Small Ways to Reduce your Carbon Footprint
Being kind to our planet, reducing your carbon footprint and becoming an example for others is a lot easier than it might seem. It doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, or time-consuming. It can just be as simple as the following five tips!
- Compost your food waste
Every time you cook a meal, you produce organic kitchen waste. The question is, what do you do with it?
Chances are that you put it in your trash can and never think about it again. The problem is that when you do so, your food scraps go to a landfill, where they don’t get enough oxygen to decompose properly and end up producing methane — a strong greenhouse gas with high global warming potential.
To reduce the production of this gas, compost at home (particularly if you grow your own vegetables and fruit) or check if there’s a pick-up service in your area for this type of waste.
2. Take steps towards a plastic-free life
The harms of using single-use plastic have become a hot topic the past few years and you might even have changed some of your habits already.
Some easy ways of reducing the amount of plastic you use are:
- Bringing your own reusable bags when you go shopping
- Getting your to-go coffee or tea in your reusable cup.
- Buying products like grains and nuts in bulk, and using reusable bags or jars.
- Carrying around a reusable straw.
Check to make sure these green habits are currently permitted in your area, some are temporarily restricted due to COVID-19.
3. Drive less
Do you know the footprint of your car? If not, we challenge you to discover the number.
Whatever your result, we’re sure there are ways you can reduce it. Think about the following:
- Is public transportation good where you live? Then, you can get a monthly card and start taking the metro, train, or bus.
- Are there good bike lanes? Start cycling instead of driving, and both planet Earth and your body will thank you.
- Do you tend to drive even when you can just walk? You know what to do!
4. Choose slow fashion and second-hand shopping
Unfortunately, there are many industries that damage the environment in a major way and fast fashion is one of them. In fact, fast fashion generates 10% of all carbon emissions!
The good news is that slow fashion is growing at a rapid pace and nowadays it’s easy to find trendy clothing items that are produced in an eco-friendly, socially responsible way. We have curated several responsible clothing vendors in our Mindful Marketplace.
In addition to shopping responsibly, you can always buy second-hand clothes. Vintage is always on trend!
5. Reduce your energy use
Finally, you can reduce your carbon footprint by becoming aware of how much energy you use at home and how you can minimize that use. A few ideas would be to:
- Get an energy audit.
- Use LED lightbulbs.
- Always turn off the lights when you don’t need them.
- Use smart power strips.
- Get energy-efficient equipment.
As you can see, going sustainable in a non-sustainable world can be as simple as changing a few day-to-day habits.
It might seem like alone, you won’t make that big of a difference, but remember that if we all work towards reducing our carbon footprint, the effort adds up and we can end up making a huge change. So spread the word, and tell us your ideas for reducing your carbon footprint and how you live sustainably on the Sahoja app today.
