This Business Has Kept Almost 30K pounds of Material Away from the Landfill

The Scrappy Elephant is an arts and crafts storefront and community that has helped to divert almost 30,000 pounds of unwanted materials away from the landfill. They are also a Wild Virginia business partner, offering our donors 10% art supplies when they show their Wild Virginia member card. 

UVA / Wild Virginia intern, Haley Freeborn, chats with The Scrappy Elephant owner, Sarah, about the importance diverting waste away from landfills has on methane levels and climate change.

 

* AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DIVERT MATERIALS FROM THE LANDFILL? BECAUSE LANDFILLS ARE BAD FOR OUR HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT. IN 1988, THE EPA STATED ALL LANDFILLS WILL EVENTUALLY LEAK. THAT MEANS THAT RUNOFF CARRYING WITH IT TOXIC CHEMICALS FROM OUR WASTE, ENDS UP IN OUR WATER SUPPLIES. MANY COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING LANDFILLS HAVE HAD THEIR DRINKING WATER CONTAMINATED BY LEAKING LANDFILLS.

LANDFILLS ARE A MAJOR SOURCE OF METHANE. THE EPA ALSO FOUND LANDFILLS TO BE THE THIRD-LARGEST SOURCE OF HUMAN-RELATED METHANE EMISSIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. METHANE IS A GREENHOUSE GAS 86 TIMES MORE POTENT THAN CARBON DIOXIDE ACCORDING TO THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, MAKING IT A POWERFUL CONTRIBUTOR TO OUR CLIMATE CRISIS.