Friday, June 5 marks the United Nations’ 15th annual World Environment Day (WED), in which we celebrate positive environmental action, encourage awareness of critical issues and address the behaviours we need to change.

This year’s theme, “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.” underscores the urgent need for building sustainable communities, as the planet struggles to support an ever-increasing population of more than seven billion people. We’re going to need two planets by 2030 to support the way we’re living with the current rate of resource consumption and population growth – a scary prediction, but one we’re steadily progressing toward.

One of the most significant challenges we face is the amount of food we waste. Our patterns of production and consumption are causing about 300 tonnes of food to be thrown out every year, and it’s food that’s still fit for human consumption. With an estimated 842 million undernourished and starving people globally, there’s no reason for such extreme waste.

Locally, we may not realize the larger impact since food is so readily available, but it’s estimated Canadians waste about $31 billion a year, with the average household tossing up to $1,500 a year. The David Suzuki Foundation’s Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter says “It equates to filling four grocery bags at the supermarket each week and leaving one in the parking lot.”

Taking a huge step in the right direction, France recently introduced radical new legislation to ban supermarkets from throwing away food that’s still good to eat after a report found that 4.3 million tonnes of surplus food was produced each year. Grocery stores must now donate any edible food (packaged or fresh) to local charities, and send the rest be processed into animal feed or compost. Whether or not this type of action would work in Canada is still being debated, however it doesn’t take much to make a big difference.

"Although individual decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous difference," says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. “Let us think about the environmental consequences of the choices we make. Let us become better stewards of our planet.”

In thinking how each and every action contributes to the bigger picture, I’m reminded of the story “The Star Thrower,” by Loren Eiseley. In it a young boy walks along the beach, picking up starfish and throwing them into the ocean. As he does this, a man approaches him to ask what he’s doing. The boy replies "the sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die." While the man is quick to point out there are miles of beach, hundreds of starfish and that he can’t possibly make a difference, the boy throws another and says “It made a difference for that one.”