Think Globally, Act Locally
On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released “The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C.” The findings of the latest IPCC assessment are ominous—that the world has only 12 years to keep global temperatures below 1.5°C and avoid catastrophic environmental breakdown. Disposing of biodegradable materials, including paper products, food scraps and yard trimmings, in a landfill results in anaerobic decomposition of these organic materials, which creates methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 72 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period. We can act locally to make a difference by stepping up our recycling efforts to keep clean, recyclable paper out of the landfill and by composting food scraps and soiled paper.