Carbon Footprint – Clean Energy, Clean Slate
More and more people have been making an effort to be aware of their carbon footprint in recent years. A person’s carbon footprint is the entire total of the greenhouse gases they produce in their lifespan because of their daily activities.
About the Carbon Footprint
When emitted into the environment in excess amounts, carbon heats the planet like other greenhouse gases. The earth’s temperature is naturally maintained by the rays of the sun reflecting off the earth’s surface, resulting in a manageable temperature for the planet. Carbon limits this effect as it absorbs some of the heat that forces it to remain on earth. This makes the earth’s surface unnaturally warmer.
Carbon dioxide is more often than not emitted into the environment due to the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and petroleum for energy. Burning other materials, including biological ones like wood, solid waste, and more, add to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well. This remains in the air in large quantities for years and years, further increasing the warming effect it has on the earth’s surface.
Global warming caused due to the internationally increased carbon footprint as the years progressed hurts nature in several ways. With a large amount of the earth’s iceberg’s melting, a part of the earth’s wildlife whose habitation is depleting has started to die off as well. Aside from global warming, the increase in the carbon footprint has also affected crops due to the imbalances of nitrogen and carbon in the air and soil, leading to hindered growth. Additionally, it is harmful to the animal population and humans as it can cause respiratory diseases due to pollution.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
Making a difference always starts from home, even though it may seem insignificant. Having a company implement eco-friendly processes, packaging, products, and services is always a breath of fresh air, but depending on brands and big organizations to do all the heavy lifting when making a change is not only hypocritical; it’s evil against the earth. However, it takes a more extensive organization to impact matters, every little help indeed. In a particular region, many families took the initiative to make better and more eco-friendly choices, which could significantly impact the area’s environment.
There are a couple of steps and tips one can follow to ensure they are constantly doing all they can to reduce their carbon footprint. Some of these essential tips include stopping the purchase of plastic items or products that are packaged with plastic as much as possible, walk, carpool or use a bicycle whenever possible to avoid having to use your car for too many rides, and simple things like turning off the lights and fans in the rooms you don’t plan on using at the moment. A few of the less considered tips could be to
- ensure your car tires are properly inflated so that your engine doesn’t have to work extra hard and produce more carbon dioxide or waste more fuel to push your car
- eating more food made from local produce and avoiding red meats not only helps your local farmers but reduces your carbon footprint in the long run
- using affordable and clean energy to power your home to not waste fossil fuel energy on the daily
- Sell, repurpose, recycle or donate your old clothes and belongings and avoid filling up another landfill with your old stuff
- Conserve water and be careful to turn off the tap when you are not using it as the water available on the earth is limited and should not be wasted – take shorter showers, use a bucket of water for the toilet instead of flushing and avoid soaps with toxins to prevent it from contaminating the water beyond reversal
Renewable Sources of Energy
One of the main ways that buildings, houses, and companies can reduce their carbon footprint is by using affordable and clean energy to power the structure. These can be done using wind power via windmills, wave or tidal power, geothermal energy, or even solar power via solar inverters. These immensely boost the cause of reducing the world’s carbon footprint as it reduces the amount of burning of fossil fuels to generate energy and power.
Using renewable energy is a smart choice and has many benefits over using any form of exhaustible source of energy such as fossil fuels. Typically, most renewable energy structures such as windmills, pumped hydro energy systems, and solar inverters are a one-time investment that requires little to no maintenance later on and thus proves to be a more efficient way of producing energy for consumption. Using renewable sources of energy for meeting exponentially growing electricity requirements is a way for creating a better future for our children. Continuous use of fossil fuels has raised the global temperature already. So, now is the time for us to make perfect use of renewable energy sources for a better future ahead.