What can you do to reduce your family’s carbon footprint?

The change in the environment is deadly and can be felt by everyone. This should not be taken lightly. The atmosphere of the earth is increasing with every passing day, and this can be catastrophic for the coming generations. This is the reason that everyone should be working towards carbon emission reduction and looking out for ways that can be beneficial in the overall reduction of carbon footprint. Opting for a green as well as eco-friendly lifestyle can be intimidating at first, but that doesn’t mean that you need hardcore changes in your life. 

Even if you are a family of 5-10 people, you don’t need to make big changes in your living to bring change to the environment. Making simple and affordable changes will help you to do a bit for the environment. There are a lot of ways in which you can adopt and move in the right direction and make some contribution. 

What is a carbon footprint? 

Before you get to know about various ways to work on your carbon footprint, it is important to know its meaning of it first. There are a lot of greenhouse gases, like CO2, methane, ozone, etc., that contribute to the massive increase in pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, or global warming. It is known to be the net amount of greenhouse gases that are released in the environment because of the activities done by human beings, which include using fossil fuels. 

Daily activities such as car driving, heating, cooling, use of electrical appliances, etc., emit CO2, and the buying of products contribute to your carbon footprint. The products that you are buying require the use of fossil fuels for their production, packaging, and delivery or transportation. 

The best way to find the carbon footprint of your family 

According to the sources, the average person who is known to live in an industrialized country can have a carbon footprint of around 11 tons of CO2 each year. But the estimated target of his or her sustainability can be around 2 tons of CO2 each year. 

But to find the overall footprint of your family, there are a lot of ways to do it. One of them is by using the carbon footprint meter, which can be beneficial in figuring out everything. It measures the emissions of your daily activities like energy consumption, transportation, waste, etc. After gathering the information, you can start making the right changes in your lifestyle and create a positive impact. 

Looking into the main source of the increase in your family’s carbon footprint, can leave you speechless. But this way, you will be able to understand the overall impact of it and can start working on reducing it. 

Simple things to follow to reduce the carbon footprint of your family 

It is not always essential that you need to invest in expensive things to reduce your carbon footprint, like the installation of solar panels, etc. Thus, there is nothing to feel nervous about. 

There are a lot of ways that you can adopt for your family’s carbon emission reduction without going through tough changes. Here are some of the ways mentioned below: 

  • Minimize the trash output – Landfills are highly responsible for creating greenhouse gases and pollution. You can try to recycle the basis, and the rest of the trash can be sent to the landfills. There are a lot of ways you adopt for waste management and can hire its services that can be affordable as well. This way, you can reduce the trash output of your family. 

  • Try to do more recycling and reusing – To work on your family’s carbon footprint, it is essential to do more recycling and reusing. There are ways you can adopt to recycle as well as reuse that can overall help to minimize the consumption of natural resources. For instance, you can recycle or reuse your old furniture, old clothes, etc. Don’t always discard them. 

  • Go paperless – It is possible to recycle paper, but what you can do is avoid using it more, which can help the planet earth in many ways. Rather than printing out statements, newsletters, or your monthly bills, you can convert them or read them via electronic methods. There are banks and companies which can help you offer paperless services, and this way, you can reduce your family’s emissions. You can get the documents via email easily. 

  • Pass the plastic on – Another thing you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of your family is to pass the plastic on. The single use of plastic contributes a lot to the increase in emissions. The use of new plastic is considered the main contributor to greenhouse gases. This can be covered and reduced by the use of it. Thus, your family can try to use greener or reusable materials. 

  • Try for thermostat – Whenever you will calculate your footprint with the help of a carbon footprint meter, you will see that the thermostat contributes a lot to it. You can work on it and try to be conscious of its settings. When you are outside, then you can set the settings of it to higher in summer and vice-versa. Or you can always set it to automatic settings. Or you can try using the fans or ceiling fans during normal climates rather than using ACs. Also, during winter, you can try using low-energy heaters, which can help you work on your emissions and, at the same time, helps you to save energy and money. Moreover, try to wear comfortable clothes whenever you are inside the home or while sleeping or go for seasonal bedding without making a huge difference in your utility bills. 

Conclusion 

A lot of things can be done to reduce the carbon footprint of your family. The above-mentioned ways are simple to follow and take you a long way to making your planet healthier. Follow them religiously and stay happy. 



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