Food

While estimates vary, as much as 30 percent of food produced is not eaten. Any organic material that ends up in a landfill will decay, and without oxygen, it will produce methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas (25 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 100 years). Here are some suggestions:

• Don’t waste food: This is one of the activities that we can all do to ensure that food is not wasted and thrown away.
• Compost: Compost scrap food, grass clippings and other yard waste. This organic material forms methane when landfilled.
• Eat locally produced and organically grown food whenever possible.
• Eat less red meat and dairy: Cows are a ruminant and like all ruminants have several stomachs. In the first stomach, their food ferments producing methane. When the food is transferred to the second stomach, methane is released into the atmosphere. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that “enteric fermentation” is the largest source of methane emissions in the U.S. (more than the natural gas industry, although this data is disputed by the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental organization, and others).
• Support local farmers and regenerative farming whenever possible.

Reuse and Recycle

It has been estimated that 29 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the 

“provision of goods,” which means the extraction of resources, manufacturing, transport, and final disposal of “goods,” which includes consumer products and packaging, building components, and passenger vehicles, but excludes food (See neefusa.org/nature/land/reduce-and-reuse-through-recycling). By buying used products and reselling or recycling items you no longer use, you dramatically reduce your carbon emissions from the “provision of goods.”

Forestry

Protecting old growth forest and planting trees are some of the most effective  

means of keeping and pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy has been in the vanguard of protecting old growth forest in the Allegheny Highlands and is an active member of Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI, restoreredspruce.org) and their efforts to plant red spruce trees in Central Appalachia. 

Another organization that protects trees is The Nature Conservancy (nature.org/en-us). The Nature Conservancy has developed the Family Forest Carbon Program that pays family landowners who have at least 30 acres to sequester carbon by preserving trees. The Nature Conservancy provides a professional forester to develop a management plan that allows the landowner to manage his or her property and only allows sustainable timbering. See familyforestcarbon.org  

Additionally, the West Virginia Land Trust protects forest and other special places. Their website and the website of other land trusts can be found at findalandtrust.org/land-trusts

Water Use

We can lower the amount of energy used to pump, treat, and heat water by only running a washer or dishwasher when full, fixing water leaks promptly, washing your car less often, using climate-appropriate plants in your garden, installing drip irrigation so that plants receive only what they need, and making water-efficient choices when purchasing shower heads, faucet heads, toilets, dishwashers and washing machines.

View our climate guide online at wvhighlands.org/climate-change/