Human activities produce 40 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in a year according to 2015. This number is higher than what volcanoes produce in a year. Looking at this figure may not mean anything, but look at it this way. To create such an amount of carbon, you would need to burn a forest the size of the African continent every day all year long.
However, human activities produce just as much carbon dioxide just by doing ordinary everyday things like eating, using electricity and other causes of climate change.
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your carbon footprint in your daily life. Take a look.
Tips to minimize your carbon footprint
1. Dry your clothes in the sun
Technology has brought amazing innovations, including the fabric drying machine. Well, you can use a device to wash your clothes, but using a dryer increases electricity use and, therefore, more carbon dioxide production. Also, a dryer consumes a lot of energy, which increases your utility bills.
2. Have a green garden
Nowadays, you don’t need to have a dirt garden to plant. So, whether you live in an apartment or elsewhere, you can implement a method of planting green plants on the balcony. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen during the day. This is a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and plants because people need oxygen and plants need the CO2 produced by human activities.
Having a green garden also applies to offices or urban areas where it is filled with human activities creating a heat island. Planting trees, grass and other plants in offices and outside buildings will decrease the carbon footprint .
3. Avoid fast fashion and consider second-hand clothing.
The fashion industry generates more than one billion tons of gas emissions per year. This means that every time you rush to buy something because it’s trendy, you increase your carbon footprint. Mass-produced items are priced at a lower rate so that most people can afford to buy them. Unfortunately, you will get rid of these textiles and create space for new clothes.
Well, you can still buy trendy products, but make sure they are marked as organic cotton. Other types of cotton may be genetically modified. Alternatively, shop at thrift stores, as this will help you minimize carbon footprints. In addition, transporting fast fashion over miles requires energy consumption. A company has to transport textiles by water, air and vehicles, and it happens every fashion season. In fact, these transport vessels produce carbon, thus increasing the CO2 footprint.
4. Limit your meat consumption
How much water does a cow drink in a day? Unquestionably, agricultural animals consume more fresh water to help in the formation of meat. In fact, it takes 5,000 gallons of water to make one pound of beef. Meat-producing animals drink up to 11 times more water and generate five times more carbon compared to poultry. Therefore, try to avoid taking a beef product and, indirectly, you will be one step closer to achieving the right carbon plan.
5. Reduce the number of times you use your car
There are some countries where the price of a car is affordable, resulting in almost half of the population owning one. Unfortunately, these vehicles produce carbon in the air making it an uninhabitable land. Therefore, consider riding a bicycle or traveling by public means to limit the times your car emits carbon.
Also, if you have an old car, avoid using it. All products have an expiration date, including cars, so if you exceed its use beyond a specific time frame, it becomes harmful to the environment and your health. Therefore, sell a damaged car and replace it with a new one or use public transportation.
6. Unplug your charger
Sometimes, you may plug in a charger and forget to unplug it once you have finished charging your devices. Although it seems like the charger consumes no energy, it consumes more than $19 billion in energy in the U.S. Imagine the amount of energy loss across the globe. Therefore, if you are not charging a device, unplug it from the outlet even when you have turned it off.
7. Eat locally produced food
Eating something from another country means it came to your market via airplanes, ships and other means. In fact, modes of transportation consume energy and produce carbon. Imagine the time it takes for that product to reach your market from another country. Sometimes these products must be preserved with chemicals or harvested earlier and therefore have less nutritional value.
Choose food products from your local, and if you can plant some in your backyard, go ahead and do so. The point is, choose something that doesn’t negatively affect the environment.
Take Away
Measure your carbon footprint to get an idea of your rating. You can then minimize CO2 emission as much as possible. You could eliminate carbon. But, the few things you incorporate in doing carbon minimization will eventually reduce the overall percentage. The above seven tips are some of the everyday things that almost everyone is involved in. Take one step at a time and the world will be a more fabulous place to live.