Organic Waste
Methane Emissions
According to a Howard County study, organic waste like food scraps makes up 30% of the local solid waste stream. Food waste in landfills is a significant source of methane (CH4) emissions. Methane has more than 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is critical to reduce food waste wherever possible.
Composting food waste reduces methane generation. Additionally, ensuring that the methane generated in landfills is captured and managed properly is key to reducing methane emissions.
Organic Waste
Impact of Plant-Based Diets
Individuals should make a conscious effort to eat more plants as part of a well-rounded diet, as raising livestock accounts for nearly 15% of direct global emissions each year. This high number is due to the clearing of land to house and feed livestock and the direct emissions livestock like beef produces. Eating a plant-rich diet can also provide an added benefit of improving your health.
Project Drawdown, a comprehensive ranking of climate solutions based on their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, rated this action as fourth out of the top 100 actions to reduce emissions worldwide.
What You Can Do
Reduce Food Waste and Encourage Plant-Rich Diets
Call to Action: Reduce food waste at home and in the grocery store and switch to a more plant-based diet.
Diversion & Source Reduction
Impact of Consumptive Lifestyle
Although difficult to quantify in a local GHG inventory, national and global GHG accounting shows that the amount of waste created per capita in the US contributes significantly to overall GHG emissions. Reducing waste at the source is the most cost efficient and impactful step we can take to reduce emissions from non-organic waste.
Howard County is focused on reducing consumption of waste-heavy products like single-use plastics that generate GHG emissions in their production, transportation, and disposal. Adopting sustainable procurement practices throughout government operations helps the County's government lead the way for the community to similarly identify opportunities to reduce waste.
Diversion & Source Reduction
Green Events for Organizations
Events provide an especially good opportunity to implement waste reduction practices. While events are fun, they produce large amounts of waste that often go towards the landfills – including food scraps, food ware, paper, cardboard, and other materials that could otherwise be recycled. Promoting zero waste practices at events can help promote a culture of sustainability that can help reduce the amount of waste that we produce, and therefore the amount of pollution and greenhouse gases that we emit.
Let’s Go Zero Waste, A Guidebook for Organizations on Zero Waste Events, was created by Chesapeake Conservation & Climate Corps member Vanessa Holloway during her tenure with the Howard County Office of Community Sustainability. The step-by-step guide offers tips on conducting a waste audit, practical ways to reduce waste at events, community resources for waste reduction, and case studies of Howard County nonprofits that have had successful waste reduction efforts. View an accessible, text-only version of the guide.
Diversion & Source Reduction
Leading by Example: Reducing Single-Use Plastics
The residents of Residences at Vantage Point utilize approximately 90 takeaway containers per day during routine dining facility operations at the nonprofit retirement community in Columbia.
With funding from a Howard County Plastics Reduction & Environmental Protection (PREP) grant in 2024, the community purchased reusable containers to avoid the waste of single-use plastics in take-out dining. This effort is expected to keep more than 32 thousand takeaway containers out of the solid waste stream annually.
PREP grants are funded by Howard County's 5-cent plastic bag fee and have supported nonprofits in their environmental projects since 2021.
What You Can Do
Buy Less Stuff & Divert Materials From Landfills
Call to Action: Reduce the amount of goods purchased and encourage others to do so as well. Practice and promote the five Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle!