Earth Day 1970 - 2019: No Time To Waste
Earth Day 1970 – 2019: No Time To Waste
[American Museum of Natural History logo animates out over an illustration of the rotating Earth.]
[TEXT: The first Earth Day was in 1970.]
[TEXT: What’s changed since?]
[Earth dissolves into a multitude of abstract people figures inside a circle of the same diameter as the globe.]
[TEXT: Earth Day 1970 – 2019, No Time To Waste]
[TEXT: Our population has more than doubled. Source: UN]
[Number of figures inside the circle doubles.]
[TEXT: Global Population | 1970: 3.7 billion | 2019: 7.7 billion]
[Circle with figures morphs into an abstract face with mouth opening and closing]
[TEXT: That’s 4 billion more mouths to feed!]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER OF MANY PEOPLE]
[Single face morphs into many faces inside a circle, and then all dissolve into an illustration of the rotating Earth.]
[TEXT: 38% of Earth’s terrestrial surface is used to produce food. Source: Nature]
[TEXT: Area Used To Produce Food | Cropland: 1.5 bn hectares | Pastureland: 3.4 bn hectares]
[SOUNDS OF LIVESTOCK – GOATS BLEAT, COWS MOO]
[Figures indicating livestock and pastureland appear over the continents as the Earth rotates]
[TEXT: We produce more than enough to feed everyone! Source: FAO]
[TEXT: Per Capita Food Supply (2013 estimate) | 2, 884 Calories per day]
[TEXT: But food is not evenly distributed.]
[Line animates up from bottom of screen, wiping over rotating globe and animating into the line on a graph.]
[TEXT: While hunger rates have fallen,]
[Line graph shows decline from 35% in 1970 to 13% in 2015.]
[TEXT: Hunger Rates In Developing Countries | 1970: 35% | 2015: 13%]
[Line graph morphs into 10 abstract human figures. Nine are only outlined, and one is solid.]
[TEXT: 1 in 10 people around the world is still hungry. Source: FAO]
[TEXT: Total Number of Hungry People Globally (2017) | 821 million]
[The waist on the single solid figure tightens, and its silhouette thins.]
[TEXT: Meanwhile, obesity and overweight rates have tripled. Source: WHO]
[Three of the abstract figures fill in with a solid color and expand, representing obesity.]
[TEXT: Total Number of Overweight or Obese People Globally (2016) | 2.3 billion]
[TEXT: 3 in 10 people are overweight.]
[The illustration of a pizza whirls in across the screen, wiping out the figures.]
[Six of its slices disappear, leaving three.]
[TEXT: 32% of food that is produced is never eaten at all. Source: FAO]
[TEXT: Annual Loss and Waste of Food Globally | 1.43 bn tons]
[Pizza disappears and we see an illustrated barn surrounded by cabbages and falling rain.]
[TEXT: Food is lost on the farm. Source: FAO]
[The rain intensifies.]
[TEXT: 455 million tons]
[TEXT: 10% of Food Is Never Harvested Due To: natural disasters, pests, no buyers]
[Rain dries up, a freight truck pulls out from behind the barn and the camera zooms in on it, leaving the farm behind.]
[TEXT: Food is lost in transit. Source: FAO]
[TEXT: 7% of Food Is Lost In Transit Due To: poor infrastructure, heat, pests, no buyers]
[TEXT: 322 million tons]
[Camera moves above illustrated freight truck and the road it’s traveling on morphs into a conveyor belt, carrying cabbages into a basket.]
[TEXT: Food is lost in processing. Source: FAO]
[TEXT; 4% of Food Is Lost In Processing To: over-trimming, culling imperfect foods]
[TEXT: 163 million tons]
[Conveyor belt turns into checkout belt at grocery store. Gallon of milk appears on it.]
[TEXT: Food is thrown away by stores. Source: FAO]
[TEXT under milk gallon: Past the “sell-by” date!]
