How Can You Reduce Your Carbon Footprint?
There has never been a bigger focus than there is now on our carbon footprint. From food miles to how we heat our homes, almost everything we do has an impact on the environment and leaves a carbon footprint.
A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases which we produce as a result of our day-to-day activities. From where we choose to buy our food shop from, to how high we have the heating in our homes, all contributes to our carbon footprint and the bigger it is, the more of a negative impact we have on the environment.
There are ways in which you can help reduce this however, so if you’re looking to help reduce your carbon footprint, read on for our helpful tips on how you can achieve this.
Makeover Your Home
Our homes make up for a large proportion of our carbon footprints and can cause us to leave a big impression on the environment. Whenever we turn on the lights, or turn on the heating, we are contributing to the creation of greenhouse gases. However, there are definitely steps you can take to be a responsible homeowner and reduce the amount you produce, in turn being kinder to the environment. For example, you could have underfloor heating or solar thermal panels to help kickstart making your home more energy efficient.
Shop Local
In most major supermarkets, you will find if you check the packaging of your most loved food and drink items, you will find more often than not that they are the product of a country many miles away. Its surprising when you examine closer how tomatoes can be all the way from Spain, which is roughly 700 miles away from the UK and chicken may be produced in Thailand, a much higher 6,000 miles away.
However, there are ways around this which mean not only do you reduce your carbon footprint, but also help support local business too. In Britain we are very lucky to have fresh fruit and veg, meat and dairy products, as well as many more, on our doorsteps. Take the time to check our your local Highstreet and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find everything you could need and more, right where you are.
Recycle
One of the biggest benefits to recycling is reducing your carbon footprint and thanks to the government’s focus on making recycling a way of life, it’s a simple yet effective way of leaving a smaller mark on the environment.
Most UK households have recycling bins for paper, plastic and glass. As well as this, you can also find many recycling centres to take your used items to.
Reducing your carbon footprint is a work in progress and one that could take time to adjust to. However, when you start making changes, you will soon realise that adapting your lifestyle isn’t as tricky as you might think. Not only will your conscious be clearer, you’ll also be helping to protect the environment for many generations to come.