Quick Key Facts
- Native plants are plants that have been growing for thousands of years or longer in particular regions on land and in the sea, without being introduced by humans.
- Native plants support pollinators by providing nectar for hummingbirds, native bees, butterflies, moths, bats and others. They support other wildlife by providing critical habitat and essential food.
- Native plants have evolved for survival and tend to be more naturally adapted to local growing conditions. Due to deep roots that withstand long periods of dry weather, they are drought-resistant and require little or no watering after they are established.
- Since native plants adapt to their ecosystem’s soil, whether it be poor or fertile, they can survive from what nutrients are available without the aid of fertilizer.
- Native plants require fewer pesticides because they are naturally resilient against pests.
- Native plants contribute to regular ecosystem functions such as water purification and flood control.
- Native plants absorb air pollutants and sequester carbon to help mitigate climate change.
- Native plants in the U.S. are under threat from habitat loss, construction, overgrazing, wildfires, invasive species, bioprospecting — the search for plant and animal species from which medicinal drugs, biochemicals and other commercially valuable material can be obtained — and climate change.
Benefits of Native Plants
A butterfly feeds on a native coneflower in a pollinator garden of the East Decatur Greenway in Decatur, Georgia. Thomas Cizauskas / Flickr
Native plants are indigenous plant species that evolve naturally on land or in the water, and are an integral piece of thriving ecosystems, providing critical habitat for insects, birds, mammals and other animals that form an interconnected web of mutually beneficial interactions.
They have a host of other benefits — something one might consider when it comes to what is grown in the yard.
A front yard featuring native plants instead of a lawn. California Native Plant Society / Flickr
They require much less maintenance by using less water. According to a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2017, one-third of water for residential use is for landscape irrigation. Because of native plants’ deep root systems, they don’t just require less water, but it makes them drought tolerant, and slows down the flow of water that in turn helps prevent soil erosion, flooding and surface runoff that can lead to the pollution of waterways.
The root system acts as a filter for pollutants. Silver birch, yew and elder trees have been found to trap up to 70 percent of particulates in the air.
An ancient yew tree forest in the UK. Matthew J Thomas / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Native plants will save you money on fertilizer, since they adapt to the nutrients in the soil, whether depleted or nutrient rich. They also don’t need pesticides, having developed natural resistance over time.
In terms of climate mitigation, they sequester carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to help mitigate climate change.
Impacts of Non-Native and Invasive Plants
To those not aware, non-native plants, and invasives (which is what non-natives are called after they rapidly grow and spread over large areas) look pretty innocuous, but they wreak havoc on the ecosystem.
Invasive plants arrived with colonization. According to a 2020 study, researchers quantified 65 plant species, subspecies and varieties that have been lost forever in the wild since Europeans arrived.
Invasive plant species aggressively compete with native species, and typically outcompete them, leading to potential extinction of not only the native plants, but the animals and their habitats, as well as food sources. Some non-native plants produce chemicals in their leaves or root systems that inhibit the growth of other plants around them, which results in reduced biodiversity, increased erosion and genetic alterations of native species through hybridization.
Invasive plants affect water availability and damage soil nutrients, by decreasing water flows and reducing the transportation of nutrients. This can also increase runoff and create erosion.
Some are fire hazards. For instance, cheatgrass, which was brought over by European colonizers in the 1800s, is flammable and can cause more intense and frequent wildfires. Cheatgrass is found in at least 49 states, and is mainly a problem in the semi-arid Great Basin.
Invasive cheatgrass on sagebrush steppe rangeland. Jaepil Cho / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Research shows that non-native plants also contribute to the global insect decline.
An analysis of 76 studies of caterpillar health on native and introduced plants found that caterpillars were larger and more likely to survive when reared on their native host plants. Some pollinator species have seen a 90 percent decline in their populations over the last decade, part of which is attributable to invasive plant species.
A monarch caterpillar on a native showy milkweed plant. Jim Wadsworth / California Native Plant Society / CC BY 2.0
Invasive plants also affect human health by providing habitat for vectors of disease. For example, Japanese barberry was introduced into the states in the late 1800s as an ornamental plant. Now it exists across 30 states and forms dense thickets that are favored by deer ticks that cause lyme disease.
Native Plants at Risk
The Center for Plant Conservation reports that nearly 30 percent of the native flora in the U.S. are considered to be of conservation concern.
Besides competing with invasives, native plants over the last several decades have been up against several other conditions that threaten their existence. The following are some of the major concerns.
