Ways to Reduce Our Carbon Footprint
What is a Carbon Footprint?, a previously published blog on CIAO, introduces the definition, consequences, and general solutions towards decreasing our carbon footprint. In this post, you’ll find detailed habits and practices to adopt for decreasing the day-to-day greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing the negative effect of personal activities— in multiple areas of life— on the overall well-being of the environment.
Travel
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that transportation is the leading source in carbon dioxide emissions. If you’re looking to improve your approach to traveling, these are some starting points to try.
Keep your car optimally serviced and tires pumped correctly. This keeps your vehicle running efficiently.
Get rid of extra weight in your vehicle. This will prevent excessive energy use.
Carpool.
Limit driving to only when necessary. Walking and riding a bike are healthier and more fun for short trips!
Take a bus or train.
Fly less. Planes emit a substantial amount of emissions. Try to reach your destination by bus, train, or car if possible.
Diet
The back-end operations that go into what you eat significantly contribute to your carbon footprint.
Eat less red meat. There are extensive requirements of feed, water, and land that go into red meat production, plus cows are actually a large contributor of methane.
Eat local. By sourcing your groceries near the purchasing site, the extra emissions that result from transporting and preserving the goods are eliminated.
Waste
Land usage and management, energy and natural resource depletion during agriculture phases, emissions from soils and livestock, and production processes substantially contribute to GHG emissions sourced from food production.¹ In the US, more than $160 billion in food is wasted a year.
Eat your leftovers. Try getting creative and complimenting them with other foods in your fridge.
Plant trees and shrubbery around your home. This improves insulation.
Use your freezer. Freeze the foods you aren’t using that day to ensure they don’t go bad.
Take inventory. Organize and record your food, so you don’t purchase excess groceries or neglect what you already have.
Cook for the correct serving size. If you aren’t making the recipe provided for a group of 8 or more that the ingredients are tiered to, take the time to recalculate the serving size correctly.
Household
On average, homes in the United States use the majority of their energy expenditures on miscellaneous appliances, followed by heating spaces, heating water, and cooling, respectively.² Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that Americans generate roughly 258 million tons of trash a year, and well over half of it ends up in landfills and incinerators.³
Turn off the lights.
Go LED. LED lights use up to 85% less energy than incandescent lights (and they last up to 25 times longer).²
Avoid excessive heating. Heating spaces and water are leading sources of energy consumption in households.
Re-use as much as possible. Practice innovative thinking before throwing items in the trash and brainstorm ways to reuse it.
Recycle.
Donate. From clothes to old kitchen appliances, to electronics, and so on, consider its potential value for giving it another life.
Conscious Consumerism
The textile industry is responsible for large amounts of GHG emissions.
Shop used. Look on Depop or explore a local thrift store.
Donate. Don’t get rid of reusable articles of clothing if they can be donated.
Look for sustainable choices. Before ordering a bulk shipment of clothing from a fast fashion source, explore more sustainable clothing brands.
Sources[1] https://www.fao.org/3/i3347e/i3347e.pdf [2] https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint [3] https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-11/documents/advncng_smm_infogrphc-2014-sm.pdf