Could zero waste stop global warming?

Answer 1

Probably not. If we recycled everything possible so we had no trash at all. We still would use energy (from burning fossil fuels) to heat our homes, cook and produce our food and move about.

Our contribution to global warming is mostly CO2 Carbon dioxide. We burn fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas). We eat carbon in the form of food, breathe oxygen and with digestion produce CO2 and Methane.

Both being contributors to warming. Methane being 20 times more destructive than CO2.

Methane is also produced when organic material like grass clippings rot. It is the major component of natural gas.

More people on the planet requires more food and heat for warmth.

But the Earth has a weapon to balance things out. Vegetation consumes CO2 and produces oxygen. Plankton in the oceans produce the most. Plankton is also the most vulnerable to destruction by warm water and harmful cosmic rays. The polar oceans produce more plankton than the warm waters on both sides of the equator. That is one reason why there are more fish there.

There are experts that dispute Global Warming is caused by humans. The evidence says the opposite. We are warming faster than ever before. If you check the deniers' trail you will find that most if not all are recipients of money from the coal industry which has the most to lose by being replaced with green energy.

Besides recycling, the best thing we can do is plant trees, millions of them. Most of the US except the plains and deserts were covered with huge forests before the Europeans settled the land. They cut the trees, used the timber for buildings and turned the forests into farm land.

There are plenty of places we can replant indigenous trees. Any place the sun shines where a tree won't be a hazard and has decent soil will do. Not only will a tree remove perhaps tons of CO2 in its lifetime but will produce more oxygen and keep the space underneath the branches cooler.

Answer 2

Zero waste practices can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of waste sent to landfills, which can contribute to slowing down global warming. However, it is just one part of a larger solution that also requires addressing other factors such as transitioning to renewable energy sources and reducing overall consumption.