A Personal Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan

Develop a carbon reduction plan for your home, with seven steps on how to reduce the amount of CO2 you generate

While climate change is a complex challenge that necessitates a coordinated global response, every individual effort to create a more secure future is worthwhile. Once we make adjustments to our own lives that are motivated by environmental concerns, we can have an impact on the attitudes and behaviour of individuals in our immediate vicinity with regard to addressing the climate problem. We can set a positive example and convey a purposeful message to the government that we won’t tolerate “business as usual’ in our communities. Your personal carbon footprint on its own won’t make a measurable difference, but imagine if everyone was to try?

With the current energy crisis, everyone in the UK has a financial incentive to use less energy, whether that’s through lowering the thermostat, using public transport more frequently, or adding more insulation to their homes. As the energy bill of the typical household consumer vastly outstrips the rate of inflation, the increased adoption of solar panels becomes a prudent investment. All of these measures to reduce the amount of energy consumed by every household have a cumulative effect.

First determine your carbon footprint

Your carbon footprint is the quantity of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, and others) that you produce as a result of your daily activities. In order to keep the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius or less by 2050, everyone on the planet will need to have an average annual carbon footprint of 1.87 tons by that time. Currently, the average carbon footprint per person in the United States is 18.3 tons. China, on the other hand, emits 8.2 tons of carbon dioxide per person each year. We all have a long way to go before we reach 1.87 tons.

Why does it matter to know your carbon footprint?

The larger the size of your carbon footprint, the greater the impact you will have on global warming and, consequently, climate change. We must also take into account our own personal carbon footprints and contributions.

When each of us takes individual steps to minimise our personal carbon emissions, we can contribute to a reduction in overall consumer demand for these businesses. The actions of a large number of people who make tiny changes to their daily lives can convey a powerful message that we do not support ‘business as usual’ and that we want an end to current practices.

7 Steps to Reduce your Carbon Footprint

1. Food

Eat more “low on the food chain” foodstuffs by selecting more fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. Animal products, such as beef and lamb mean more CO2 emitted by the livestock whose methane production is 25 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 100-year period, and this contributes to 14.5 percent of manmade global greenhouse gas emissions. This is primarily due to feed production and processing, as well as the methane that cattle and sheep belch out. You can reduce your carbon footprint by almost 2Kg per day if you avoid eating meat and dairy products.

Eat organic and locally sourced foods that are in season when possible. Transporting food from a distance, whether by truck, ship, rail, or plane, necessitates the use of fossil fuels for fuel and cooling to prevent food from rotting while in transit. Whenever possible, purchase goods in bulk and store them in your own reusable container.

Reduce food waste by planning meals ahead of time, freezing any leftovers, and composting your food waste.

2. Clothing

Large amounts of waste and pollution are produced by the existing methods of designing, manufacturing, and consuming clothing. According to the United Nations, the “fast fashion” business is responsible for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions on an individual basis.

Simply changing the way you shop for clothes can help you reduce your carbon footprint, waste, and pollution. Reduce your impact on the environment by decreasing the amount of clothing you buy, only shopping second-hand, or making purchases from environmentally conscious companies.

Consider purchasing gently used clothing or becoming a member of a clothing swap club. Saving money while simultaneously reducing your environmental effect is a fantastic approach to save time and money. If you’re concerned that purchasing second-hand clothing will mean sacrificing your sense of style, there are some popular social shopping applications which may be able to alleviate your concerns. You can look through a large selection of fashionable clothing and even sell your own creations.

If you have the means, get your apparel from companies that are environmentally conscious and/or organically certified. The ecology benefits greatly from organic clothing manufactured from natural materials such as bamboo, hemp, cotton, and linen as opposed to clothing created from synthetic materials such as polyester.

First, do some research on the company to ensure that they are following environmentally friendly procedures. The majority of environmentally conscientious companies will publicly display their sustainability methods on their website.

3. Shopping

• Buy less!
• Bring your own reusable bag with you when you go shopping.
• Avoid excess packaging.
• When purchasing for appliances, lighting, office equipment, or electronics, look for Energy Star products, which have been recognised to be more energy efficient by appropriate agencies.
• Encourage and support companies that are ecologically friendly and long-term in their business practices.

