How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

If you’ve seen “An Inconvenient Truth” or read anything about Global Warming, you’ve seen mention of the term “carbon footprint”: the amount of carbon dioxide released through energy use. Here’s how you can do your part to help with the problem.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Environmental awareness

1. Turn off lights and other electrical appliances when they are not being used. Use energy-efficient light bulbs as well.
2. Turn down the heat a few degrees. A couple degrees different can make a huge difference to your footprint, while not making you freeze in your own home. You could also turn down the heat several degrees and bundle up. Turn down the water heat as well. Additional insulation can also help.
3. Don’t run the washing machine until you’ve got a full load. Hang clothes to dry rather than using the dryer. Purchase an energy-saving washing machine.
4. Defrost your refrigerator—it will help the refrigerator run more efficiently.
5. Drive as little as possible—if you can walk, do it. Carpool with co-workers to work. Use the bus/train/subway—for long-distance trips as well. Don’t drive a gas-guzzler. Also, check your car to make sure it is running well—remove any heavy equipment from your car as this can slow it down.
6. When cooking, reduce the amount of time you preheat and don’t leave the oven on too long. Also, don’t overfill pots or kettles with water to reduce the amount of time it takes to boil.
7. Don’t buy imported products—buy food that’s grown locally and in season. These products did not require the same length of transport. Also don’t buy products with a lot of packaging.
8. Recycle. If you don’t have curbside recycling, take cans, bottles, and paper to your local recycling plant.
9. Use green energy: solar and wind power.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a carbon footprint calculator to determine the scope of your footprint. These can be found online (carbonfootprint.com and others).
• Reducing energy consumption can also save you money on electrical/heating bills.
• Global Warming is a very serious problem that affects all of us. Don’t take it lightly. While there are detractors, the majority of scientists believe in the long-term damage of energy consumption.