[Scuffed apples appear]
[TEXT under apples: Bruised!]
[Cooked turkey slides out.]
[TEXT under turkey: Fresh today – trash tomorrow]
[TEXT: 4% of Food Is Thrown Away By Stores: past “sell-by” date, not picture perfect, prepared foods discarded daily]
[TEXT: 177 million tons]
[Conveyor belt animates into a slope and food is deposited in a trash can.]
[Slope line expands and becomes horizontal, flattening into a table with a plate of spaghetti and a wine glass. A person stands nearby, holding a fork.]
[TEXT: A lot is wasted by consumers. Source: FAO]
[TEXT: 7% of Food Is Thrown Away By Consumers: past “sell-by date, overstuffed plates]
[Figure slurps up spaghetti.]
[TEXT: 309 million tons]
[Speech bubble appears over figure reading, “I’m full.”]
[Table and figure sweep off screen to the left. Remainder of plate sweeps to the right and is dumped in a trash can.]
[Single trash can turns into six trash cans. Five are stacked in a column, and a single can stands to their right.]
[TEXT: Consumers in wealthier countries throw away much more food. Source: FAO]
[TEXT: Average Annual Per Capita Waste | High- and middle-income countries: 85 kg | Low-income countries: 15 kg]
[TEXT: 5x more waste!]
[All trash cans collapse back into a single one.]
[TEXT: When food is lost and wasted, so are the resources used to produce it. Source: Science of the Total Environment]
[Camera moves to overhead view of the trash can, which dissolves into a circle. Inside the circle a water droplet appears.]
[Water drop circle moves to the left, leaving a circle filled with trees.]
[CHAINSAW BUZZES]
[Trees inside the circle collapse and fall to the ground.]
[The forest inside the circle becomes pasture land and two cows graze.]
[COW MOOS]
[Cow circle moves off to the right, and in the center is a circle containing an animated tractor.]
[Air pollutants spew out from the tractor’s exhaust, filling the screen.]
[TEXT: Lost and wasted food accounts for 8% of our greenhouse gas emissions. Sources: FAO & IPCC]
[TEXT: Human-Caused GHG Emissions (global, annual avg) | All road transportation: 5.0 GtCO2-eq | All lost and wasted food: 4.4 GtCO2-eq]
[TEXT: That’s almost as much emissions from road transportation!]
[Pollution clears and freight truck drives through frame.]
[TEXT: Feeding everyone in a sustainable way is a global challenge.]
[Abstract human figure appears.]
[TEXT: It also depends on the actions of people like YOU.]
[Figure points at its chest, as if saying, “Who, me?”]
[TEXT: PLAN MEALS]
[List appear in figure’s hand.]
[Figure with list dissolves into figure pushing shopping cart.]
[TEXT: SHOP WISELY]
[Figure with cart dissolves into figure holding scuffed apple.]
[TEXT: DON’T REJECT IMPERFECT FOODS]
[Figure takes a bite of the apple and its eyes turn into hearts.]
[Apple disappears and figure now holds plate of spaghetti.]
[TEXT: SERVE SMALLER PORTIONS]
[Size of spaghetti plate shrinks in figure’s hand.]
[Spaghetti disappears and figure stands next to microwave.]
[TEXT: EAT LEFTOVERS]
[Microwave disappears and figure stands alone.]
[TEXT: With nearly 8 billion people on Earth, individual actions add up.]
[Single figure turns into many figures, all inside a large sphere.]
[Sphere with figures dissolves into rotating Earth.]
[Credits roll.]
The first Earth Day was in 1970. What's one of the biggest changes our planet has seen since then? Earth's population has grown by 4 billion people! We produce more than enough to feed everyone, but food is not distributed evenly. Shockingly, one-third of the food produced is lost or wasted. And that means so are the resources used to produce it, which add greenhouse gas emissions. Find out how you can be part of the solution.