Make a Change

Reducing the population's carbon footprint is a topic that I feel the majority of people are aware of, yet not everyone makes the changes required to make an impact, and it is leading to the endangerment of wildlife and ecosystems. Here are five easy ways to reduce an individual's carbon footprint, because after all, change begins with YOU:

1. Recycle. This is the one that everyone knows about (unless you are living under a rock), and it is the one that the majority of eco-conscious people practice. Recycling is great for the environment because it reuses material such as paper and plastic, therefore creating less waste to be thrown into landfills. Buying recycled items when shopping also ties into this, and that doesn't just mean at the grocery store (although that's a great start!). Even just buying recycled clothing (hand-me-downs, thrifted garments, etc.) greatly impacts the environment. Buying used rather than new clothing reduces the amount of materials used on brand-new clothes (less demand means less production) and leads to reducing carbon footprint. A great online thrift store, seeing as we are in the age of COVID, is thredUP. Another big tip that goes hand-in-hand with recycling is using reusable materials, such as packing lunch in Tupperware rather than disposable containers or using reusable water bottles rather than disposable ones.

2. Driving less. Whether this means walking or biking to wherever you are going, or even taking the bus if you have a farther commute, cutting back on individual driving can greatly reduce carbon footprints. This could even mean carpooling if multiple people are going to the same place, because one vehicle's emission is better than several. There are also cars that have reduced carbon footprints in comparison to others (i.e. electric cars), but no vehicle has a carbon footprint of zero due to its production.

3. Gardening. This could range anywhere from planting trees and flowers to create a positive impact on the environment, to growing your own vegetables. Growing your own vegetables is the one I want to focus on, though. When shopping for food items, it is great to shop organically (and remember to bring your own bags when going to the store!), but providing your own food when possible reduces your carbon footprint that much more because not only does it prevent the use of pesticides, but it also cuts out the packaging and transportation altogether. Another big way to reduce one's carbon footprint is by eating more vegetables in general, or even becoming vegetarian or vegan.

4. Conserve water. This is a big one, and can be done in many simple ways that most people don't even think of. The best example: turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth. Sure, it might only be around two minutes of running water at the time, but about three gallons of water is used for every minute; in the long run, six gallons of wasted water twice a day everyday adds up. Another good way to conserve water is to do less laundry. Each cycle uses about 40 gallons of water, so doing bigger loads at a time can cut down the water usage astronomically.

5. Zero (or as close to zero as possible) waste. Also tying into brushing teeth (and showing that there are ways to reduce your carbon footprint in every aspect of life), an amazing example of a zero waste necessity is toothpaste tabs. There are a variety of these out there, but my favorite has to be Bite, which comes in a reusable glass container (plastic-free) and is packed with no air (therefore reducing the carbon footprint of packing and transportation). Other ways to cut down on waste is the aforementioned reusable water bottle and bringing your own bags when shopping, along with several other previously mentioned tips.

After implementing those five simple practices into your daily life, your carbon footprint will go down exponentially. Ways of reducing carbon footprints are often overlooked, or met with the thought process of "I'm just one person; I won't make a difference," but every effort helps, and as I said before, change starts with YOU.