In the United States, about 40% of citizens struggle to afford basic necessities—meaning having a clean t-shirt or even a daily simple meal is never guaranteed for two in five Americans, despite there being an abundance of food and resources that go to waste. Instead of donating their excess products, it is common for major companies to throw away or even destroy perfectly usable ones. A key example is H&M, discarding countless pounds of perfectly usable clothes every year. Or Walmart, discarding an estimated 1.4 billion pounds of perfectly edible food each year, despite there being a presiding battle of fighting hunger. These actions consistently contribute to the climate change crisis, filling landfills, and various kinds of pollution. Rather than fresh food found in hungry stomachs and clothing seen in bedroom closets, they are instead found inside a million-dollar corporation dumpster.
Despite existing sustainable solutions, like donations or overall less production, a variety of companies still feel the desire to consistently waste. It is often seen as an inconvenience for a million-dollar company to donate excess goods for egotistical reasons. Corporations like Coach, who has been caught destroying new unsold bags, often believe that donating their excess products will result in devaluement of their brand and therefore a form of loss of company success. Often, these corporations only participate in what brings them profit, which usually results in charitable donations or environmental initiatives taking a back seat. However, by having profit placed above ethical responsibility, solvable problems not only worsen but are not prioritized.
The ongoing issue of unnecessary wastefulness by major corporations highlights the deep flaws within a profit-driven system. Instead of using resources to help those in need, many businesses prefer to discard perfectly usable products out of fear of devaluing their brand. This not only exacerbates the crisis of poverty but also contributes to environmental damage. Solutions like donations or less production do exist and are easily accessible, though they are usually ignored. By advocating for a shift in business practices, these needless issues can be addressed. However, until then, if this solvable problem continues to be neglected, millions will unnecessarily suffer while these companies continuously grow larger.
