50 Tips to reduce your Carbon Footprint

50 Tips to reduce your Carbon Footprint

There are effective ways to reduce your Carbon footprint and save money.

1. Buy locally produced goods and services. Goods and services that are produced locally eliminate thousands of pounds of carbon by reducing fossil fuel transportation demands.
2. Buy in-season produce. Out-of-season produce requires more energy to refrigerate, and more fuel to ship in from places where it is in season. In addition, out-of-season produce is often grown in greenhouses, which require a great deal of heat energy.
3. Reduce consumption. Reuse items when you can. Recycle your waste.
4. Bring your own mug to your favorite coffee shop. Paper cups are not always recycled. Some coffee shops will give discounts to those who bring their own cup. Paper cup use will decrease, reduce energy consumption during production, and save trees.
5. Make compost.
6. Use reusable bags for grocery shopping.
7. Clean the lint filter in your dryer. This will reduce energy consumption as well as electrical and environmental costs.
8. Use rechargeable batteries to reduce your carbon footprint by up to 1,000 pounds over the life of the batteries.
9. Use an electic mower as they are more efficient than mowers that run on fuel.
10. When you mow the lawn, leave the clippings spread across the grass. It decomposes and fertilizes the ground. 
11. Rake leaves and shovel snow manually instead of using a leafblower or snowblower.
12. Plant a tree; this is one of the best things you can do. Trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. They also shade your house in the summer, and will lower air conditioning costs.
13. Reuse Ziploc bags.
14. Use recycled toilet paper and paper.
15. Try to use something other than black plastic garbage bags. The black bags can’t be recycled because of their black pigment. If possible, use white bags or better yet no bags.
16. When replacing household appliances choose energy-efficient appliances. You can check their Energy Star ratings for a quick reference. This may cost more upfront but will save you in the long run.
17. Use a microwave to heat and cook food; microwaves are more efficient than regular ovens and hobs.
18. Only use your dryer, dishwasher and washing machine when you have a full load; don’t do half loads. This reduces the number of loads and energy consumption.
19. Use a dishwasher rather than washing by hand as the efficient ones use less water.
20. Open the dishwasher before the drying cycle is complete and let the dishes dry naturally.
21. Whenever possible, hang laundry outside to dry on a clothes line rather than throwing laundry into a dryer.
22. Don’t leave household appliances on standby as they will continue to consume a great deal of energy. Invest in a power strip into which you can plug them all and switch it off when you are not using them.
23. When you remodel or paint a room, buy the right amount of paint. This reduces chemicals entering the atmosphere from paint production, energy to make the paint, and saves you money.
24. Eat one less serving of meat a week. Use a cheese-free alternative each week. Cheese is an animal product and has the same carbon cost as meat. Cattle release a great deal of methane into the atmosphere. Consider easily available fish, beans, and soy as replacements for beef, dairy, and fowl protein. 
25. Avoid products with multiple layers of packaging.
26. Plant an organic garden and grow your own vegetables even if it’s just a small patch or a windowsill planter.
27. Create a wormery. This uses worms in a sealed, hygienic, and non-smelling unit to compost your waste, which can then be used to fertilize your garden.
28. Fit your garden hose with a trigger sprayer, this will reduce your water consumption.
29. Stop watering your lawn. Grow a garden instead. Lawns require lawnmowers, which require fuel. Gardens allow you to grow veggies which require less trips to the produce section.
30. Use collected rainwater and “gray” wastewater to water your garden.
31. Water your garden in the evening as this will save water.
32. Use recycled wood chips in your flower beds as they retain moisture resulting in less watering.
33. Use cotton towels and fabric napkins rather than paper ones.
34. Install a drain water heat recovery pipe in your home to reclaim energy from waste water.
35. Buy bulk food and package it yourself in reusable containers.
36. When cooking, don’t overfill saucepans and pots.
37. Don’t boil a full kettle to make one cup of tea or coffee; only boil what you need.
38. Use the top shelf (the hottest shelf) of the oven so food cooks quicker and less energy is consumed.
39. A slow casserole, pressure cooker, insulated deep-fat fryer, or microwave oven will cook food in an energy-efficient way.
40. Use a toaster to toast bread instead of toasting bread under the grill.
41. When cooking put the lids on your pots and pans to reduce heat loss.
42. Don’t put hot or warm foods and drinks into your refrigerator.
43. Check the seals on your refrigerator and oven regularly and replace them when necessary.
44. Limit shopping trips to once a week.
45. Avoid unnecessary trips to the store, do grocery shopping monthly or at most weekly. This will save your money as well.
46. Use both sides of the page to print or copy. If print size is not a concern, consider printing multiple pages per sheet.
47. Use a laptop as opposed to a desktop, as laptops use up to 80% less energy.
48. Unplug your phone charger when not in use.
49. Read the newspaper online to save paper, trees, and carbon.
50. Buy secondhand household items and save the carbon cost of the production of new goods.

via tumblr http://innovativegreenliving.tumblr.com/post/50573304508