Homer Drawdown
No Scrap Wasted
Current Project
November 2025 – Present
For our current and fourth solution, Homer Drawdown, has set our sights on reducing food and recyclable waste in our community. Project Drawdown identifies waste as a major climate opportunity because everything we use and throw away carries a trail of wasted energy, land, water, and emissions across its lifecycle. The biggest climate gains come from consuming less and treating waste as a resource
rather than an endpoint.
Reducing food waste in particular is one of the highest-impact climate solutions. Roughly one-third of food is wasted globally, and organic material accounts for about a third of what ends up in our local landfill. Think about what it takes to get food to your fork. A third of all that land, water, energy, and human effort is for nothing; it’s staggeringly wasteful.
Beyond the climate benefits, reducing waste offers powerful co-benefits: extending the life of our landfill, stimulating new local
economies, saving money, and feeding people in our community who need it.
Three newly formed working groups are driving these solutions:
- Food Institutions
- Restructuring Recycling
- Waste Not
Homer Drawdown is a collaborative project, and Inletkeeper is equally supported by dedicated volunteers. If you live in or around Homer, we welcome you to exert your power with us! Let us know you are interested in adding your energy to our current No Scrap Wasted Project. Email aaron@inletkeeper.org for more information.
Get Involved
Homer Drawdown is a collaborative project supported by dedicated community volunteers and partnerships with other local organizations. If you live in or around Homer, we welcome you to exert your power with us! If you are interested in adding your energy to our current No Scrap Wasted Project, sign up to receive emails and learn about our working groups HERE. If you have ideas or questions, email aaron@inletkeeper.org for more information.
Want To Help?
Register to join our Homer Drawdown email list through the link below to stay informed about our meetings, working groups, and progress.
Climate Smart Homer Homes
2024-2025
Homer Drawdown’s Climate Smart Homes project was structured to improve the energy efficiency of Homer homes. This project helped people by providing resources for energy efficiency home improvements, lowering heating costs, and carbon emissions.
- Project Accomplishments:
- Hosted a Heat Pumps 101 event that drew over 130 people and garnered hundreds more views online.
- Created a resource guide for folks interested in installing a heat pump.
- Conducted a heat pump survey to solicit data and experiences from locals who have already installed a heat pump in
their home or workplace. View the survey results summary here. - Connected Juneau based non-profit AK Heat Smart with local heat pump installers to administer their heat pump grant
program in Kachemak Bay. - Presented Building Science Workshops to inform about the dynamic relationship between heat, air and moisture in
homes and how to address issues. - Created and distributed door snakes for free to provide an easy way to improve drafty doors.
- Conducted volunteer home energy audits and made recommendations for what to address first to improve energy
efficiency. - Wrapped up Homer Drawdown’s Climate Smart Homer Homes project by hosting the Homer Energy Fair, which drew in
250 people, featured 19 exhibitors, 4 presenters, a kids zone, and a snake making station. Tradespeople, utility providers,
and business leaders met to connect residents with the resources available to make their homes and workplaces more
Climate Smart!
Heat Pump 101 presented by Homer Drawdown: Climate Smart Homes, November 2024
Home Energy Efficiency Presented by REAP at the Homer Energy Fair, January 2025
Basic Building Science presented by Scott Waterman at the Homer Energy Fair, January 2025
Energy Rebates and Incentives by Presented by Alaska Housing Finance Corporation at the Homer Energy Fair, January
2025
People-Oriented Transportation
This solution focused on reducing local carbon emissions by organizing projects that encourage people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, or roll when they would otherwise drive. By advocating for and partnering with the City of Homer to improve policies and infrastructure, advancing mapping and wayfinding resources, organizing events that normalize walking and biking, creating and maintaining connected trails, and organizing educational programs, we are shifting our transportation landscape to center the safety and experience of people, not vehicles.
The Peatland Project
October, 2020 – October 2021
Homer Drawdown’s first solution aimed to protect local carbon sinks by bringing awareness to the role our abundant local peatlands play in the carbon cycle. The preservation and restoration of peatlands is ranked #13 among the solutions identified in Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. “Though these unique ecosystems cover just 3% of the earth’s land area, they are second only to oceans in the amount of carbon they store – TWICE that held by the world’s forests.”
The Peatland Project coordinated citizen science outings to map local peat depth, a youth peatland-themed camp, artist collaborations, experimental restoration pilots, public presentations, and communication with local land managers and decision-makers.