Climate change may seem an impossibly large thing to solve on our own as individuals. Yet this is our collective responsibility because we are part of the problem as consumers. We drive vehicles with gasoline engines, and we purchase electricity from fossil-fuel power stations. Global warming is not a problem beyond our abilities. If we have open land around us, we can make a difference.
Changing Land Use and Fighting Climate Change
The 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on land-use is just out. It says our abuse of ground is endangering our existence as dust storms threaten food security. Yet fighting climate change is partly in our hands as small-scale gardeners.
We could restore the land around our homes by making it productive, not merely decorative. Lawns greedily consume water and provide scant refuge for pollinating insects. We can restore our own degraded earth by turning it over to water-wise gardens that sip moisture. Our green gardening will yield its own fruit as leaves fall to the ground every year and enrich the soil.
More Reasons Why We Should Alter Our Land Use
Slow Down the Rate of Destruction by Planting Trees
There are 7.7 billion people on Earth, many hardly eking out an existence. Nearly 25% of them face a water crisis too. Did you know trees encourage rain because they move water from the soil to the atmosphere? They are also Earth’s lungs, as they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen we breathe.
Plant a tree in your garden. Someone will sit in the shade someday and thank you for your gift. Birds will reward you as they sing in the branches. Fighting climate change is achievable when we approach it on our level. We could achieve more by not throwing unwanted food in the trash. We waste 25% of the food we grow.
That takeaway beef burger you trashed may have been the tipping point to the loss of a tree in the Amazon delta. We should only prepare what we need and will eat. We should bury anything leftover in the garden. The insects will recycle it and add its nutrients to the richness to the soil.
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Preview Image: Wasted Land
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