Reduce your carbon footprint – with little financial investment….now that is a thought normally there is a huge outlay to make a change to new energy solutions but below we have outlined some ideas that can make a difference on your carbon footprint.

There are five key areas that are within our personal lives that can be related to our carbon footprint.  They are Food, Clothing, Shopping, Home Life and the obvious one Transportation.  If we change just a few of the items below to reduce our individual carbon emissions we have made a huge improvement already but the best thing about our list it requires little or no financial investment.

This list does not take away from impact the energy saving steps such as upgrading to LED lighting solutions, senor lighting, insulating your home, installation of solar panels and planting more trees and plants within your home can make.

You may not agree with some of the points below and we know that there are certain things on our list below that are a life necessity for example flying for business is a must in most cases and not a nice to have but did you know that flying business class has a bigger impact on an individual carbon footprint – intrigued read on …..

Food

• Eat more vegetables and fruit as they are mainly non produced foods and therefore use less gas emissions
• Choose organic and local foods that are in season as transporting them from far away locations uses a lot more fossil fuels so think local and in season.
• Buying food in bulk and storing in your own reusable containers cuts down on packaging waste and all that is associated with disposing of that waste.
• Reduce food waste by freezing left overs and/or only cooking what is required for meal times.
• Compost as much as possible of your food.

Clothing & Shopping

• Think about the durability of the clothing you are purchasing as clothing makes up a major part of landfill items which produce methane as they decompose.
• Vintage clothing in charity shops is on trend and will also save you money.
• Look at the packaging associated with items you are buying as this packaging must be disposed of, how much of them items are recycled and how much must go to landfill.
• Buy laptops over desktops they use much less energy to charge and use.
• If shopping for electrical appliances look out for Energy Star Products which are certified to be more energy efficient.
• Support and buy from companies that are environmentally responsible and invest in sustainability within the product and services offering. g. is there fleet hybrid or electric?
• Wash Clothes in reduced water temperature.

Home

• Do an energy audit on your home – this will show areas that can be improved i.e. how you use energy or waste energy.
• Change your lighting to LED. The cost of LED lighting has come down but when you whey up the initial costs and the cost saving from the reduced energy it becomes a wise investment.   LED’s use a quarter of the energy traditional lighting and last up to 25 times longer.
• Switch off lights when you leave the room and unplug electric devices when not in use – they are still using some power when you are not using them.
• Turn your water heater down to 120°F / 48°C – this small step can reduce 550 pounds of CO2 a year.
• Installing Solar Panels, Energy Efficient Electric Radiators instead of Storage Heaters, Insulating your house are other very effective ways to reduce the CO2 your home is creating.
• Look at the options to use a supplier of electricity that is a certified renewable energy provider.

Transportation

• Make the switch to a Hybrid or Electric Car when you are changing your car – the money you will save on diesel or petrol will be a resounding pro for this change.
• Drive less – this reduces the amount of CO2 your car journey would have made but also helps to reduce traffic congestion.
• Some driving style changes can also reduce your emissions as you go about your daily tasks: avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration, some studies have show that up to 40% fuel consumption can be saved if you put this into practice for a year; keep your tyres inflated and improve your fuel efficiency by 3%; try to avoid sitting in traffic jams – we know easier said and done. On longer trips turn on Cruise Control if you are lucky enough to have this feature in your car.
• Go non stop if you can when flying. Planes use more fuel taking off and landing multiple times.
• The carbon emissions on a flight are shared amongst the passenger types so if you fly economy the carbon emissions associated with your flight to you is much less than flying business class.
• Finally, get involved, have your say, promote energy saving initiatives when and where you can.

If you wish to find out more about LED Lighting, Solar Panels, BioMass Energy or just how Electric Skyline is reducing their Carbon Footprint contact us.