Every day, more than a third of the world's food goes uneaten into the trash. Food waste accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions, three times that of the aviation industry. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest carbon emitter. To save the dying salad in his lunchbox, Bill Birgen, a California aerospace engineer, in his spare time from inventing jets and rockets, invented a "food diaper," accidentally saving millions of tons of food waste and the energy, water, and resources needed to produce it. He admits that his biggest fear is opening his lunchbox and seeing rotten spinach. "Spinach leaves are very delicate. They get damaged when they get wet. Not only do they get soggy, but they also become limp, even slimy, and completely inedible," Birgen told The Spoon, an American food technology media outlet. The "food diaper" that saved the dying lunch salad "He looked at his lunch and said, 'My lunch is terrible - I have to do something,' and he sat down and made some prototypes," recalled Grant Stafford, co-CEO of SAVRpak and Bergen's entrepreneurial partner. This "diaper" in the true sense looks like the desiccant commonly found in cookies, but without any chemicals. It is made of paper pulp on the outside and ice inside, with food-grade adhesive. When in use, tear off the adhesive backing and stick it in a lunch box, takeout box or food packaging. It feels cool to the touch. The secret is "thermodynamics." The salad will look dying, the fries will become soft, and the rice will become mushy. The number one culprit is water vapor. After cooking
