Every action an individual takes affects the climate of their environment and there is no stop button for it. As the actions occur, they are regarded as carbon footprints and while they cannot be stopped, they can be regulated and reduced.
What are carbon footprints?
Carbon footprints are released greenhouse emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane caused by the activities of individuals, organizations, systems, etc. These carbon footprints are what affect our climate. In simple terms, what individuals do range from purchasing a beautiful pair of sneakers to cooking, eating, and even getting rid of waste has a part to play in how the atmosphere and weather react. Its biggest causes are energy, land use, waste, forestry, agriculture, and industrial processes.
Knowing a problem doesn’t exactly solve it, proffering a solution does. The issue of carbon footprint is one without a permanent solution, but it does have a regulatory or temporal antidote. These antidotes are ways to reduce the carbon footprint each individual emits. Below are 40 top tips to help out in the reduction of carbon footprints.
Reduce carbon footprints by saving energy
- Take brief showers only: No one should have to spend 20 minutes in the shower to be clean. A few minutes does the charm and saves the environment more carbon footprints.
- Turn off all water sources when not in use. All faucets, showerheads, and any other water outlet in the home should be turned off to save water. Water may seem to occupy a massive amount of the earth’s surface but most of it is unusable hence water is scarce. In other words, after brushing your teeth or washing the dishes, turn off the tap. If possible, avoid flushing the toilet as often.
- Make your home energy efficient through insulation: Keeping a house heater on continuously is detrimental to the environment and increases carbon footprints. To reduce carbon footprints, homeowners have to ensure their living spaces can maximize the energy in them and can provide comfort in all seasons to a certain degree. This will also help turn down the heating system which also reduces carbon footprints.
- Unplug all electronic systems when not in use. this also applies to the mobile phone. Even if the phone automatically stops the battery from charging whenever the battery is full, unplug it to save the environment.
- Stream movies through the television: this is most definitely old-fashioned for most people especially teenagers who prefer the PlayStation. The Tv is a better option because it conserves more energy and emits fewer greenhouse effects.
- Use a laptop rather than the desktop: The desktop is larger, uses more energy to operate, and charges more than the laptop.
- Abandon fossil fuels: Fossil fuels that involve coal, natural gas, petroleum, and peat are generators of greenhouse gas. While it may quite harsh to suggest it be abandoned, it is necessary if we are to do largescale work on reducing carbon footprints.
- Use cleaner sources for generating energy: As against the use of fossil fuels, solar energy, geothermal power, water, wind energy, etc. are better options to generate energy. If you live in a flat and can’t afford any of the above, switch to a company that generates power from any of these sources.
- Make your home eco-friendly with the right appliances: Switch up on the regular bulbs and normal appliances. Go for high-rating electronics which have high energy star ratings and energy-saving bulbs. Also, remember to switch off lights when not in use.
- Digitalization all around: The internet should be used where and when necessary for all works. Avoid using printers if a softcopy can suffice.
Transportation Tips
- Reduce the use of air and private transport: Not every errand requires the use of a car. Car owners should learn to sometimes walk and avoid long rides. Not just cars, even airplane usage should be cut back on. To protect the environment, cancelling a few out of the numerous getaways wouldn’t hurt, would it? Also, try to attend to all errands at a time.
- Carpool with friends: Not many persons would enjoy this, but as a personal contribution to the reduction of carbon footprints in the environment, sharing a car with friends who have similar locations as you would play a good role.
- Use public transport a bit more especially the train: Not every journey needs your car, take the bus and some trips should engage the train.
- Bike rather than a ride: Get around more with the cycle to reduce carbon footprints and work out.
- Proper car maintenance: When a poorly maintained car is driven around, it causes the greenhouse gas being produced to increase.
- Avoid the traffic: Usually, this may be difficult but if there is a shortcut out to it, take it to avoid unnecessarily creating carbon dioxide. Use traffic apps and websites to find alternative routes.
- Work on the driving style: Avoid speeding, unneeded braking, and acceleration. They don’t help carbon footprint reduction.
- Merge errands: Go for errands all at once, don’t go to and fro numerous times.
- Don’t overload the cars: Remove excess luggage and avoid putting too much pressure on the car.
- Buy low carbon vehicles: An electric or hybrid car is a bit more environmentally friendly. Although this might not count as a carbon footprint reducing effort in the first few years of use until possibly the third year.
Go Green
- Use natural and eco-friendly skincare routines: A lot of people would probably have a lot to say concerning this and may even be reluctant but that’s ok. A natural skincare routine is suggested because research has shown that soaps that contain toxins cause damage to the water ecosystem after they are rinsed down the drain. So even if you can’t afford organic skincare, use soaps that are mild and won’t cause damage.
- Consume less meat: Well red meat specifically has been determined as a factor that greatly increases carbon footprints. Add to the fact that its source which is cows, requires a lot of land use. Cows are also known to emit methane which is a greenhouse emission responsible for carbon footprints. Overall, a reduction in the consumption of red meat and the rearing of cows is equivalent to reducing carbon footprints.
- Go more green on your diet: More vegetables and fruits should be the new diet. These emit fewer greenhouse gases. Following on, seasonal and locally produced vegetables should wholly be consumed. Stop looking for imported and canned produces.
- Drink more water: Consume at least 8-10 glasses a day to live a healthy life. While this seems like a mere health trick, it also helps control the amount of carbon dioxide a person releases, hence it reduces the carbon footprints.
- Go local and seasonal: Seasonal and locally produced vegetables should wholly be the go-to option. Reduce consumption of imported fruits and food produces as well as canned products. They are better fresh from the farm.
- Avoid excessive intake of dairy products: Milk and everything it can be processed into is healthy and delicious but an excessive intake only promotes the carbon footprint of the individual.
- Support hobbies that are more nature invested and don’t involve equipment or tools that produce carbon monoxide. For example, hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking, skiing, surfing, etc.
- Visit hotels that use green practices such as solar panels for energy generation, preserve water and encourage recycling. Also, encourage other hotels to adopt going green.
Avoid Waste
- Avoid purchasing food in bulk: this will avoid the fresh food products from going bad, reduces waste, and in turn reduces our carbon footprints.
- Don’t cook more food than you need: Measure the amount that is consumable and satisfactory to you because when food is wasted our carbon footprints increase. For this, the perfect solution to reduce our carbo would be “cook less and not be completely satisfied than cook more and waste”.
- Shop for fewer clothes and manage the ones you have: Avoid being influenced by trends and changing wardrobes every passing day.
- Stick to buying easily recyclable clothes: Some materials used in making trendy clothes make recycling difficult but vintage makes a good friend.
- Give out old clothes and stop dumping them: When clothes are piled up and dumped, they give out high greenhouse emissions as they rot.
- Reuse shopping bags.
- Avoid products that have extravagant plastic packaging.
- Don’t use products whose plastic packages can only be used once.
- Generally, reduce buying new products, especially the resource-intensive and heavily packaged ones.
- Declutter your home. Use the bare minimums and only what is necessary while decorating your home.
- Compost your waste, especially food waste.
- Repair spoilt equipment rather than disposing of them.
Reducing carbon footprints may seem a bit difficult at first but if a few of the 40 tips above are put into practice, the environment would probably be better for it. Carbon footprints we leave affect us just as it affects the next person beside us. Institutions may try but only individuals can reduce carbon footprints.
