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Scientific knowledge about farming is vast yet farmers still spray a billion pounds of pesticides to protect crops each year. In turn chemical pesticides used to kill pests also kill off microorganisms that keep carbon contained in the soil. When the microorganisms are gone, the carbon is released into the atmosphere as CO2. Not only is this practice bad for our health, it is bad for the climate.

Organically grown crops can reduce the effects of these bad farming practices. But besides going organic – thereby saving the carbon release from soil – there are other simple things you can do with food that will also make a difference:

Eat locally grown food. If the food does not have to travel far, there’s less CO2 from the transport of it.

Think seasonal: Eat fruits and vegetables in season this also saves the enormous transportation costs.

 Think differently: Plant your own vegetable garden. It is more simple than you think.

WASTE – REDUCE/RECYCLE/RE-USE
Unbelievably, filling in a big hole with rubbish is still the ‘cheapest’ way of disposing of our waste, despite the environmental problems. The economics of waste disposal do not yet take environmental costs into account. In the European Union a massive 60% of all waste is disposed in this way. Waste also has effects on our climate - methane (CH4) emissions from biodegradable waste, contributes to climate change and local hazards such as fire risk. (When paper, food waste and garden waste decomposes without the presence of oxygen, as is the case in a landfill site, methane is given off. This is 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide).

Recycled is often considerably cheaper than non-recycled, so it’s cost-effective as well as conservation-minded. For instance, recycled paper can be as much as a third cheaper than non-recycled paper.
 

 Check Logos: Before you buy, check to see if the product or its packaging can be recycled. The recyclable logo (three arrows forming a triangle) is fairly common now.

 Reusable: It’s best to use containers that can be reused. Next best option is to use a glass container and recycle it. There is a large network established for the recycling of glass, while plastic recycling is limited.

 Reduce the amount you accumulate in the first place. Use consumer choice to refuse heavily packaged products and the plastic bag they are put in.

 Save paper: At the Office try to reduce the amount of paper you use, recycle the reverse side of printed documents to print unofficial documents and use recycled paper.

 At Home think about how much waste your home produces – refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle.

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