Climate Change
Higher temperatures cause native plants to experience heat-related stress, which causes higher water demand. Higher amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere promote growth of invasive plants that box native plants out of their spaces.
Longer growing seasons also cause earlier bloom times, which affects the animals synced up to the life cycles of the plants, such as pollinators. Plants in tidal habitats also have to cope with sea level rise. It is said some species will evolve in response to climate change. Native plants in certain regions have adapted thus far.
More than 70 native plant species can be found on the 19 acres surrounding the Piedras Blancas Light Station on California’s central coast. Bureau of Land Management
Habitat Destruction
The continental U.S. has lost 150 million acres of habitat and farmland to urban sprawl. Manicured lawns cover over 40 million acres, none of which supports functioning ecosystems.
Bioprospecting
Bioprospecting is the search for useful products derived from plants, animals and microorganisms that can be developed further for commercialization. Some examples include the poppy seed for morphine and the white willow tree that helped develop aspirin.
Often, this doesn’t just result in what is called biopiracy — which involves the appropriation of plants and cultural knowledge, where corporations use Indigenous people to locate biological material that has a medicinal purpose, then bring it back to the lab and patent it as their own invention without proper compensation or acknowledgement. It also can deplete resources from overharvesting native species that could lead to local extinction. Medicinal plants are especially vulnerable to this.
Native Plant Restoration Projects
There are several native plant restoration projects across the country. Here is a small selection.
Great Basin Sagebrush Project
Part of the Sustainability in Prisons Project, this environmental partnership between the Institute for Applied Ecology, Department of Corrections and the Bureau of Land Management provides unique and meaningful ecological activities to incarcerated men and women with the goal of restoring sagebrush habitat in the great basin region through a multi-state grow out initiative.
Native Plant Trust
Based in Framingham, Massachusetts, as one of the nation’s first plant conservation organizations, the Native Plant Trust saves native plants in the wild, grows them for gardens and restorations and provides education initiatives on their values and uses.
Mattole Restoration Council
This community-led watershed restoration organization in California, restores and conserves ecosystems on the Mattole River. One of their projects is to produce native plants through collecting seed from a mix of locally adapted native plants throughout the Mattole Watershed and King Range National Conservation Area and are grown at their Native Plant Nursery and Native seed farm.
Back to Natives Restoration
California-based Back to Natives promotes the use of locally native plants as well as habitat restoration and preservation by providing service learning and volunteer-based habitat restoration programs. They also design, install and maintain locally native landscapes for homeowners and businesses with all proceeds supporting their environmental education and habitat restoration programs.
Malama Pupukea Native Hawaiian Plant Coastal Restoration Project
This O’ahu-based nonprofit educates residents of Hawai‘i and visitors to the Pūpūkea Marine Life Conservation District about the importance of this special area’s marine life and protected status. In an effort to help reduce erosion and sedimentation at Sharks Cove, they started the Native Hawaiian Plant Coastal Restoration Project.
National Park Service: Santa Monica Mountains
Over the course of two years, 3000 volunteers helped restore 100,000 native plants (10,000 trees and 90,000 herbs and shrubs) to five sites in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Native Plant Sanctuaries
Since many native plant species are at risk because of habitat destruction, invasive species and climate change, many have set up plant sanctuaries to help preserve and protect these species by providing a protected area for growth.
There are several throughout the United States.
For example, Maine is home to a wildflower reservation that is open to the public and contains 100 wildflower species over 177 acres. Hobbs Fern Sanctuary in New Hampshire has 250 acres filled with 40 varieties of native ferns. In Vermont, there is a bog sanctuary on 41 acres with boardwalk access, and in Pennsylvania the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources creates 35 secret sanctuaries across the state.
Policy
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 has provided some protections and recovery for imperiled species of plants, but the plants are only protected on federal lands.
Since then, the USDA’s Forest Service created a policy (FSM 2070) in 2008 designed to combat invasive species and mitigate the impacts of climate change and maintain healthy forests. The policy stipulates that native plants will be the first choice in revegetation for restoration and rehabilitation of native ecosystems, where native plant communities might not regenerate naturally on their own.
Other legislation has been state by state.
In Maryland, the senate passed House Bill 322, which compels Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) and other organizations to allow “low-impact landscaping” such as rain gardens, native plant gardens, pollinator gardens and xeriscaping in subdivisions. The law also forbids an HOA from requiring yards consisting of turf grass.
