themes were determined: environmentally sustainable intensive care, prevention of waste in intensive care; responsible consumption and recycling; suggestions for institutional and individual behavioural change regarding environmental sustainability. The majority of nurses lack knowledge about sustainable development goals. However, in the intensive care unit, they provided effective and creative solutions for medical waste management, energy and medication consumption and individual and institutional behavioural change regarding environmental sustainability. Sustainability strategies should be created in institutions to ensure responsible medical waste management, energy and medicine consumption and reduce carbon footprint. In accordance with this purpose, 'Green teams' including unit-based doctors, nurses and paramedics should be established. Training should be provided and awareness should be raised to reduce energy use resulting from heating, lighting, ventilation and air conditioning.

<p>The coronavirus (COVID-19) is a threat to public health and caused several social, environmental, and economic problems. During the lockdown in different countries, waste generation has been significantly increased due to the high consumption of packaged food and increase the order of food via online and takeaway. This paper aims to investigate the impact of COVID 19 lockdown on food consumption and the subsequent change in waste generation in Oman. A quantitative research methodology was applied for this study using an online survey during the COVID 19 lockdown. The survey collected information on demographic data, awareness and attitudes toward food purchase behaviour, household food expenditure, and waste generation. The results show that 57.6% of the respondents believed that their food purchasing during the lockdown was increased as compared to before the lockdown. The main reason for increasing the food purchasing was the change in consumers behaviour and cooking more in households during the lockdown. This increase led to the increase in waste generation. One of the main reasons for the increased waste generation during the lockdown was the fact that people have spent more time at home. It was found that food waste and plastic packages were the highest increase (72% and 55%, respectively). These two types of waste are followed by cans and glass bottles with an increase of 68%. Other types of waste such as medical waste, electrical and electronic waste, and paper waste have shown no significant change in waste generation during the lockdown. Overall, this study provides useful information to further promote household food waste prevention behaviour, outlasting the COVID-19 crisis. The results from this study can be used by waste management and municipal utilities on consumption behaviour during emergency situations.</p>

Population growth, urbanization, lifestyle changes, and consumption patterns increase waste management problems in Thanamandi town. The waste generation rate in Thanamandi town is expanding, and there is a need for adequate waste segregation, recycling programs, and sorting facilities. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rate in Thanamandi town, including an analysis of its composition. Additionally, statistical methods are used to assess the potential MSW management approaches. A comprehensive methodology has been adopted, including house-to-house waste collection from 25 pre-selected locations, to ensure representation across different income groups. The collected waste was segregated into food, plastic, paper, and textile waste categories, and the moisture content was analyzed using the oven-drying method. Further, it has been observed from the obtained result that 0.44kg per/capita/day of MSW has been generated from the study area. The result shows that vegetable waste contributes the most followed by food waste and plastic. Additionally, the moisture content of the waste ranged between 12% and 76.25%, with high moisture content primarily found in organic wastes. Moreover, interpolation maps created using QGIS highlighted the spatial distribution of waste generation across the town. They showed a strong correlation between vegetable and food waste and paper and plastic waste. Thus, to manage MSW in the study area, a holistic approach to MSW management is necessary to deal with a mixture of Vegetable and Food waste, i.e., organic matter.

Food consumption and waste and the embedded carbon, water and ecological footprints of households in China

Environmental profile, packaging intensity and food waste generation for three types of dinner meals

城市餐饮业食物浪费的碳足迹——以北京市为例

Reducing our waste size