Any food thrown into the trash will likely be sent to a landfill, where it releases methane as it rots. They provide the energy to process, package and transport foods. It’s in the United Kingdom.įossil fuels are used to make fertilizers, power equipment and irrigate fields. He’s a climate scientist at Lancaster University. So one good way to reduce greenhouse emissions is to “eliminate food waste,” says Nick Hewitt. That amount is higher than the total greenhouse gas emissions of any single country other than the United States or China. Emissions of those gases from producing uneaten food has the warming potential of about 3.5 billion tons (gigatons) of CO 2. It also creates a lot of greenhouse gases. Producing food that won’t be eaten wastes valuable resources, including energy. That figure comes from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy. Slash food wasteĪbout one-third of all food gets wasted each year. So is joining with others to make bigger changes in our communities and let leaders know climate-friendly policies are needed. Our daily choices are part of the solution. It will take a group effort to bring down carbon emissions and stop climate change. And in the long run, most will save us money. And there’s more good news: Many of these changes will improve our health as well as the climate. But even small individual efforts add up, especially when we combine them with changing policy. A few may even be out of reach right now, depending on where we live. Others may require effort, time and money. Some are easy and cost little to nothing. Here are eight that many scientists suggest we start with. The good news: There are dozens of things each of us can do to shrink the size of that footprint. And bigger footprints drive more global warming. Globally, Americans, on average, tend to have the biggest carbon footprints. It covers the carbon-based pollutants - mainly carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4) - associated with everything from powering our homes to getting around, producing our food and making all the stuff we buy. It’s how scientists describe the sum of all the planet-warming gases emitted as you go through your daily life.

Ways to reduce your carbon footprint