4. Home

Do an energy audit of your home in order to save money. This will demonstrate how you use and waste energy, as well as identify opportunities to become more energy efficient.

Replace incandescent light bulbs (which squander 90 percent of their energy as heat) with light-emitting diodes (which emit light instead of heat) (LEDs). Despite the fact that LEDs are more expensive, they consume a quarter of the energy and have a lifespan of up to 25 times longer. Additionally, they are superior to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, which emit 80 percent of their energy as heat and contain mercury and emit 80 percent of their energy as heat.

When you leave a room, make sure to turn off the lights and disconnect any electronic gadgets that aren’t in use.

Reduce the temperature of your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This has the potential to save approximately 250Kg of CO2 per year. Your other appliances also count, so consider their electricity usage, and remember to turn them off fully when not in use.

Using a low-flow shower head to reduce hot water consumption can save up to 350 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Showering for shorter periods of time is also beneficial.

Set your thermostat to a lower temperature in the winter and a higher temperature in the summer. In the summer, reduce your use of air conditioning and instead use fans, which consume less electricity than air conditioning.

Enrol in a clean-energy electricity plan with your electricity provider, and remember to recycle, reuse, and insulate!

5.Transportation

Reduce the amount of time spent driving. Whenever possible, walk, take public transportation, carpool, ride share, or cycle to your location to save time and money. While this reduces CO2 emissions, it also reduces traffic congestion and the idling of engines that occurs as a result of the congestion.

In order to avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration, you should avoid driving if at all possible. According to some research, aggressive driving might result in a 40 percent increase in fuel consumption compared to continuous, calm driving.

Take good care of your vehicle. Keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your fuel efficiency by three percent, and keeping your automobile in good condition can improve it by four percent. Remember to remove any additional weight from your vehicle.

When running errands, attempt to group them together to limit the amount of driving.

Make use of traffic apps such as Waze to help you avoid getting stuck in traffic jams as much as possible.

Turn on the cruise control on longer trips to save money on petrol and thereby reduce CO2.

Use less air conditioning while driving, even if the temperature is scorching hot outside.

If you’re in the market for a new car, think about acquiring a hybrid or electric car instead. However, remember to take into account the greenhouse gas emissions from both the manufacturing and operating of the vehicle since some brands are better than others. Electric doesn’t always mean better energy efficiency: some electric vehicles emit more pollutants than internal combustion engine vehicles during their first three years of operation. However, after three years, they make up for this difference. This app assesses automobiles based on their mileage, fuel type, and emissions from both the manufacturing of the automobile and, in the case of electric vehicles, the generation of the electricity needed to power the automobile.

6. Air travel

Flights for business or pleasure are likely to account for the majority of your carbon footprint, whether you are traveling for work or pleasure. Since landings and take-offs consume more fuel and emit more CO2, it is best to fly nonstop.

Go for the cheapest option. Business class is responsible for about three times as many emissions as economy class since the carbon emissions generated by the trip are shared among a greater number of passengers; first class can result in nine times the carbon emissions generated by economy class.

If you are unable to avoid travelling, consider reducing your carbon footprint by purchasing carbon offsets.

7. Carbon offsets

A carbon offset is a monetary sum that you might pay to support a project that eliminates greenhouse gas emissions in another location. A ton of carbon dioxide is offset by a ton of greenhouse gases, which helps to absorb or destroy one ton of greenhouse gases that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere. Offsets also help to encourage sustainable development by encouraging people to adopt more renewable energy sources.

If you want to compensate for any or all of your other carbon emissions, you can do so by purchasing carbon offsets. The money you pay is used to fund climate-change mitigation projects.

Why it’s Time to Change

By reading this far, you’re most certainly committed to lowering your carbon footprint and effecting positive change for the betterment of our planet’s long-term well-being. When it comes to combating climate change, immediate action and fundamental changes in the way that society currently operates are required. Unfortunately, time is ticking away, and we are speeding towards an unsettling future for the entire human race.

Individual acts are crucial in the fight against climate change, but it is only through our combined efforts that we will make significant progress. By joining the worldwide uprising against the current damaging ‘business as usual’ mindset of governments and businesses, you can contribute to the advocacy for a more secure future for all of us.

Despite the fact that this will not directly reduce your personal carbon footprint, it has the potential to make the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time in terms of preventing additional global warming.