recently, i treated myself to a much overdue trip to safeway. standing in the produce section, i was faced with the dilemma of whether to purchase more expensive organic apples that were $2.99/lb. or cheaper non-organic apples that were $.99/lb. i chose the pricier apples because they were organic.

as people are more interested in where their foods come, the demand for organic has increased. in 2013, 81% of u.s. families were buying organic. but what really makes food organic?

recently, i interviewed dr. kathleen merrigan, former deputy secretary of the usda, to learn more about organic food. she was instrumental in helping write the official definition of organic for the united states.

honestly, before talking to dr. merrigan, i would’ve picked the cheaper non-organic apples. but since talking to her, i have changed my purchasing patterns. as a college student, i’m always looking for ways to save money but i decided for a few extra dollars that buying organic apples was worth it because i knew that those apples hadn’t been treated with any dangerous pesticides, thus they were better for me and the environment.

while $2.00/lb more is not a huge difference, i think one of the stigmas surrounding organic food is high cost. thankfully, buying organically will no longer “break the bank.” in an effort to encourage people to eat more organically, companies such as walmart have started introducing affordable organic food in their stores. another method to make eating organically affordable is to understand when it’s worth it to splurge on some organic food and save on others. buying organically matters most when it comes to produce, dairy, meat, and poultry.

when i shop at stores such as whole foods or trader joe’s, i gulp at how expensive some organic food can be. but when i shop at safeway i embrace the purchasing power to buy organic food at more affordable prices.

while many people may have never heard of maplewood, they have probably heard of hurricane irene and superstorm sandy, two recent violent storms that damaged my town. as the impact of climate change continues to threaten the entire world, the northeast may see more brutal storms as a result.

what scares me is how frequent and violent these storms can become. in 2006, hurricane ernesto hit our town knocked down one of the trees in my front yard on to my house. while there was no major damage done, we didn’t realize how much shade that tree provided until our house was significantly warmer the next year and our air conditioning bill went up as a result.

when hurricane irene hit, my basement was filled with over three feet of water because our electric sump pump broke due to the power outage. we had to wait for the fire department to come pump our basement out before we could begin to assess the damage. when the fire department finally came, they said we had won the award for the most water in a basement.

when hurricane sandy hit, just about every street in my town had a section closed because of a down tree and/or telephone pole. it took over a week for power to fully be restored. we have started to joke in my town now that soon we will have no trees because every major storm seems to knock down at least one tree on every street.

according to the national climate assessment (nca), two of the key challenges facing the northeast are coastal flooding and stressed infrastructure being compromised due to climate-related hazards. climate change worries me, especially the big increase in dangerous storms that might head straight for my town. the northeast region has seen more than a 70% increase in precipitation, more then any other region in the u.s. when superstorm sandy hit in 2012, it became the most destructive hurricane ever recorded in new jersey. according to the huffington post, superstorm sandy is the second costliest hurricane since 1900 with an estimated total damage amount of $50 billion.

in order to protect ourselves, the northeast will need to take drastic measures. by 2030, new york city buildings with more than seven stories and over 300,000 sq. feet will be required to undertake flood protection measures. while maplewood has not yet issued a similar mandate, it is only a matter of time before they do.

i think every house and building should be required to take similar measures. as climate change charges on, its hard to know when and how damaging the next storm will be. it’s important to take the time now to climate-proof your home, so you’re ready when the next big storm hits. 

sam cohen is a junior majoring in journalism and mass communication at the george washington university.

_{top photo courtesy flickr user dave s}

food waste is not a new problem and our habits are only getting worse. about 1/3 of the food that is produced for human consumption worldwide is lost or wasted from the farm to the kitchen. what’s even worse is that food insecurity is a huge problem in this country and we are wasting enough food to be able to feed those people for an entire year. in 2012, we wasted 35 million tons of food, which is enough to feed 70% of the hungry people in the united states for an entire year. this is frightening. we have the power to feed the hungry with all of the food we waste and yet we just throw it into the garbage.

ethically, food waste is bad. food waste is also harmful for the environment. when food sits in landfills, it emits methane, which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. as the impacts of climate change continue to get more severe, we should be taking every effort to reduce our own carbon footprint. reducing the amount of food we waste is just one way to do so.

finally, food waste is expensive. americans throw out $165 billion worth of food each year. to fully understand just how much money that is, i compared it to the u.s. federal budget for the 2013 fiscal year. $165 billion is equivalent to what the federal government spent on education, homeland security, agriculture, commerce, and energy last year.

however, there are simple ways to reduce your food waste. composting is a great example because it saves food scraps from landfills and turns them into soil for gardening. serving smaller portions and buying less food are two more easy ways to reduce food waste. another unique way to reduce food waste is with the app, pareup. pareup allows consumers to buy excess food from grocery stores, coffee shops, and juice bars at a discounted price.

so while our massive food waste habits are a problem, there are simple solutions. reducing our food waste will not only save us money because we’ll be buying less food to waste, but it will help the environment too.

americans produce nearly 34 million tons of food waste each year and if this statistic doesn’t scare you then keep in mind that when food breaks down in landfills, it emits methane which is 21 times more dangerous then carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

one way to reduce our food waste is to save all of our food scraps and compost them. in turn, compost creates more nutrient rich soil that’s used to grow more nutritious produce. yet, composting in a city can be difficult. however, compost cab is a unique d.c. service that picks up your food scraps for you, and delivers them to local dmv farm to be turned into compost. with just four families alone, compost cab can save over 2,000 lbs. of food from landfills.

if composting is not your thing, be sure to try one of these 34 other ways to waste less food!

sam cohen is a student at the george washington university.