Steps to Lower Your Carbon Footprint

The Knowledge Center is designated to inform you of simple things that can be done in everyday life to lower your carbon footprint.  This is where a little can
go a long way, especially if we all do our part.

WATER BOTTLE IN YOUR TOILET RESERVOIR 

After drinking the contents of the bottle, rinse it out and fill it with water. Place this water filled bottle in the reservoir of your toilet and it will start to save on
water usage.

The age and efficiency of your toilet will determine your savings along with the proper bottle size for optimum water conservation without compromising use. Experiment a little bit to see what is best for your home.

RECYCLE 

It is always important to recycle cans, plastics, and paper, but try looking at other items as a way to recycle also. If you have old furniture, clothes, TV’s, garden tools, or anything else that you may not want but still has life in it, donate! There are donation centers everywhere and by donating it helps three different parties at once. This helps you to gain back living space, a donation center to make money for the causes they support, and a person of less fortune or in financial struggle to buy slightly used necessities and things otherwise not afforded.

CAR POOL  (Bathing suit optional) 

Whether it’s to work, your kid’s sports game and practices, or just to the grocery store, try scheduling carpooling turns with neighbors and friends to lower your carbon footprint. A car can easily burn more gas than your whole house does in one day. It is wise to carpool and saves everyone money. Also, being ‘green’ encompasses community and common good. It’s a goal we all work for together. Sharing Earth conscience habits is not just healthy for Earth; it is healthy for you and your community socially and economically.

BARE IT ALL

All natural is a big ingredient to organic and green living. Look through your pantry sometime and read the labels on the foods you have. Chances are, unless you bought in the organic section of your grocery store, your food only has ‘natural additives’ or ‘natural flavorings’ and a bunch of other long worded chemicals and preservatives.

Try to be conscience of the things going into your body and try eating more fresh organic fruit and veggies. I have learned that about 90 % of the time I go shopping, the healthier food selections are on the outer most isles around the store. Everything else seems to be packaged and processed food on the inner isles. Not all packaged food is loaded with preservative and chemicals, but just keep your eyes open when wandering the inner isles. Eating more fruit and veggies will help support agriculture and your health.

LIGHT FOR LIFE

Lights left on are just a terrible waste. An Earth conscience habit of turning off light switches when you’re the last leaving a room is a healthier decision for everyone.

Changing to fluorescent bulbs is a great start and if you want to go even one more up, check out new advancements in LED lighting for the home, work, and school.

TURN OFF YOUR ELECTRONICS 

Very simply put, electronics left on will add up your energy costs and use. A computer should always be turned off when not in operation for extended periods of time. Stand by and hibernate do save some energy, but they don’t save as much as turning it off.  The savings from this can be much greater than you would expect as it can also prolong the life of your computer.

Explore your home and see what other electronics are wasting electricity. 

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CLOTHES WITH THAT SOAP?

More than less, the average person is using way too much laundry detergent and softener in their daily loads of laundry. Most detergents and softeners are concentrated so that you don’t have to use that much. Imagine how much you use and now multiply that by the number of people around the world.  The chemicals in these cleaning agents are very harmful to our skin and health over time, but even more dangerous to our Earth immediately.

If you’re not buying all natural or biodegradable formula detergents and softeners, please try to at least buy low phosphorus brands. Either way, practice using less and hang any laundry to dry when possible.

BACK TO THE CANTEEN

Plastic is great for many uses and molded into many things. Plastic can make just about anything. Unfortunately though, plastic is very unhealthy for us and we surround ourselves with many things made of plastic. We even eat and drink out of plastic. There are some nasty cancer causing chemicals that leech into our food and water supply when exposed to normal everyday weather and light conditions. These chemicals can be released faster and in larger amounts when introduced to heat in a microwave or oven. The number on the bottom of recyclable plastic tells more than whether it is recyclable or not. It tells you the type of plastic which will allow you to identify the various chemicals know to leech from it.  As far as biodegradability, plastic is near dead last in that race.

Corn husk resin is an unbelievable advancement in plastic. I use plastic very carefully because it is definitely not plastic. It is identifiable and looks like plastic, but it is all natural, healthier, and biodegrades in anywhere from 80-100 days with the proper natural micro organisms. The plastic we use currently can take upward of 1000 years to biodegrade.  If plant resin bottles are not a feasibly expense for you right now, try using stainless steel or aluminum canteens and filter water at home.

FREE HEAT FOR EVERYONE 

Every chance to take advantage of the free heat that the sun will give to your home or work can lower bills and saves from wasting. Open the blinds on your south facing windows of your home, work, or school to start retaining the suns free heat.

WHERE DID ALL THE WATER GO?  

It’s on your lawn! I appreciate a beautiful landscaped lawn also, but I don’t enjoy needless overwatering. If you slow down and put more control on the water you use to be more conservative and efficient, your lawn will still grow, but you may not have to cut it as often and you won’t be wasting our fresh water supply.

THANK YOU FOR READING

Hopefully, these ten steps can help you to reduce your carbon footprint at no extra cost to you. In fact, I would hope that most of these ideas would actually save you money. There are many other ways to find your ‘Inner Green’ if you look. Sometimes it just takes a jump start to get your mind on the right path.

If you would like to browse simple cheap products that help jumpstart your life on the green path, click here