5 Ideas to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

So many of us are searching for ways to improve the world we live in. For most people, an element of that is reducing their carbon footprint. Every trip you make, every item you buy, and every bit of energy you use can contribute to your carbon footprint.

Here are five ideas for reducing yours if you want to help the planet:

Travel Differently

If you’re used to traveling by car, know that your carbon footprint will be higher than if you used a different form of transport. You’re operating your own vehicle, which comes at a cost for the planet.

Where possible, carpool. Share a journey with someone else, so there’s one less car on the road. Even better, stick to public transport and travel by train or by bus.

Going a step further, it might be time to invest in an electric car. These have zero emissions at the point of use, so they’re better for people that want the convenience of their own private transport.

For short trips, never forget your own incredible leg power. Get where you need to go by walking or cycling and do even more for Planet Earth.

Recycle More

Recycling and reusing are great ways to reduce your carbon footprint. The more items you can reuse, the less you need to buy new. You’ll help to reduce demand for items, so they’ll not be made in such high quantities.

Before you throw something away, decide if you can repurpose it. If there’s no sensible way to reuse it, check if it can be recycled.

Make things as easy as possible. Many people don’t recycle as much as they should, but it’s not because they’re unable to. Recycling seems inconvenient, and it’s easier to throw things in the bin. Buy a full set of recycling bins for your house, and label them clearly.

With clearly labelled recycling bins, just as accessible as your regular bin, you’re making sure that recycling is as effortless as throwing things away.

Conserve Water

Time yourself in the shower. Even in cold weather, make your shower as quickly as you possibly can. Saving water helps the planet in more ways than one.

You can conserve water by turning it off when you’re shaving or brushing your teeth and only washing dishes (by hand or dishwasher) when you’ve used up everything you can.

There are other ways to conserve water, though you can take this as far as you want. People that live alone (and even some that don’t!) might be comfortable flushing their toilet-less often.

Buy Local Food

Food grown locally hasn’t been transported across the country or over the sea. It hasn’t spent time in large trucks on motorways or on a plane that’s flown it in from elsewhere.

Buying local food will reduce your carbon footprint but also helps the local economy. It’s an easy way to support local families and the community you live in.

Buying local food can be time-consuming and might be a bit more expensive, but if you have the time and money available, then there are lots of benefits to doing this.

Buy Second-Hand Clothes

There are many problems with buying new clothes. As well as increasing your carbon footprint, this action encourages the continued use of sweatshops. Cheap clothes don’t last long, but they’re made by underpaid and overworked factory workers and may be part of modern slavery.

Where possible, buy second-hand clothes. There are many websites that make this easy, as well as local charity shops. This is a great way to buy interesting items that you wouldn’t find in any local shops. Buying second hand is especially useful if you’re raising small children, as they often damage the clothes they wear or grow out of them incredibly quickly.

Reducing your carbon footprint requires a few small changes, but rarely anything so big and daunting that the average household can’t make a difference.