Everyone says we need to be more sustainable, but what does that even mean?

All of our food, fuel, clothes, school supplies, soap, and much more are all available to us because of agriculture. Farmers have to raise the plants and animals that are ‘ingredients’ in providing all of these things for us. Growing crops and raising livestock uses a lot of natural resources, so farmers do what they can to conserve those resources and ensure they are protecting the environment as best they can.

Every farm is different, because they’re all a part of different ecosystems what might work for one farmer may not work for others. Here are some things that farmers are doing to conserve and protect the natural resources around them: rotational grazing, integrated pest management, manure management, planting cover crops, practicing no-till farming and nutrient stewardship, and utilizing modern technologies.

Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. The main greenhouse gases of concern are ozone (O2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The light and heat from the sun are able to pass through the atmosphere but greenhouse gases prevent the heat from leaving. This can cause the overall temperatures around the world to increase.

Plastic is made from petroleum, or crude oil, which is a nonrenewable resource. Petroleum is also used for many other things like gasoline and electricity. Burning crude oil to make plastics releases a lot of pollutants, like carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released into the air because of using different forms of energy. Transportation, heating, and electricity all require burning of fossil fuels. Things like turning on lights, cooking food, heating water for warm showers, using items made from plastic, and using single-use items are all actions that cause your carbon footprint to increase.

An ecological footprint measures the amount of natural resources used to provide people with everything they need and want – how much we take from nature and are those resources renewable or nonrenewable.

We can get electricity from renewable energy sources like wind, sunshine, water, and earth’s underground heat in the form of windmills, solar panels, hydroelectric plants, anaerobic digesters, and geothermal heating systems.

Only 3% of all the water on earth is fresh water, making it a limited resource. Less that 1/3 of all the fresh water is available for human use. Most of this fresh water is found in lakes, rivers, and even underground. Droughts, floods, pollution, population growth, industrial needs, and climate change are just a few of the ways that can affect the health and availability of the fresh water we need for survival. While we won’t necessarily run out of fresh water, our fresh water can become so polluted that we can’t use it.

Biodiversity is so important because it provides ecosystems with so many different services like water purification, pest and disease regulation, soil fertilization, erosion control, nutrient cycling, pollination, and more! Without a variety of different plant and animal species, ecosystems would start to become unhealthy and wouldn’t be able to support life.

There are thousands of bugs and insects that are incredibly beneficial for the environment. There are three categories of beneficial bugs: pollinators that help pollinate plants, predators that eat harmful bugs that destroy plants, and decomposers that break down organic material and recycle nutrients into the soil.

Sustainability is the idea that we can use natural resources for the things we need and want in a responsible way so that those natural resources will also be available for future generations to use.