How to reduce carbon footprint

How to reduce your carbon footprint. How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• directions_car directions_bus flight Transportation
• ac_unit Heating & cooling
• kitchen Appliances
• lightbulb_outline Lighting
• shopping_cart Shopping
• local_dining Food
• nature Wood

directions_car directions_bus flightTransportation

• closeflightdirections_boat Avoid flights/Cruise ships
• directions_bus Take the bus / train
• directions_bike Ride bicycle
• directions_walk Walk
• work Live close to work
Living close to work will reduce car usage and fuel consumption.
• home Work from home
Working from home will reduce car usage and fuel consumption.
• local_gas_station Buy a car with low fuel consumption
Smaller cars has lower fuel consumption.
• directions_car Buy hybrid/electric car
Hybrid or electric cars transform the kinetic energy of the car to electric battery charge. Using the battery for electric motor drive will reduce fuel motor usage and fuel consumption.
• directions_car Drive moderately
Avoid high acceleration / deceleration when driving.
This will save your car and other cars fuel consumption, and also decrease the probability for car accidents. Low acceleration will enable electric motor usage instead of fuel motor in hybrid cars. Low deceleration will enable battery charge instead of breaks usage in hybrid cars.
• directions_car Keep enough distance from next car
Keeping enough distance from next car will reduce unnecessary accelerations/deceleration and save fuel consumption.
• directions_car When driving look ahead to avoid unnecessary accelerations and decelerations
• directions_car Avoid driving with high motor RPM
• directions_car Drive with highest gear possible
• work Reduce baggage weight
• close Close the car windows
• access_time Avoid driving during rush hour
• directions_car Avoid unnecessary car driving
• directions_car Avoid motor idling
• directions_car Keep tires with proper air pressure
• settings Maintain your car regulary
• map Plan your driving route to minimize the distance
• directions_run Prefer stairs to elevator
• directions_run Use the stairs instead of elevator
• phone_iphone Use application to minimize driving time
Use application to minimize driving time/distance and save fuel. Waze application can be used to plan your driving route.

ac_unit Heating & cooling

• wb_sunny Install solar water heater system
• home Insulate your house
• home Install window shutters
• home Install double glazing windows.
• home Close windows and doors (except for ventilation)
• ac_unit Prefer A/C heating to electric/gas/wood heating
• ac_unit Prefer gas heating to wood/coal
• home Consider to cover your roof with plants
• home Consider to cover your roof with white paint/cover at summer
• ac_unit Prefer fan to A/C
• ac_unit Prefer local heating/cooling to global
• ac_unit Set A/C's thermostat to moderate temperature
• ac_unit Use A/C heating instead of electric heater
• ac_unit Use A/C locally in the room instead of the whole house
• ac_unit Clean A/C's filters
• ac_unit Wear clothes that fit the current temperature
• ac_unit Wear thick clothes to keep warm
• ac_unit Wear lite clothes to keep cool
• settings_power Lower water heater temperature to around 122°F
• ac_unit Use water heat pump
• free_breakfast Drink cold water when hot & warm drinks when cold

kitchen Appliances

• star_border Use Energy Star certified appliances
Check that the product you want to buy has ENERGY STAR label.
• star_border Check appliance's Energy Efficiency rating
Check appliance's Energy Efficiency rating (A+++ is best). Try to look for the appliance rating in Amazon UK website. Currently Amazon US does not write the product's rating.
• power Buy appliances with low power consumption
Check the appliance's power consumption.
• settings_power Turn off appliances and gadgets that are in stand by state
Turing off appliances that are in stand by state will save electricity.
• kitchen Avoid opening frequently the refrigerator door
Opening frequently the refrigerator's door will increase significatly the refrigirator's electricity consumption.
• kitchen Leave enough space between the refrigerator and the wall to allow ventilation
Good refrigirator ventilation will reduce the electricity consumption.
• local_laundry_service Wash your clothes with cold water
Washing clothes with cold water will avoid heating the water and reduce electricity consumption.
• local_laundry_service Use shorter washing machine program
Short washing programs will reduce electricity consumption.
• local_laundry_service Fill the washing machine / dryer / dishwasher before operation
Using washing machine that is full of clothes will reduce machine usage and save electricity.
• tv Buy LED TV instead of plasma
Plasma TV has high power consumption and LED TV has low power consumption.
• settings_brightness Reduce display brightness
Reducing TV/Monitor/Phone display brightness will reduce power consumption.
• laptop Prefer laptop over desktop computer
Laptop computers consume less power than desktop computers.
• phone_iphone Prefer smartphone over laptop
Smartphones consume less power than laptops.
• settings_power Disconnect electrical charger when it finished charging
• cast_connected Prefer microwave oven over toaster oven
Microwave ovens consume less power than toaster ovens.
• laptop Set PC energy saving features
Set energy saving features. Set time to turn display off and time to sleep.
• battery_charging_full Set battery saver modes
Set Windows battery saver mode.
Set Mac energy saver features.
Set iPhone low power mode.
Set Android battery.
Turn off GPS location, WiFi and bluetooth when you don't need it.
• local_laundry_service Use clothes drying rack instead of electric clothes dryer
Using clothes drying rack will reduce your elecricity consumption.
• free_breakfast Put the exact amount of water that you need in your electric kettle
Using more water than you need will increase your elecricity consumption.

