4 ms·

That’s like a 1% impact compared to biking instead of driving.

woodruffw 4y ago
Which means that you should prioritize it relative to cycling instead of driving, not ignore it entirely. (More concretely: individuals cycle, while household units generally compost together. A household of 4 produces a nontrivial amount of compostable waste and diverting it can be a significant ecological outcome, especially if it's replacing purchases of topsoil or artificial fertilizer. It also makes taking the trash out more pleasant, since it doesn't spend days rotting indoors before being tossed to the curb.)
- Schiendelman 4y ago
  A household of 4 also drives at least twice as much as a single person. 2%. If you’re spending your limited time and effort on 2% measures we’ve all already lost.
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    My household drives 0%, because we live in a major city. I don't even have a valid drivers' license. I already bike or take public transit to work every day. > If you’re spending your limited time and effort on 2% measures we’ve all already lost. We're talking about one measure, one that's specifically coextensive with managing your waste (assuming you don't throw your trash into a pile in the corner of your room). It takes me no extra time to throw a banana peel in the compost bin instead of the trash can; they're right next to each other.
    - Schiendelman 4y ago
      If all this is true about you, you aren’t the target audience.
lucb1e 4y ago
From a quick search (not some verified peer reviewed source deep dive), transportation seems to be about 30% and food 17% of USA household emissions. Calling it 1% is marginalizing the impact people can have with a very simple change. Also note that buying a different product in the supermarket is an entirely different order of magnitude than changing your life around so that you can cycle to work without less free time / degrading quality of life. I'd argue there's sense to recommending doing low hanging fruit.
- Schiendelman 4y ago
  Comments like yours are why we can’t solve climate change. You must realize how wrong your math is?
bmitc 4y ago
If everyone did it, it would mean double digit percentages in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. And they are two things everyone can do today and is actually actionable. Native plants have far more benefits than just carbon capture. And by the way, decomposing organic waste in landfills emits methane, which is several more times potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. So yes, it matters.
- Schiendelman 4y ago
  It would not result in a double digit reduction. It would result in a tiny reduction. Please source it if you think residential compost would have a double digit impact. I honestly suspect it might be less than 1% of household emissions.
  - yownie 4y ago
    Are you factoring in the reduction in ICE exhaust from having to haul less trash mass overall away?
    - Schiendelman 4y ago
      That might take it from 0.2% to 0.3%. It’s nothing. Stop driving to work every day, if you want to have impact.
  - bmitc 4y ago
    It’s hard to convince people who have made up their own mind. I’ve posted links here before. It’s a complicated matter, but there is material that addresses this. Just search “compost greenhouse emissions”. And note that my statement also included restoring native plants. We cannot survive on agriculture without pollinators, and given that forest cover has been reduced from around 70% to 20% in less than a century, it’s not hard to believe. Just look around you and notice the expanse of lawns around you. Lawns do almost nothing. They don’t support wildlife, pollinators, and they don’t capture carbon. And like I said, this is something people can do now. People can’t magically start driving electric cars fueled by green energy or start driving substantially less or rework city and nation transportation infrastructure. It’s actually debatable how much electric cars will reduce emissions. I think it’s not much. Same for so-called green energy. The benefits of composting and retiring native plants are undeniable.
yellowapple 4y ago
And both combined are like a 1% impact compared to switching to solar/wind/geothermal/nuclear instead of fossil fuels. We need institutional solutions; we can't afford to punt climate change to individual choices.
- Schiendelman 4y ago
  I completely agree. But without the individual choices, the institutional change never gets a constituency.

Which means that you should prioritize it relative to cycling instead of driving, not ignore it entirely. (More concretely: individuals cycle, while household units generally compost together. A household of 4 produces a nontrivial amount of compostable waste and diverting it can be a significant ecological outcome, especially if it's replacing purchases of topsoil or artificial fertilizer. It also makes taking the trash out more pleasant, since it doesn't spend days rotting indoors before being tossed to the curb.)

Schiendelman 4y ago
A household of 4 also drives at least twice as much as a single person. 2%. If you’re spending your limited time and effort on 2% measures we’ve all already lost.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  My household drives 0%, because we live in a major city. I don't even have a valid drivers' license. I already bike or take public transit to work every day. > If you’re spending your limited time and effort on 2% measures we’ve all already lost. We're talking about one measure, one that's specifically coextensive with managing your waste (assuming you don't throw your trash into a pile in the corner of your room). It takes me no extra time to throw a banana peel in the compost bin instead of the trash can; they're right next to each other.
  - Schiendelman 4y ago
    If all this is true about you, you aren’t the target audience.

lucb1e 4y ago

From a quick search (not some verified peer reviewed source deep dive), transportation seems to be about 30% and food 17% of USA household emissions. Calling it 1% is marginalizing the impact people can have with a very simple change. Also note that buying a different product in the supermarket is an entirely different order of magnitude than changing your life around so that you can cycle to work without less free time / degrading quality of life. I'd argue there's sense to recommending doing low hanging fruit.

Schiendelman 4y ago
Comments like yours are why we can’t solve climate change. You must realize how wrong your math is?

bmitc 4y ago

If everyone did it, it would mean double digit percentages in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. And they are two things everyone can do today and is actually actionable. Native plants have far more benefits than just carbon capture. And by the way, decomposing organic waste in landfills emits methane, which is several more times potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. So yes, it matters.

Schiendelman 4y ago
It would not result in a double digit reduction. It would result in a tiny reduction. Please source it if you think residential compost would have a double digit impact. I honestly suspect it might be less than 1% of household emissions.
- yownie 4y ago
  Are you factoring in the reduction in ICE exhaust from having to haul less trash mass overall away?
  - Schiendelman 4y ago
    That might take it from 0.2% to 0.3%. It’s nothing. Stop driving to work every day, if you want to have impact.
- bmitc 4y ago
  It’s hard to convince people who have made up their own mind. I’ve posted links here before. It’s a complicated matter, but there is material that addresses this. Just search “compost greenhouse emissions”. And note that my statement also included restoring native plants. We cannot survive on agriculture without pollinators, and given that forest cover has been reduced from around 70% to 20% in less than a century, it’s not hard to believe. Just look around you and notice the expanse of lawns around you. Lawns do almost nothing. They don’t support wildlife, pollinators, and they don’t capture carbon. And like I said, this is something people can do now. People can’t magically start driving electric cars fueled by green energy or start driving substantially less or rework city and nation transportation infrastructure. It’s actually debatable how much electric cars will reduce emissions. I think it’s not much. Same for so-called green energy. The benefits of composting and retiring native plants are undeniable.

yellowapple 4y ago

And both combined are like a 1% impact compared to switching to solar/wind/geothermal/nuclear instead of fossil fuels. We need institutional solutions; we can't afford to punt climate change to individual choices.

Schiendelman 4y ago
I completely agree. But without the individual choices, the institutional change never gets a constituency.