How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint at Home

The first step to reducing your carbon footprint is by figuring out how much you are using right now. There are several websites online that provide calculators. Try to find one that asks you a lot of questions because these will be the most accurate. Not only will the questions they ask guide you to ways to use less energy, but they often gives you tips on how you specifically can make changes.

A great way to reduce your carbon footprint is to use less gasoline. This is one of the biggest sources of carbon release. Here are some tips for using less gas every day.

– Drive less
o Plan ahead so you can do all your errands in one trip. This will cut your miles and probably save you time too

o Carpool. Work with neighbors and coworkers or fellow parents at your school or daycare. Every shared trip cuts down on total miles driven.

o Walk or use a bike instead of driving. Not only is it better for the environment, it’s better for your health too.

– Hybrid or electric. These vehicles are a fantastic way to use less gas and produce less carbon.

– Biomass fuels. These are fuels produced from plants. The most common one is ethanol. While they still release carbon, it’s a lot lower than from fossil fuels.

– Buy locally grown food in season. Ever wonder how supermarkets get such great looking veggies in the winter? They ship them in from all over the world. Even though you’re not the one driving, your food still used all that gas to get to your plate. Try joining a co-op or going to a farmer’s market and research which foods are grown when in your local area.

If you live in an area where power is generated by coal burning (which many of us still do), using less electricity is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint.

-Turn off lights. This one is simple, but also very easy to forget.

– Unplug appliances. You can also use power strips and turn them off when you’re not using them.

– Use alternative energy. You can do research on installing small wind turbines or solar power to your house. This can help supplement or even replace your current power source.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard about the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. And when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, these three R’s are extremely important. Go through your garbage and figure out what you can keep from going into the trash. This means fewer new products will need to be made by companies and less energy will be used.

**Copyright of This Lil Piglet by Stacey Martin. Distribution only with credits to the author & linkage back to this article. If distributing this article with linkage, please email Stacey at blog@thislilpiglet.com with the link to where the article can be found.**