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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kt_EqsAnpbdO1wPezS-XXnGTgWUtCLHz3GCYxS7ktE8/edit

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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How We Can Solve the Problem of Food Packaging

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How We Can Solve the Problem of Food Packaging

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The use of food packaging has caused multiple problems, such as human health risks, environmental damage, and economic risks. But there are ways to overcome these challenges by making changes in our lives. One solution is to carry your own reusable bags when going shopping. That way, plastic bags wouldn’t be needed for putting products in. Another solution is to avoid buying products in multiple layers of plastic. For example, instead of buying apples in plastic bags, you can purchase loose apples and put them in a reusable bag. Another example is to buy eggs in paper cartons instead of plastic ones. Also, stores are also changing how they sell their food. An example is a store called Precycle in Brooklyn, New York. This store sells food without plastic packaging. There are also organizations that help getting rid of food packaging waste. An non-profit organization called Ocean Conservancy have annual beach cleanups, where they collect trash that mostly consists of food packaging. A final solution is to change our laws. For example, France has banned the use of plastic packaging on most fruit and vegetables. It is expected to eliminate 1 billion items of food packaging waste a year. These solutions are better for people, the economy, and the environment.

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Food packaging affects the economy in many ways. For example, in 2019, the cost of food packaging in the world was $370 billion, which is a lot for food packaging. And manufacturers spend more than $150 billion yearly on food packaging. Three examples of the top companies that contribute to food packaging waste the most are Nestle, Mondelez, and General Mills. Furthermore, the US Packaging Industry provides 489,440 jobs for people and earns $242.66 billion in economic output. Food packaging is an easy way to sell food but causes a lot of money to be spent and waste to be created.

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Food packaging has a disastrous effect on the environment. This starts from the creation of the packaging itself. Since food packaging is made from chemicals, it leads to the creation of harmful chemicals, such as greenhouse gas emissions. In order to find ways to stop climate change, we shouldn’t be creating the chemicals that cause it. Also, because only 53.9 percent of the food packaging waste is recycled, most of it goes to landfills or gets dumped into oceans. In 2018, this caused the second most common beach trash collected in the Ocean Conservancy’s cleanup to be related to food and drink. And in the same year, the EPA estimated about 14.5 million tons of food packaging were generated. This greatly impacts the environment. There are so many harmful impacts on the environment that it is strange that we are still using food packaging.

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This graph shows how much money is spent on food packaging in each region.

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Text Feature 1: Global plastic film food packaging market size from 2018 to 2023, by region

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Text Feature 1: Global plastic film food packaging market size from 2018 to 2023, by region

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Eating from food packaging can have harmful effects on humans. One reason is that food packaging can contain a chemical called Bisphenol A, or BPA. Eating food with chemicals can lead to numerous health problems. Styrofoam also has multiple consequences. For example, styrofoam is made from toxic chemicals, like liquid and solid wastes. Consequently, the industry is the 5th largest creator of toxic wastes in the USA. We have a lot of waste in the USA, so these industries produce a lot of styrofoam cups and plates. As a result, when people drink from styrofoam cups, the chemicals seep inside and cause health problems. Last, workers who work in food packaging factories are exposed to all kinds of dangers. For example, workers do the same job every day, which is packing all day long. This leads to repetitive stress injuries and awkward movements and positions. They are also at risk of working near machines and carrying heavy loads. The effect is getting caught in the machines and can suffer from back pain or musculoskeletal injuries. Food packaging is a very easy way to sell food but can have serious problems for humans.

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The first discovery of using packaging for food wasn’t that long ago. In 1862, plastic was revealed at the Great International Exhibition in London by Alexander Parkes. Everyone began to call it “Parkesine,” and it was made from cellulose. At around the same time, cardboard packaging was being used for packaging in France, and then it spread to other countries. In the early 1900s, an engineer Dr Jacques Edwin Brandenberger created cellophane, a transparent layer of plastic packaging for products. In 1933, Ralph Wiley, a chemical lab worker, discovered another plastic known as SaranTM. It was first used to protect military equipment and later for food packaging. Ten years later, researchers in Dow’s Chemical Physics Lab created a way to make foamed polystyrene, known as styrofoam, and it became a form of packaging for food and beverages. The invention of food packaging has impacted humans, the economy, and the environment in a harmful way.