10 Steps In Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

As 2020 begins, you’ve probably heard a lot of media traffic about how to be kinder to the environment. Whether you’ve always been someone who recycles or you’re just starting to learn how you can lessen the impacts of climate change, the effort in reducing your carbon footprint starts with the individual.

The term Carbon Footprint is used to denote “the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person, group, etc.” The lower your footprint, the better you’re serving the environment and we can all do our part in lowering our impact. This year make it your goal to be more environmentally friendly by reducing your carbon footprint and to help, here are the top 10 ways to do so!

Reduce meat and dairy in your diet

You may not be ready to go fully vegan — or perhaps you can’t for nutritional reasons — and that is understandable. Yet, one of the number one ways of reducing your carbon footprint is by merely lowering the number of times you eat meat and dairy each week. The most carbon-friendly foods are those that are lowest on the food chain, like fruits and vegetables. If you increase your consumption of these and decrease products higher on the food chain, you’ll inevitably be making more environmentally friendly food choices.

Choose local and organic

In additional to helping small business owners, shopping local and organic is a carbon-friendly decision you can make immediately. Yes, it may end up being slightly more expensive, but you save a lot of energy by not importing goods. If your tomato is coming from a locally sourced farm (rather than out of country), then the ships, trains or trucks needed for transport are obviously removed. By giving your support to local and organic goods, you help to increase demand in carbon-friendly parts of the market.

Buy in bulk

This manner of food buying has soared in recent years, and not just for the financial benefits. More stores are giving you the option to not only buy in bulk so you can visit the store less often, but you can also use your own reusable container to cut down on plastic, styrofoam or other packaging. Remember, even if packaging can be recycled, it’s better to not have to do that at all. When given the option, eliminate the need for it all together with a reusable alternative.

Avoid fast fashion

The term “fast fashion” refers to trend clothing that goes from design to stores as quickly as possible. In recent years, brands catering to this manufacturing have surfaced and have come under fire for the environmental impact, among other social concerns. They’re known for producing cheap (referring to quality) clothing that corresponds with synthetic materials, environmentally adverse chemicals and waste products. Because of the poor quality, the clothes fall apart quickly and they (and their chemicals) end up in landfills. One suggestion is to consider clothing rental services. We’ve reviewed The Mr. & Ms Collection who do just that and you can cut back on clothing purchases while being environmentally conscience. (Full disclosure – The Mr. & Ms Collection is an affiliate partner.)

Wash in cold

This one has been around a while but still holds true. Besides saving your money, washing your clothes in cold water can save hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide each year. They design the detergent with enzymes to clean better if we wash the clothing in cold water. The result is if you do just two loads a week in cold water instead of your warm/hot, you can save up to 500 pounds of CO₂ each year.

Invest in reusable bags (and everything else!)

The bags used at your local grocery are high-density polyethylene (HDPE or #2 plastic) and low-density polyethylene (#4 plastic or LDPE). These bags are not as easy to recycle as you think and must be specifically handled outside of other plastics as they can easily disrupt the recycling machinery. They also made from petroleum and not renewable. So, when you walk by the reusable bags hanging by the checkout and think; “I’ll get those on my next trip…” it’s time to stop waiting and invest. It’s nothing if not a small and worthy investment in an item you’ll not only use but that will surely save the environment.

Avoid flying when possible

According to a recent 2019 article in Vox, globally, airlines carried 4.3 billion passengers in 2018, up some 38 million from the year prior. We get it, if it’s for work or a vacation that you can’t drive to quickly, we rely on the airline industry, especially if there’s a time or distance limitation, like traveling overseas. However, if you’re a constant traveler, there’s a good chance that your air travel accounts for a significant portion of your carbon footprint. Consider other options before you automatically book that plane ticket. While car, bus, and train may still emit fossil fuels, it won’t be as significant, which is something to keep in mind.

Offset your emissions

And if you need to travel via plane, be sure to offset your emissions! Airlines are now making this so easy that all you have to do is pay an additional fee (often nominal compared to your actual ticket) to help contribute to a carbon offsetting organization. These social and environmental organizations may help to plant trees or address the issue in another capacity.

Carpool or take public transportation

Another tried-and-true practice you can start now in reducing your carbon footprint. If you travel via car, take a friend or coworker with you. On average, a household can burn over 1,100 gallons of fuel a year and emits its own weight in carbon dioxide. Cutting out just 25 miles a week could save 1,500 pounds of CO2. Nationally, we could save 33 million gallons of gas each day if the average commuting vehicle carried just one additional person. (Source) If public transportation exists in your city, the same goes. Don’t drive somewhere unnecessarily when you can ride with others in a system designed to save money and efficiency.

Avoid items with excess packaging

If you’re someone who shops on Amazon, you may have noticed that they offer a delivery option where you’re an get it as soon as possible or you can get it in the fewest number of packages possible. This is no doubt an effort on their part to be greener, and more companies should follow in their footsteps. Excess packaging often contains material that isn’t recyclable, which means it’ll sit in landfills. Purchase from a company with greener practices or insist on combined packaging, it’s a win-win.

Final thoughts

And there you have it! Ten different ways in reducing your carbon footprint to take this year. Most of these steps are just adjusting to a new routine rather a full lifestyle change, and as with any new routine it just takes getting used to. But given the consequences of unchecked climate change, it’s the small steps like the above that can truly help improve the world.

We hope you can find some good information in this blog you can use in reducing your carbon footprint. We will be expanding this category so check back often. As always, if you don’t see something here you want, reach out to us directly though our Contact page or leave a comment below. We read them all! All the best ~ Glen.