DTI urges public to practice sustainable consumption

Your takeout food but might not be good for the environment and food sustainability.
This is why the Department of Trade and Industry is helping in the campaign on sustainable consumption to help make the public understand the impacts of their consuming behavior to the environment.
DTI-Consumer Protection Group Usec. Ann Claire Cabochan, who was in Baguio recently, said consumers can greatly help in the efforts to preserve the Earth’s depleting resources and this could start by simply being mindful about the food they put on their plates.
She said the unfinished food ordered in a restaurant, which is take out, can have an impact on the environment.
“When you go to restaurants and you order more than what you can eat, you end up having a takeout. We are fond of takeouts, but it has an impact on the environment and on sustainability because takeout foods use containers, which are either plastics, paper bags, or tin foils. If you do not take it home, the restaurant will not serve it to the next. The food is thrown away,” she said.
Cabochan said the choice and the power to preserve the environment and food sustainability lie with the consumers.
“We have to do something about our depleting resources. As consumers, you have the choice to whether put food on your plate that you cannot consume and which goes to waste or choose to put in your plate what you can finish,” she said.
Aside from restaurants, households also contribute to food wastage, according to Cabochan.
She added it is high time the Philippine government passes a law that makes it illegal for food businesses to throw away food. Instead, businesses such as restaurants should give to charities or to the homeless food that are not spoiled but they could no longer serve.
To increase the public’s awareness on the importance of protecting the environment through sustainable consumption, this year’s observance of Consumer Welfare Month in October is anchored on the theme “Sustainable consumption: Understanding the impact of consumers’ choices in a shared environment.” – Jane B. Cadalig