How complicit are we in increasing carbon footprint?
Bhubaneswar: Devastating flood in one corner and drought in the other. While forest fires turn the skies of one corner of the world red, the other corner goes pale with the melting of glaciers. These are few instances that give a sneak peek into how environment on the Earth is slowly crippling.
While COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to the existence of mankind, the environment has also begun to wave red flags. Water crisis and global warming have become the most obvious indicators. One of the major contributing factors to these adversities is carbon footprint.
Carbon footprint, in most simple words, is the total amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane released into the atmosphere by animals, people and industries. It plays one of the key roles raising global temperature, thus leading to extreme weather conditions. Considering the current environmental adversities, it’s high time these carbon footprints need to be reduced to bare minimum level.
If you think, it’s the responsibilities of industries alone, here’s the thing, the choices you make in your daily lives contribute too. However, there are some quite simple ways that would ensure you manage to reduce your carbon footprint.
Here are 10 such ways:
- Resort to renewable sources of energy
Opting for renewable sources of energy like electricity generated from solar, wind and hydro-electric energy ensures your carbon emissions are less. On the plus side, it also saves your money by cutting down on your energy bills.
- Insulate your house
Instead of spending on heaters, coolers and air conditions with changing seasons, insulate your house. That will keep you warm and cozy indoors during winters and cool during summers, without adding up to your carbon footprint.
- Eat organic and locally produced food
The food we eat undergoes a long-chain process of production and transportation before reaching into our kitchens. That calls for usage of a lot of synthetic fertilizers during farming and petroleum-based fuel during transportation from one place to another. By choosing to consume locally grown and organic food, one would not only nurture a good health but also cut down on usage of fertilizers and fuels, thus, reducing carbon footprint.
- Make judicious use of water
Many regions in the world are today struggling with water crisis. So, whenever possible, conserve clean water and make judicious use of what you have in store. Go for drip-irrigation on gardens and farmlands and switch to water-efficient methods.
- Befriend the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ technique
From papers, to clothes, packaging materials and water bottles, limit their usage whenever you can, recycle and reuse them whenever possible. That way, the amount of waste generated is checked and carbon emission is reduced.
- Limit dairy and meat consumption
Both dairy and poultry farming demand enormous amount of resources including land, water and energy. The production process releases a lot of greenhouse gases and methane into the atmosphere. So, by limiting dairy and meat consumption and going for more vegetarian options, people can reduce their carbon footprint.
- Switch to public transport
Whenever you can, take a public transport or share a transport with neighbours, friends or colleagues if you are headed in the same direction. Lesser the number of vehicles running on the road, lesser would be the fuel consumption and thus the carbon emission.
- Say no to single-use plastic
Plastic is hazardous and there’s not a hint of doubt about it. And single-use plastics are absolute naysay. They pollute soil, water and choke animals to death when accidentally consumed.
- Switch to energy-efficient products
Bring home electrical appliances which have high energy star ratings, are eco-friendly and energy-saving. Use them whenever needed and remember to turn them off whenever not in use. That way, you save energy along with reducing carbon footprints.
- Go composting
Composting is eco-friendly, cost-effective and good for environment. You could do that by gathering all the food waste from your kitchen and that won’t even cost you anything.
Comments are closed.