Page 21 - LandscapeSA Issue 110

ENVIroNMENTAL FEATUrE

WHy GARDENERS ARE

SAVING THE WorLD

The climate crisis will not be solved by country-scale interventions alone. It will
also require positive action from companies and individuals to reduce their
own carbon footprints. This article by Gavin Heron, founder of a food waste
management company called Earth probiotic, explains why gardeners are saving

the world and should be considered ‘climate heroes’.

t the UN Climate Change Conference (COp 26) held last The food we eat drags with it a dark carbon shroud four times its
year in Glasgow, Scotland, it was disappointing that the weight – a higher carbon footprint than what it takes to produce a
A“phasing out of coal” became a weaker “phasing down of tonne of glass or steel. This carbon shroud billows out by a further
coal” agreement. 60% when wasted food is dumped into a landfill.

All manufactured goods have a carbon footprint, even the little The United Nations Environment programme (UNEp) estimates that
almond served in a paris bistro; it has sucked up vast amounts of 8-10 % of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to food waste
water and fertiliser, the harvesting machines have burnt tankers of or loss. “If food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third
diesel, the de-shelling machine needed electricity to do its pounding, biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions,” wrote Inger Andersen,
it was packaged in a plastic bag made from petrochemicals, and executive director of UNEp.
finally, that little nut was flown to paris, France from padre, California.
Of the millions of tonnes of food wasted, 60 % is by consumers and
Environmental impacts of food waste reducing this waste is priority number one. priority number two is
At a recent TED talk (ted.com), climate scientist Ilisa ocko described recycling what remains into animal feed, energy or compost. Using
the significant impact of methane on global warming. While the calculations of the UK’s Department of Environment and Rural
methane emissions account for only one percent of all global Affairs, composting food waste can save 617kg/tonne of carbon
warming emissions, its immediate impact is greater than that emissions vs. dumping it into a landfill.
of all CO 2 emissions. Ocko outlined easily applicable solutions
to reducing the production of methane, one of which is the In addition, compost plays a key role in sequestering greenhouse
composting of food waste. gas emissions in soil. Writing in Biocycle, Sally Brown reports that

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