The bill was led by a homeowner in Howard County who experienced harassment from her neighbors and her HOA over planting a pollinator garden. The HOA hired a law firm to force her to replace it.
In 2017, New Jersey adopted a bill that requires the Department of Transportation and other authorities to use native plants on roadway landscapes.
In Hawai’i, Act 233 was passed and requires that, whenever possible, Hawaiian plants known to occur on a particular island will be used for landscaping in that particular place, and shall be sourced from that same island.
There are also laws in Hawai’i against protecting threatened and endangered plant species. To cut, collect, uproot, destroy, injure or possess any part of a threatened or endangered plant is considered a “take” and is illegal.
The silver sword is endemic to the island of Maui, Hawai’i and listed as threatened on the IUCN red list. Vince Barnes / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Several other states declared proclamations for native plant month.
Overall, though, it is said that at-risk plants have less conservation funding and legal protection than animals in the country. Plants are also only safeguarded on federal lands, not private.
What Can You Do to Help?
Volunteers work to help native plants grow at the Native Seed Farm in Irvine, California on March 27, 2019. Paul Bersebach / MediaNews Group / Orange County Register via Getty Images
Plant native species in your garden to replace your lawn.
Advocate for native plants in your town’s public spaces, and push for state legislation to reduce pesticide use to save pollinators.
Landscaping around roads near a Park Ridge, Illinois hospital includes native plants. Center for Neighborhood Technology / Flickr
Join a local group working to control invasive plants.
Don’t pick flowers or dig up native plants.
If you are hiking, camping or climbing, check all of your gear for seeds caught in your belongings to help the spread of invasives.
Growing Your Own
To help figure out what to grow where, these three resources will help you find what’s native to your area, just by typing in your zip code:
National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder
Homegrown National Park Native Plant Finder
Audubon’s Native Plants Database
Native plants at the Marys Peak Area of Critical Environmental Concern in Benton County, Oregon. Bureau of Land Management
The post Native Plants 101: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on EcoWatch.
https://www.ecowatch.com/native-plants-facts-ecowatch.html
Last Updated on April 21, 2026
Did you know the average couple spends $800 a month on groceries (USDA)? That’s approximately $200 a week on food!
And it’s only going to get worse. According to the USDA, in 2026, prices for all food are predicted to increase 3.6 percent.
But there’s hope – my husband and I eat a low waste, nutrient-dense, plant-forward diet that comes to $300 a month. And yes, there are a few major hacks that make a difference *ahem – dry beans.*
But the truth is, it all starts with a solid grocery budgeting plan. If you want to lower your grocery bill too, here are all my tips, including grocery budgeting, where to shop, what to make yourself, and more!
grocery budgeting
Creating a budget for groceries is the first step to understanding where all your money is going. Ask yourself, how much are you willing to spend on food each week? How much can you feasibly put aside?
This will vary depending on how many mouths you have to feed, how often you cook from home, and what you like to make. It helps knowing your specific eating habits too. For example, I know I’m going to want Mexican-inspired dishes at least once a week, so I prepare for that.
I find sticking to cash helps me budget better. Instead of simply putting everything on a card, I’m making sure I don’t go over budget by having a physical limit.
Before you leave the house, remind yourself how much you’re going to spend at the grocery store. If you plan on going to multiple spots (ex: farmers market, bulk bins, grocery store, etc.), designate how much you feel comfortable spending in those areas.
For example, if you like to visit the farmers market year-round, you’ll probably notice there’s more of a selection in the summer/fall months, so your budget for that may go up. Because who doesn’t want in-season strawberries? So setting aside $50 for the market during peak seasons, and $20 for the rest of the year, may help.
I also recommend always counting how much you have left after each store visit. Did you spend more or less than your budget accounted for? Will you put any leftover money towards next week’s grocery haul?
Example grocery budget for family of 2 for $100 per week:
- $30 for protein (tofu, black beans, eggs, etc.)
- $25 for produce (bananas, apples, carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, etc.)
- $20 for grains (Rice, pasta, oatmeal, etc.)
- $15 for dairy (Gallon of plant-based milk, coconut yogurt, etc.)
- $10 for pantry/snacks (crackers, popcorn, seasonings, etc.)
*This is just an example to give you a visual on how much you may want to spend on different categories. But every family’s needs are different and will vary!