lightbulb_outline Lighting

• lightbulb_outline Use LED light bulbs
Incandescent light bulbs power consumption is 8 times bigger than equivalent LED light bulbs. fluorescent light bulbs power consumption is 2 times bigger than equivalent LED light bulbs. E.G: 7 watts LED light bulb equal 60 watts incandescent light bulb. Prefer warm while LED light bulbs with less blue color component.
• lightbulb_outline Use low power light bulbs
Low power light bulbs have low wattage. Use 3-5 watts warm LED light bulbs.
• lightbulb_outline Turn off the light when you leave the room
Turning of the light when you leave the room will reduce electricity consumption. Install presence detector to automatically turn off the light when leaving the room.
• wb_sunny Use sunlight instead of artificial light
Open the curtains to allow sunlight to enter.
• local_hotel Go to sleep early
Going to sleep early will reduce lighting usage.
• format_paint Paint the walls white
Painting the walls white will increase light reflection and reduce required power consumption of the light bulbs.

shopping_cart Shopping

• check Preffer companies with high climate change rating
See: List of companies with high climate change rating.
• shopping_cart Avoid buying unnecessary products
Most people buy many unnecessary products and then thorw them away.
• local_shipping Buy localy produced products
Locally produced products require less fuel consumption for transportation to your home.
• shopping_cart Buy reliable long-lasting products
Long lasting products prevent you from buying replacement products after a short time.
• shopping_cart Prefer renewable resources products
If worth it, fix faulty products instead of buying new products.
• build Fix faulty products instead of buying
If worth it, fix faulty products instead of buying new products.

restaurant Food

• fastfood Reduce food consumption
Most people eat more than they need and throw a considerable amount of their food to the trash. Reducing food consumption will reduce the carbon emissions in the process of food production and transportation.
• fastfood Reduce meat & dairy consumption
Meat and dairy production require large area of fields to grow food for the cows and sheeps. Growing crops to feed people directly, can produce much more food for a certain field.
• local_drink Drink warm/cold drinks
In hot days drink cold water to get cold. In cold days drink hot water/drinks to get warm. This may reduce your electricity consumption for heating or cooling.
• place Prefer locally produced food to imported food
Locally produced food requires less fuel consumption for transportation to your home.
• nature Avoid food containing palm oil
Palm oil is mostly generated by heavy duty deforestation which reduce carbon storage by the trees.
• local_gas_station Consider using biogas digester
Biogas is generated from food leftovers and organic waste and can be used for cooking and heating.

naturedescription Wood

• nature_people Plant trees
Trees absorve CO2, absorve dust particles and reduce carbon footsprint. Plant trees wherever you can. >> Plant trees
• autorenew Recycle papers
Put your paper waste to dedicated paper recycle bins.
• shopping_cart Buy wood from sustainable forests
Sustainable forests plant new trees instead of the chopped old trees.
• nature_people Avoid burning trimming & pruning
Burning trimming and pruning will release CO2 to the air. Preffer to bury the trimming and pruning
• print Avoid printing
Printed papers are made of wood. Reducing paper usage will decrease wood chopping and transportation. Prefer to send e-mails instead of paper mail.
• print Print on both sides of the paper
Printing on both side of the paper can reduce paper use by 50%. Printed papers are made of wood. Reducing paper usage will decrease wood chopping and transportation.
• description Read online newspapers instead of printed newspaper
Printed newspapers are made of wood. Reducing paper usage will decrease wood chopping and transportation.

Reduce carbon dioxide emissions

• thumb_up Support carbon tax
Carbon tax should replace sales tax and increase the demand to low carbon emissions products. The amount of the carbon tax should be proportional to the carbon emissions of the product.
• how_to_vote Vote for environmental friendly candidates
• $$$ Don't invest in oil/coal companies
Supporting oil/coal companies might increase oil and coal usage.
• autorenew Recycle waste materials
If exist in your city, sort your waste to specific recycle bins - papers, bottles, glass, compost...

Electricity Sources

• autorenew Use electricity from renewable sources.
• wb_sunny Install solar panels on your roof to generate electricity.
• wb_sunny Clean your solar panels regulary to increase panel efficiency.

WHAT IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT

The trace of the greenhouse gases produced by human activities are known as the carbon footprint. This environmental indicator measures both direct and indirect emissions of compounds like methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and, above all, the most abundant and most important contributor to global warming since 1990: Carbon dioxide (CO2).

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2019 and that today's levels of atmospheric CO2 are comparable to those of more than three million years ago, when the earth's thermometer marked a temperature about 3°C higher and sea levels were 10 to 20 metres higher than they are today. According to the Global Footprint Network, so far, the carbon footprint has not stopped growing. In fact it has increased elevenfold since 1961 and now accounts for 60 % of man's total impact on the environment.

 PERSONAL CARBON FOOTPRINT

Your personal carbon footprint is what you leave behind as a result of moving about, consuming, eating and using resources like energy. Environmental NGO The Nature Conservancy estimates that each inhabitant on the planet produces an average of almost four tons of CO2 every year, while in countries like the United States this amount is up to four times that per person and per year.

The Nature Conservancy says that we all need to reduce our carbon footprints to less than two tons per year by 2050. The experts say that this is the best way to ensure that temperatures stop rising and don't reach the dreaded 2 °C threshold, which would exacerbate climate change and transform it into an irreversible problem.