Koko News | 환경 | 30 Mar 2025

Tackling Food Waste in Hong Kong: The Journey from Kitchen to Landfill

Everyweek, TalkingPointsgivesyouaworksheettopractiseyourreadingcomprehensionwithexercisesaboutthestorywe’vewritten.

每週，Talking Points 都會為您提供一份工作表，透過有關我們所寫故事的練習來練習您的閱讀理解能力。

JustbeforeAminaSeydlefthome, shenoticedhalfofaloafofbreadonthekitchencounter.

就在阿米娜·賽義德離開家之前，她注意到廚房櫃檯上有半條麵包。

Shetookaslicetoeat, butknewtherestofitwouldlikelybethrownoutbythetimeshereturnedfromschool.

她拿了一片吃了，但她知道，等她放學回家，剩下的很可能會被丟掉。

Thisall-too-familiarscenarioillustratesawidespreadproblem:whydowewastefoodwhenweknowitiswrong?

這種常見的場景說明了一個普遍存在的問題：為什麼我們明知浪費食物是不對的，卻還要繼續浪費呢？

KevinTam, asocialsciencesprofessorattheHongKongUniversityofScienceandTechnology, explainedtheprocessoffoodwasteinmanyhomes.

香港科技大學社會科學系教授譚文斌講解了許多家庭食物浪費的過程。

Thefoodwastejourneycontinuesbackathome, wherepeopledecidehowmuchfoodtocook, whatishealthyandsafetoeat, whethertoreheatleftovers, andfinally, whentothrowsomethingout.

食物浪費的旅程回到家裡繼續，人們決定做多少食物，吃什麼食物健康安全，是否重新加熱剩菜，以及最後何時扔掉食物。

Tam, whoisinterestedinenvironmentalpsychologyandsustainabledevelopment, addedthattherecouldbemanyreasonspeoplethrowawayfoodthatcouldstillbeeaten.

譚先生對環境心理學和永續發展很感興趣，他補充說，人們丟掉還可以吃的食物的原因有很多。

In 2022, HongKong’slandfillsreceivedcloseto 11,130 tonnesofmunicipalsolidwasteeveryday.

2022年，香港的垃圾掩埋場每天接收近11,130噸都市固體廢棄物。

Disposingoffoodwasteatlandfillstakesuplimitedspace, anda2024UNreportstatedthatfoodwastegenerateseightto10 per centofannualglobalgreenhousegasemissions.

在垃圾掩埋場處理食物廢棄物佔用的空間有限，聯合國 2024 年的報告指出，食物廢棄物產生的溫室氣體排放量佔全球年度排放量的 8% 至 10%。

EventhoughtheEnvironmentalProtectionDepartmenthaswaste-reductioninitiativessuchasfoodrecyclingbins, greengroupssaymoreneedstobedonetochangehowpeoplethink.

儘管環保署推出了食物回收箱等減廢舉措，但環保組織表示，還需要採取更多措施來改變人們的思維方式。

Tampointedoutthatsomepeopledofeelguiltyaboutthrowingfoodaway.

譚指出，有些人確實對丟棄食物感到內疚。

Onecommonwayofchanginghowtheythinkaboutfoodwasteisbyconvincingthemselvesthatthefoodisunappealing, spoiledorunsafetoeat.

改變他們對食物浪費看法的一個常見方法是讓自己相信這些食物沒有吸引力、已經變質或不安全。

Tamaddedthatanindividualmightdonatetoafoodbankordoanothergooddeedtoreducetheguilttheyfeelfordiscardingsomefood.

譚補充說，個人可以向食物銀行捐款或做其他善事來減輕丟棄一些食物的內疚感。

AccordingtoAmina, someofherpeersfeelthattheirindividualactionsdonotmakeadifference.

據阿米娜說，她的一些同齡人認為他們的個人行為沒有什麼作用。

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Every week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with exercises about the story we’ve written.

Just before Amina Seyd left home, she noticed half of a loaf of bread on the kitchen counter.

She took a slice to eat, but knew the rest of it would likely be thrown out by the time she returned from school.

This all-too-familiar scenario illustrates a widespread problem: why do we waste food when we know it is wrong?

Kevin Tam, a social sciences professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, explained the process of food waste in many homes.

The food waste journey continues back at home, where people decide how much food to cook, what is healthy and safe to eat, whether to reheat leftovers, and finally, when to throw something out.

Tam, who is interested in environmental psychology and sustainable development, added that there could be many reasons people throw away food that could still be eaten.

In 2022, Hong Kong’s landfills received close to 11,130 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day.

Disposing of food waste at landfills takes up limited space, and a 2024 UN report stated that food waste generates eight to 10 per cent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.

Even though the Environmental Protection Department has waste-reduction initiatives such as food recycling bins, green groups say more needs to be done to change how people think.

Tam pointed out that some people do feel guilty about throwing food away.

One common way of changing how they think about food waste is by convincing themselves that the food is unappealing, spoiled or unsafe to eat.

Tam added that an individual might donate to a food bank or do another good deed to reduce the guilt they feel for discarding some food.

According to Amina, some of her peers feel that their individual actions do not make a difference.

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