Five Ways to Reduce Your Personal Carbon Footprint

With the summers getting hotter and winters getting colder than ever, it is hard to deny that global warming is not in full force and ravaging the world. We have all been told that we must make changes in our lives to reduce the damage done to our planet, and although the fault does not lie on us, it has become our responsibility to do what we can to minimise the damage done to our planet. Although there are already some great tips on decreasing your environmental impact, we have collected some easy ideas for you to try out, here are five ways to reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Reuse, recycle

Sometimes the simplest of ideas is the best solution, but the old saying of reuse and recycle is by far the easiest and most impactful act we can do as individuals to cut down on our carbon footprint. Whether you sort your rubbish into recycling categories, reuse the plastic bags you get at the supermarket, or take all that excess cardboard to the local tip, you are making small yet significant changes to your life that positively impact the world around you, quite literally, so make these changes and feel good in the knowledge you’ve made a difference.

Try getting somewhere without using your car

With the amount of cars polluting the planet at any point in time, the less you can use your own car the better. Take the bus, train carpool, cycle, all of these are great ways to decrease your daily carbon footprint, and although you cannot avoid using your car all the time, if you make an effort to use one of these alternatives in one of your daily trips then you have done a good deed today.

Home-heating alternatives

It is very easy to get home during those chillier months and whack on the central heating for hours, days, even weeks at a time, something that can increase your personal pollution levels exponentially. To reduce this influx then there are several alternatives you can do round the house to improve your house’s environmental impact, such as using carbon neutral fuel for indoor firepits, solar panels to run your electric radiators, turning the heating on and off as required, or simply layering up and avoid turning the heating on all together.

Buy food locally

If you look at most produce in big supermarkets, you will be amazed at the amount of airmiles some of these foods have. Instead of getting carrots from Morocco and avocados from Mexico, try driving (or cycling), down to your local farmers market and pick up your fresh produce from there, that way you are supporting local businesses and cutting out the air travel some veg have to get to your dinner plate.

Decrease your fashion shopping sprees

The fashion industry has not been renown for its impeccable track record environmentally. Sweat shops and throwaway fashion are two of the worst aspects of the modern clothing market, so you can do your part to not fuel this destructive cycle by not constantly buying new clothes. Those quarterly wardrobe updates may be fun, but they are not as innocent as you think, so do your part and enjoy what you have, that way we can all decrease our carbon footprint and do our part for the environment.