How to Reduce an Eco-Footprint

An eco- or ecological footprint is the effect that you have on the environment around you. Your eco-footprint expands around you for miles. With some information and a few lifestyle changes, reduce your eco-footprint and enhance the natural environment in which you live. Read on to learn how to reduce an eco-footprint.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Start recycling. Most large cities have mandatory recycling programs. Smaller towns do not always have these programs in place. Still, many trash dumps have nearby recycling centers. Plastics of any type, tires, glass, cardboard and paper are some of the items that can be recycled. Visit the Stop Waste website to find out exactly what items can be recycled. They have a database of what can be recycled and a list of recycling centers.
2. Donate things you no longer need or use to thrift stores. This is another form of recycling.
3. Tune up your automobile regularly. Tune ups and oil changes reduce the emissions released from gasoline engines.
4. Plant a tree or small plant. If you have a yard, plant a tree in your yard. If you do not have a yard, make a windowsill planter with a small plant. If every house in America planted one tree in their yard, it would improve air quality by 40 percent.
5. Stop using aerosol cans when possible. Aerosol cans deplete the ozone layer. Use spray bottles instead.
6. Dispose of hazardous chemicals and waste properly. Materials like oil, gasoline, bleach and cleaning supplies are harmful to ground water if they soak into the ground or are poured into drainage ditches. Batteries, appliances and electronics need to be taken to a public dump area to be disposed of properly. Place any medical items or biohazard items in biohazard bags before disposal.
7. Refrain from littering and dump trash properly. Littering is not only unsightly but it also creates methane gas through the process of decomposition.