How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Change the Way You Buy Food
Instead of shopping at big grocery stores that sell produce and meat shipped in by truck, look for places in your area that sell local, organic food. Food grown locally doesn’t have to travel as far to end up on your table. If you can’t find locally grown food in your area, look for “fair trade” products. “Fair trade” products are more likely to have been grown in a sustainable way than those produced by larger farms.
Stop Buying Bottled Water
Bottled water is convenient, but every bottle of water has a large carbon footprint. Bottled water is collected at one source, bottled in another, shipped to a packaging facility and then delivered by truck to the store where it’s sold to you. If you just can’t bring yourself to drink tap water, get a purifying filter for your tap. If you always need water on the go, get yourself a washable, reusable water bottle that you can refill wherever you are. If you simply must buy bottled water on some occasions, look for water packaged in recycled bottles.
Wash More Efficiently
Dishwashers and clothes washers are extremely helpful tools, but running them when you don’t have a full load wastes water and energy. Instead, wait a day or two until you have a full load of laundry or enough dishes to fill up the dishwasher.
Unplug It!
Appliances that you don’t use all the time should be unplugged when you don’t need them. Even though your appliances aren’t on they still use a small amount of power when they’re plugged in. Consider all of the appliances you have in your home that you don’t use on a daily basis. Unplugging appliances that you don’t use daily can also help lower the cost of your energy bill.
Switch to a Laptop
When you decide it’s time to buy a new computer, consider buying a laptop instead of a desktop model. Laptop computers use up to 75% less energy than regular desktop computers. Turn off and unplug your laptop when you’re not using it to save even more power. When you do decide to switch, donate your old desktop to somebody that needs it.
Walk, Bike or Use Public Transportation
Avoid getting in your car every time you need to go somewhere. Sure, having a car is convenient, and there are some things that would be very difficult to do without one in some cities. But if you can walk to the grocery store to buy that loaf of bread or take the bus to work, give it a try.
For further information contact Mark Brown Electrical on 1300 72 7798.