Pro tip: If you eat meat, try to buy them in bulk packs, and get inexpensive cuts, like ground meat, or bone-in chicken. Buying bone-in, skin-on means you’re not paying someone to do the trimming, making it more economical. Also, shredded cheese tends to be pricer than blocked for the same reason – you’re paying someone to do the work for you!
where to shop
Knowing where to shop is half the battle: We buy our spices at a local market and they’re so much cheaper there. We also buy a lot of our foods in bulk from Costco where you can buy a giant bag of rice or flour.
It’s so much cheaper to buy dry beans than canned. I’ll make a giant batch of beans, pop them in the freezer, and pull them out any time I want. Same level of convenience, but with less than half the cost.
Hitting up local farmers markets for in-season produce can save a buck too.
It takes more water and resources to grow a tomato in the winter (think greenhouse expenses) than it does during the summer when they’re prolific. When there’s an abundance, farmers tend to sell at lower rates to entice us to buy!
Shopping at bulk bins can reduce cost too, because you can get only what you need. For example, instead of buying a huge pack of quinoa for a recipe you’re making, you can grab a cup’s worth. Or whatever the recipe entails!
make it yourself
We make a lot of kitchen staples too, like bread. We love supporting local bakeries but buying half a loaf of sourdough bread, sometimes twice a week, would cost $7. Which is $14 a week on bread, $700 a year.
Our appliances like our breadmaker, crockpot, and instantpot all came from our Buy Nothing group. We use them constantly which massively lowers our grocery bill.
My breadmaker makes delicious loaves of bread in just a few hours. I just add everything into it, adjust the settings, and let it handle things from there. Here’s my go-to recipe:
- 2 tsp of bread machine yeast
- 3 TBSP of olive oil
- 2 TBSP of Sugar
- 1 cup + 2TBSP of water
- 3 Cups of flour
- tsp of salt
I also make a lot of other kitchen staples like broth, vinegar, vanilla which leads to tons of savings. You can make your own condiments and nut butters too if you have the time.
I also love versatile produce/pantry items! For example, in fall I always get a pumpkin for decor, which I end up cooking to make homemade pumpkin puree. It can be used in so many different recipes like pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. And I also get roasted pumpkin seeds out of it!
Year round, some pantry staples are ridiculously easy to make, like powdered sugar (literally just blend granulated sugar in a blender) and brown sugar (mix white sugar with molasses).
If you’re in a pinch, you can also make your own oat flour. Just blend oats in a food processor until the particles are a fine powder. You can store it in an air-tight container for 3 months and use it in all kinds of recipes.
RELATED: 20 Things To Make At Home Instead of Buying
use coupons and sales
Look for discounts wherever you can find them. You may be able to download your local grocery store’s mobile app for exclusive deals.
At the very least, it can be easier to see the price difference between brands. You can plan meals around what’s on sale, like that half-priced can of tomato sauce.
My grocery store often runs sales on basic things like $2 for 5lbs of potatoes, carrots, and onions at the end of the month. I always stock up when they’re on sale.
There are also some grocery stores that sell discounts on ‘imperfect’ produce. AKA, produce that’s still perfectly good but doesn’t meet grocery store beauty standards (maybe it has a blemish or a wacky shape).
These ‘blemished’ produce items may come wrapped in plastic, but keeping food out of landfills kind of cancels out the packaging waste.
Also, be sure to check out resources like Too Good To Go – their app is the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food. You can help rescue food near you, all at half price or less.
choose low-cost staples
Meat is one of the more expensive items. Alternatively plant based sources of protein are less expensive, provide more fiber, are one of the most consumed foods in the blue zones, and they happen to be the best bang for your buck.
Choosing low-cost staples like beans, rice and frozen produce will help you stretch your bills. These items are also incredibly versatile as they can be used in so many dishes, from burritos to soups to stir fries.
Here’s a list of low cost staples you should consider stocking your pantry with:
- Grains + pasta (brown rice, oats, quinoa, popcorn kernels, whole wheat pasta, etc.)
- Beans (black, pinto, garbanzo, cannellini beans, etc.)
- Legumes (red, green or brown)
- Oil (coconut, olive, avocado oil, etc.)
- Nuts and seeds (peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc.)
- Canned goods (peeled tomatoes, cut vegetables, etc.)
- Baking staples (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, maple syrup, coco powder, etc.)
- Spices + seasonings (onion + garlic powder, paprika, etc.)
Pro tip: For snacks, you can cut down on a lot of money if you make your own, using what’s in your pantry. For example, making homemade chocolate muffins from your baking stash or using popcorn kernels instead of bagged popcorn. Melted butter and salt goes a long way!
