As I walk into my local grocery store I stumble upon some freshly picked apples that would work great for the pie I’m making later in the afternoon. I arrive at the crate full of red fruit and examine each to find the biggest, juiciest one. Some have bruises, others wormholes, so inevitably I put these back. As I continue to look for the ultimate apples, I begin to ponder about what happens to the products that are continuously returned to their display. Just like I reject these apples, obviously so do other customers who walk into the store. I mean, why would anyone pay for an apple that has its imperfections when so many other options are available that better meet his or her standards? Before we realize it, the world adopts a vicious cycle of discarding products, which in turn leads to an immense amount of waste. Without many other choices, grocery stores all over the world are forced to reject the less-than-perfect products throughout the store. Because society has evolved into one that strives for perfection, we make wasteful choices at grocery stores that leave the stores no choice but to discard their unused products.
Wastefulness in America has become so abundant to the point that we are making choices that harm the environment
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Although these are growing concerns, government intervention could allow all of these to diminish. If the government were to charge stores an added tax for the environmental toll that excess waste causes, the stores would have no choice but to either make stock changes or struggle financially. Regarding the pickiness of consumers, I believe there needs to be more education on what sell-by dates mean and how to determine the freshness of the food. All in all, little changes could help make the United States a less wasteful society in the grocery store