How to reduce your carbon footprint at home?
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Greenhouse gases are the number one cause of climate change. These are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and synthetic chemicals. These gases trap heat inside the atmosphere of the earth, and the more greenhouse gases are being emitted across the world, the warmer the earth gets.
Carbon footprint is the number of greenhouse gases emitted from our actions, which is why by reducing our carbon footprint, we will be helping save the earth even if our actions are small. After all, we need to start small to get somewhere, and by starting small, we can reduce the carbon footprint in our homes. By doing this, we will also teach our family members to reduce their carbon footprints, and they can pick up this habit even at school, work, or anywhere they go. Now the question is, how do you reduce your carbon footprint?
You might think reducing your carbon footprint will involve heavy tasks, but it does not. It can be as simple as regularly switching the lights off when not in use. Yes, you read that right. Some initiatives are even just corrections to your nasty habits at home! So if you want to know more, here are effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint at home:
Switch the lights off
When someone asks you, “lights on or lights off?” tell them, “lights off!” Kidding! But if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, switch your lights off when not in use and when there is sufficient natural light inside your house.
One bad habit we often take for granted is leaving the lights on whenever we are not at home. By doing this, we not only aim to get a higher electricity bill, but we also leave more carbon footprints.
Install a smart thermostat
Having a smart thermostat at home will help you save energy and money on bills, and when you save more energy, you also help reduce the electricity demand from power plants, which is why it lessens your carbon footprint.
Say no to fast fashion
Fast fashion is described as low-priced and trendy articles of clothing inspired by catwalk trends that are produced in high volumes rapidly. Since cheap materials are used in fast fashion, they quickly end up in landfills, and the more clothes dumped in landfills, the more methane will be produced.
Fast fashion is also a source of cheap labor, which is why the companies producing fast fashion rely on child labor. If you do not patronize the fast fashion industry, you will also show that you do not condone cheap and child labor.
If you do not have the budget to buy new and quality clothes from reliable stores, you can opt for preloved or vintage clothes instead of fast fashion items.
Choose local food that is in season
When you buy food that is not in season, it only means that it will have to come from distant places. When you order food from faraway places, it will have to be shipped by a truck, a ship, or a plane. Any transportation uses fossil fuels for gasoline and keeping foods in transit from spoiling. The more you order food that is not in season, the more gasoline shipping transportation will use.
Drive less
Most household today have their family car, and going from one place to another can be difficult when you do not drive the vehicle because commuting is very inconvenient, especially in crowded and far away places. However, when you drive less, you use lesser fuel. When you use lesser fuels, you also reduce your carbon footprint. We are not telling you to avoid driving anymore, but try doing it less. If the place you need to go to is within walking distance, choose to walk instead of driving. In that way, you will also be able to stay active, which will help boost your health.
Take care of nature
One of the effective and faster ways to reduce carbon footprint is avoiding actions that can harm nature and committing to actions that can help the environment. Planting plants alone will not be enough to reduce carbon footprint, but preventing ways to harm the environment together with growing more plants will.
Conclusion
There are several advocates and organizations you can find on the internet that aim to reduce carbon footprint, and you can even join one of them if you want to be more committed to doing it. But if you do not want to take things too fast, you can start by doing your initiatives to help reduce the carbon footprint in the world. By starting small, you are already contributing to something big. Just be consistent about it.
You can also teach your family members to reduce their carbon footprint at home. Who knows, they might also influence other people to do the same.