What do you think of these grocery budgeting hacks? Let me know in the comments!
The post How I Cut My Grocery Bill to $300 a Month appeared first on Going Zero Waste.
Each year, the U.S. discards 38 to 40 percent of its food, a stubbornly high figure. Yet, other countries like the Czech Republic, Israel, and Denmark show promising solutions that American cities are beginning to adopt.
The global challenge is similarly daunting. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about one-third of all food produced for people worldwide is lost or wasted each year. This is not just a moral issue, since so many people go hungry, but also a big climate problem. Project Drawdown lists cutting food waste as one of the top three ways to fight climate change. Some countries have been working on this for years and offer lessons for others.
Czech Republic: Rooted in Preservation Culture
Home-grown produce from backyard vegetable gardens supplements family meals throughout the Czech Republic. Residents tend fruit trees, greenhouses, and chicken coops. Many rent municipal allotment plots to use as supplemental gardens. Home composting is common and deeply normalized.
Czechs don’t just eat what their gardens yield—they savor the adventure! During mushroom and wild garlic season, families head outdoors to forage together. Extra produce finds a second life as jams or pickles, or gets frozen and fermented into tangy cabbage. Got leftover fruit? Send it to a local distillery for a splash of homemade liquor. Even stale bread avoids the bin, reborn as crispy breadcrumbs straight from your kitchen.
Apps like Nesnězeno let Czech restaurants, bakeries, cafés, and grocery stores sell extra food as discounted ‘rescue bags,’ priced 50 to 70% below retail — for pickup before closing. This connects surplus food with local buyers looking for a good deal. By the end of 2024, Nesnězeno had 1,487 partner businesses, a 132% increase from the year before, and had expanded across all Czech regions. Prague led with 239,000 rescued packages (41% of the total), followed by South Moravian and Pilsen, according to MediaGuru.
The app has been downloaded by more than 3 million users and has saved over 3 million packages of unsold meals overall.
The Czech Republic’s recycling rate for municipal waste went up from 32% in 2017 to 44% in 2021, just below the EU average. However, separating and collecting food waste is still inconsistent. A new national program for collecting kitchen animal-based waste, starting in 2026, aims to fix this.
Israel: Food Rescue as National Resilience
Food and water security in Israel are inseparable from politics. Leket Israel, the country’s largest food bank, pursues a mission of “food rescue” that serves Israelis regardless of background, coordinating with farms, packing houses, hotels, and catering operations to redirect surplus food to 200 nonprofits serving those in need.
Bustling outdoor food markets are traditional fixtures in Israeli cities, bringing consumers closer to the source of their food. In such busy places, edible food regularly ends up on the ground. Volunteers with Leket collect leftovers to distribute to people in need.
Leket released its 10th annual Food Waste and Rescue Report in late 2025. The report showed that Israel threw away 2.6 million tons of food, or 39% of what it produced, similar to the U.S. This wasted food was worth about $7 billion, or 1.3% of the country’s GDP. Still, there has been progress: food waste per person dropped 13.3% over the last ten years, from 300 kg to 260 kg per year. This improvement is thanks to more public awareness, serving food on individual plates in cafeterias, and more online food orders. But population growth and higher food prices have kept the total amount of wasted food high.
Leket and its partners now rescue about 45,000 tons of food each year, 2.25 times more than a decade ago. Still, this is only 5% of the food that could be saved in Israel. The Food Donation Encouragement Law, first passed in 2018, was updated in 2024 to give more legal protection to donors and require large public institutions to donate food.
In September 2025, Israel released its first national plan to cut food loss and waste, written by the Ministries of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. This was a big step toward better policy coordination. Israeli AgTech companies are also known worldwide for using technology to reduce food waste. For example, Sufresca makes edible coatings to keep produce fresh longer, and Taranis uses drones and AI to spot crop problems early.
Denmark: Culture as Infrastructure
In Denmark, people often leave free food in boxes on the sidewalk. Signs in front of homes might offer free apples or potatoes, or eggs for sale using the honor system. There are also Facebook groups in every major Danish city for dumpster diving, where people collect edible food that supermarkets throw away after the best-by date.
Supermarkets in Denmark lower prices on food that is close to its best-by date, especially baked goods, which are marked down every evening after 7 or 8 p.m. Food producers and supermarket chains work with groups like Too Good To Go and WeFood, Denmark’s first surplus food supermarket, to sell rescued food at big discounts. Chains like REMA 1000, Coop, and LIDL have also stopped offering bulk-buy discounts that encouraged people to buy more than they needed.
