Project Drawdown® is a nonprofit organization founded in 2014 that seeks not just to slow or stop climate change, but to reverse it – as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible. In 2017, Project Drawdown published Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, which identifies, measures, and models the Top 100 most substantive solutions to reverse climate change.

Perhaps surprisingly, reducing food waste is number three on that Top 100 list. Approximately one-third of food raised or prepared does not make it from farm or factory to fork. When that food waste goes to landfill, where it cannot break down properly due to lack of oxygen, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is approximately 30x as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere. If landfilled food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of global gasses (behind China and the US).

You can reduce your food waste by planning your meals; shopping fresh, local, and with a list; using a “guest-imator” to accurately determine how much food is needed ; understanding labeling (“best/use/sell by” dates); eating ugly food; using your freezer; donating food you won’t eat; and composting anything else.

Whatever food waste remains should be composted. Composting is Number 60 on the Drawdown Top 100 list. Adding compost to soil improves its structure—allowing air and water to enter easily and be retained. The composting process converts organic material into stable soil carbon and makes it available to plants. Compost is a valuable fertilizer, retaining nutrients from the original food waste as well as water, and aids in carbon sequestration. When food waste is composted rather than landfilled, it does not release methane into our environment.

Compost your food waste by adding collection bins in your kitchen and/or garage; compost in your yard if you can (use a tumbler or create a pile; if you build it, worms will come); or use a commercial program like a bucket swap service or curbside/ridealong collection. Whatever systems work for you, making the effort to reduce food waste and to compost will accomplish two of the Top 100 things that may be done to reverse climate change – with a lot less cost and effort than some other actions on the list. It’s a two-fer!