How to reduce your carbon footprint
Whether its a tentative step or one giant leap, we all need to start reducing our home′s carbon footprint.
How exactly do our day-to-day lives affect the global environment and what can we do to reduce our impact? The amount of electricity we consume and waste we produce all add up to create a carbon footprint and it′s this that we should be looking at reducing. Like charity, being environmentally friendly begins at home.
What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact that we have on the environment in terms of greenhouse gases, typically measured in units of carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is probably the most widely known and is generated through the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and also deforestation. Other greenhouse gases include: methane, generated from landfills and agriculture; Nitrous oxide, produced by industry and the burning of fossil fuels; Tropospheric ozone, created by the reaction between sunlight and pollutants such as those from vehicles; and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)– chemicals used in refrigeration and air conditioning.
Most of these gases are naturally occurring, but due to our lifestyles over the last 100 years or so, have increased at worryingly high levels causing global warming. According to research by the Met Office, last year was the warmest since records began and experts are blaming this largely on the increase in these gases. By measuring your individual or family′s carbon footprint, you can assess your lifestyle and highlight areas that need to be improved. It may simply be a case of washing clothes on a cooler setting or as dramatic as ditching the car and walking to work.
Research carried out by the Energy Saving Trust shows that as a nation we waste a huge amount of energy. 71% of us are guilty of leaving appliances on standby and 63% of us forget to turn lights off in unoccupied rooms. So simply by breaking our bad habits we could easily reduce our carbon footprint.There are plenty of carbon footprint calculators available online, try http://www.carbonneutral.com.Written by Amy Wright – Move or Improve
Related posts:
- Reduce you Carbon Footprint at Home
- 10:10 Campaign launched to reduce carbon footprint
- How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint – A 10 Step Easy Guide
- Eco tips – Reducing your carbon footprint
- Carbon Counting.
- Rock that soaks up carbon dioxide!
