Your carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases you produce. These gases contribute to climate change, including rising global temperatures, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, mass species extinctions, and food scarcity.
Fortunately, there are a number of ways to reduce your footprint at home. The Eco4 funding scheme can offer you help and support to achieve this.
Insulate
Insulation is one of the most important things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint at home. It keeps outdoor temperatures from getting inside and cuts down on costs for heating. Bringing all homes up to code for insulation could reduce annual energy use by 20% and cut carbon emissions by a similar amount.
Energy-Efficient Appliances
It’s the appliances in your home that consume the most electricity and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, so upgrading them to energy efficient models is one of the easiest ways you can help reduce carbon emissions. Look for the ENERGY STAR label to ensure your appliances meet high efficiency standards.
Lighting accounts for a significant portion of electricity consumption, so replacing incandescent bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs can cut your household’s energy usage by 75%.
Install Solar Panels
Using solar energy cuts out the need to rely on conventional utilities, which rely on polluting fossil fuels for their power. An average five-kilowatt residential system reduces a home’s carbon footprint by about 15,000 pounds annually.
Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity without the need for water, so they don’t contribute to the pollution of our local waterways. Additionally, they don’t emit any greenhouse gases themselves.
It’s important to get a good quality solar panel installation that is sized correctly to match your household’s energy usage. Eco grant Scotland can provide homes with grants in order for them to afford these changes.
Reduce Water Use
Many companies are aware of the need to cut their carbon footprint and have made huge strides in energy savings. Whether that’s stickers on light bulbs reminding staff to turn them off, or initiatives to reduce single use plastics, reducing waste is very much a priority for many.
Water conservation is also an important part of reducing your carbon footprint. This is because every drop of water has a carbon cost, which means that we need to think about how we use it.
Reduce Waste
Using less material, energy, and resources in your home is an essential way to reduce your carbon footprint. Consider switching to paperless bills, storing files and documents digitally, or recycling your paper products instead of throwing them away.
Growing your own vegetables and fruits is another good choice, as it takes a lot of energy to produce and ship food across the country and abroad. You can also try shopping locally for food and other goods to help support your community.
