Reducing Carbon Footprint – Tips (Part 2)

/ Onur ÇAKICI

#week 4 / Onur ÇAKICI

As it was mentioned at the last week’s post, I’d like to give you a couple of tips too, which van help you to reduce your own carbon footprint.

Save water

Water is a precious resource that is becoming scarce in many countries such as Egypt, Mexico, and Australia. And even if you do not live in one of these arid countries, you may be wearing or using goods and consuming foods produced in those places, thus contributing to their water debt. One of the major impacts we can have personally is by moving towards a vegetarian diet, which requires about half the water to produce than a meat-based diet. It also makes sense to reduce your personal water consumption by practicing water conservation in your daily life:

  • eat a mainly vegetarian diet
  • only use the dishwasher when full and select the program with low water usage
  • if you wash-up by hand, start with a half-empty bowl and rinse the dishes back into your washing-up water rather than down the plughole
  • use filtered tap water for drinking rather than energy and water-intensive bottled water
  • take a shower rather than a bath and shower less often in less time!
  • turn off the taps when brushing your teeth or washing or shaving
  • clean your clothes less often and only wash full loads
  • use ‘grey’ water to water your garden and house-plants.

Shop wisely

Think before you buy! Do you actually need this? Can you find a better, greener alternative?

  • use a shopping list to avoid those impulse purchases
  • avoid products that use lots of packaging
  • buy in bulk to save money and reduce packaging
  • check the label – a long list of ingredients generally means a heavily processed item with a high carbon footprint
  • frozen food has the highest carbon footprint, followed by canned, plastic, glass, then cardboard
  • and please don’t buy bottled water.

Shop local

Think about where you do your shopping. Do you drive to the local shop when you need something – why not walk? Does your supermarket support green initiativesand offer local, organic foods? And think about where food comes from – if it is from the other side of the world, it will have a high transportation footprint.

A weekly food shop is a habit many of us follow…but is it an efficient use of time and resources? The average household throws away a third of the food that they buy as it is so easy to over-shop in those tempting supermarkets. After all, they are designed to sell us as much as possible, whether we need it or not.

Reuse and recycle

Think creatively about how you can reuse and recycle. Glass jars and plastic containers make great storage options. Take your own shopping bags and say no to plastic bags. Take reusable produce bags for your fruit and vegetables – if you use the ethylene-absorbing bags it prolongs shelf-life too. And when you can’t reuse, make sure you recycle whatever you can.

Grow your own food

A great way to save money and to have an organic diet, get fit and reduce your carbon footprint is to grow your own fruit and vegetables. If you have a garden or backyard, then it is a fun way to make sure your family has access to affordable, healthy, pesticide-free food. And even if you live in an apartment, what about using your balcony or even the communal outside areas? Failing that, there is a growing movement (ha!) in Australia and The States to set up community gardens.

Resource: http://www.greeneatz.com/

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