Too Good To Go started in Copenhagen in 2015 and has grown quickly. In 2023, the app saved 121.7 million meals worldwide, up 46% from 2022, and helped prevent about 362,000 tons of CO2 emissions. The app now works in over 17 countries and has more than 85 million users.
The WeFood surplus grocery network, which began as a single location in Copenhagen in 2016, has grown to six stores across Denmark. And a voluntary national commitment, “Denmark Against Food Waste,” united more than 25 food producers and retailers behind a shared goal of halving food waste by 2030. An independent third party measures and publishes annual progress.
What the U.S. Has Borrowed
Some of the ideas first used in these three countries are now catching on in the United States. However, there are still big challenges slowing progress.
Too Good To Go started in the U.S. in late 2020 and has been growing ever since. By mid-2025, the app was available in almost half of U.S. states, including cities such as Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. The number of meals saved grew by 67% each year. In 2024, Circle K convenience stores joined the app nationwide. Too Good To Go now also works with big chains like Whole Foods, Peet’s Coffee, and Just Salad.
Since 2020, most progress on food waste in the U.S. has happened at the state level. In 2024, 29 states introduced 100 distinct food waste bills, and 18 passed. California’s SB 1383, which started in 2022, brought organics collection to 94% of communities and rescued 217,000 tons of surplus food in 2023. Washington state also passed a major law in 2022, requiring businesses that generate large amounts of organic waste to compost or arrange for collection.
Federal legislation has moved slowly. As of 2024, 13 pending federal food waste bills were before Congress, including the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act of 2023, which would standardize confusing “best by” and “sell by” date labeling — but none had passed. The lack of national date-label standards is a key driver of household waste, as consumers discard food that is still safe to eat.
In 2015, the U.S. promised to cut food waste in half by 2030. But a 2025 study in Nature Food found that the amount of food wasted per person in 2022, at 328.5 pounds, was about the same as in 2016. The study said that no state is on track to meet the federal goal with current policies. It also pointed out that the U.S. focuses too much on recycling food waste instead of preventing or rescuing it. In contrast, Denmark and the Czech Republic work to keep food from becoming waste in the first place, while U.S. policy mostly deals with food after it’s already lost.
What You Can Do
- Download Too Good To Go or a similar app to save extra food from restaurants and grocery stores in your area.
- Volunteer at a local food bank to help get rescued food to people who need it. You’ll also learn more about food inequality in your community.
- Check out local CSAs and farmers’ markets to help cut down on food lost in big supply chains.
- Composting at home is a simple way to recycle food scraps. If you live in an apartment, see if your city has a compost drop-off program.
- Ask your supermarket to start marking down food that is close to its best-by date. This is common in Denmark but not in the U.S.
- Reach out to your congressional representatives and ask them to support the Food Date Labeling Act. Standardized date labels could make a big difference at the national level.
- Use the Earth911 recycling search tool to find recycling and food drop-off options near you.
Editor’s Note: Originally written by Chloe Skye on March 10, 2020, this article was substantially updated in April 2026.
The post 3 Countries’ Food Waste Strategies: What Can They Teach Us? appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/inspire/3-countries-food-waste-strategies-what-can-they-teach-us/
Green Living
Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Dandelion Energy CEO Dan Yates On How Geothermal Leasing Could Transform Home Heating and Cooling
Read a transcript of this episode. Subscribe to receive transcripts.
Return to one of our most compelling interviews of 2025. Amazingly, the same Congressional bill that gutted residential clean energy tax credits also led to a major breakthrough in financing home geothermal systems. Dan Yates, CEO of Dandelion Energy, explains how the Big, Beautiful Bill introduced changes that, for the first time, allow third-party leasing of residential geothermal systems. He shares why this policy change could help ground-source heat pumps grow the way leasing helped rooftop solar. Geothermal heating and cooling is four times more efficient than a furnace and twice as efficient as air-source heat pumps. Yet only about 1% of U.S. homes use it because the upfront costs for new geothermal systems have ranged from $20,000 to $31,000. The new leasing model means new homeowners can get geothermal systems for just $10 to $40 per month on a 20-year lease, which is usually far less than what they save on energy.
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Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on December 29, 2025.
The post Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Dandelion Energy CEO Dan Yates On How Geothermal Leasing Could Transform Home Heating and Cooling appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-dandelion-energy-ceo-dan-yates-on-how-geothermal-leasing-could-transform-home-heating-and-cooling/
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