If you grow crops, work with a consultant to fine-tune your fertilizer use to meet your needs. 

Encourage lawmakers to adopt policies that disincentivize fertilizer overuse.

Improved nutrient management can enhance soil and water quality because excess nitrogen on farmlands harms streams and rivers and can acidify soils, which in turn decreases crop yields.

Site-specific nutrient management can increase crop yield and profitability.

Use your purchasing power to support farms that use regenerative practices such as compost application, cover crops, crop rotation, green manures, no-till or reduced tillage, and/or organic production.

If you farm, work with your local extension service to identify and implement regenerative practices suited to your circumstances.

Regenerative annual cropping boosts water filtration and retention, making farms and communities more resilient to droughts and floods, while reducing erosion and pollution.

It also enhances soil health and fertility for higher farm productivity.

More nutrients are available for plants and natural pest protection, minimizing the use of expensive fertilizers and pesticides.

Wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience are enriched.

Read a picture book about soil to a child in your life.

Post a photo of a reduced-tillage farm field to your social media with a message thanking the farmer for the climate-friendly practice.

Conservation agriculture improves soil health and reduces nutrient pollution in streams and rivers.

Use your purchasing power to show support for small, sustainably managed farms.

Promote laws and policies that incentivize climate-friendly agriculture.

Sustainable intensification for smallholders Increases farmers income and contributes to food security by increasing crop yield.

It also builds soil health and improves water infiltration during rain and retains the moisture during droughts.

Encourage the development and enforcement of laws and regulations that disincentivize destruction of coastal wetlands.

Support organizations working to protect coastal wetlands around the world. 

Coastal wetland protection mitigates the impacts of extreme climate events such as hurricanes, floods, and sea-level rise.

In many countries, particularly  small island developing states, mangroves and other coastal ecosystems support subsistence fisheries that are critical for food security.

Find out whether peatland protection part of the sustainability plan of the company that produces your favorite manufactured food item. If not, reach out or use social media to encourage a change. 

Make an earmarked contribution to an environmental organization that's working to advance equitable and just protection of peatlands.

Peatlands soak up floodwaters, protecting downstream communities from flooding.

If you own grassland, consider placing it under a conservation easement. 

Take a child on a grassland walk. Talk about the invisible world beneath your feet, where roots, invertebrates, microbes, and more create a powerhouse for storing carbon and supporting living things above the surface of the soil.

Grassland protection provides habitat for plants and animals in the world’s most endangered ecosystem.

Support efforts to protect the rights of Indigenous people to traditional lands.

As you pursue climate solutions, consider other ways of knowing besides Western science.

Land tenure security that includes women as stakeholders results in higher household incomes, improved food security, and reduced gender-based violence.

Indigenous land management practices often prioritize the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, preserving critical habitats for various plant and animal species.

If you own or manage forestland, identify and adopt practices that maximize long-term carbon storage.

Contribute to organizations and preferentially purchase products that help protect forests.

Forest protection can reduce the incidence of vector-borne diseases and exposure to extreme weather (such as heat). 

This solution provides increased opportunity for time in nature, which is shown to reduce obesity, improve mental health, reduce blood pressure, and boost immune function.

Forest protection improves air and water quality.

Protecting forested land can reduce species and biodiversity loss, which contributes to improved planetary health.

Combined with ecotourism or agroforestry, forest protection can alleviate poverty by increasing income and boosting the economy.

Learn what various “best by” or “expiration” food labels mean, and use your new knowledge to reduce the amount of food you throw away.

Contribute to or volunteer with a food rescue organization.

Reducing food waste can improve nutrition and reduce food insecurity by keeping more food available and accessible for human consumption.

Improved nutrition and food security are associated with improved cardiovascular health, reduced obesity, sufficient nutrient consumption, and improved mental health.

Using fewer resources to produce food has the co-benefits of saving land and resources for other uses and reducing emissions generated from food production.