By Emily Gitonga
“We only have one planet so take good care of it.” “The world will get to neutrality if we all take part in identifying areas, we can reduce our carbon footprint.” These are some of the phrases we find and hear from different digital platforms that share information on the campaign to global zero carbon emission.
What is Carbon Footprint?
According to the dictionary it is the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community.
Understanding your carbon footprint can transform your daily activities, and introduce different changes in your life. Several tools can be found online to help you calculate the carbon emissions produced during your daily activities and suggest measures and changes to be implemented for a positive and sustainable living.
Why is it Important to reduce our Carbon Footprint?
The world population is increasing day by day and the consumption rate of the world resources is increasingly high. The United Nations predicts that the world Population may increase to 9.7 billion by mid-century and more than 11 billion in 2100. The growth in population depletes the world resources and increase the emissions rates.
The increase of carbon emissions in the environment have contributed to global warming, which has largely impacted climate change. It is the responsibility of each one of us to make an informed decision on how we use and consume resources to make a friendly decision that will contribute positively to the future generation.
The Paris Agreement on climate Change aims at a goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius of temperature neutrality by mid-century 2050. What part can you play as an individual to ensure this goal is attained?
What Habits Can You Adopt to reduce the Carbon Food Print?
Find out Your Carbon Footprint.
Determining the different areas of emissions and calculating how much emissions are produces in your daily activities creates a clear picture of where to start. Find a free online app that will help you determine and calculate your emissions. From the results, then you can create a plan on what areas you could start making changes. Peter.F. Drucker said you cannot manage what you do not measure. An example of some sites you can calculate emissions carbonfootprint.com .
Make your home more energy efficient
Ensure to unplug your home appliances while not in use to save on energy. For any appliance left unplugged still consumes energy. Buying appliances that are most efficient helps save money and also energy for example you can change your bulbs to LED, buy appliances with more energy stars rating for efficiency. Monitoring your energy usage provides a clear understanding on what areas to improve on. Apps and monitoring tools create an analysis of your energy usage that you can review in real time, Eenovators Limited offers a real time energy monitoring system (Eagles Program)
Change up your means of transport
Have you thought of how much emissions you make on movement from home to work, business trips and vacations? I am sure many of us may have been very happy to board a fight, or own a car. The statistics from different research studies have shown cars and airplanes as the highest contributors of carbon emissions in transport. Some of the changes to consider to reduce on this are;
- Practice to take a walk more
- Cycle more
- Use the public transport
- Consider using a train during the next holiday trip
Observe your food habits and avoid wastage.
A research by Forbes showed that more than a third of emissions are generated from food systems, that includes production and processing.
Food waste also is a big contributor to the carbon emissions. The amount of food thrown in pits especially the take aways that are mostly packed in plastic plates when left on the land mines, decompose to produce gases that are contributors to the emissions.
What Then can be done;
- Eat locally produced foods, since the cost of transportation contributes to the carbon emissions.
- Avoid take outs that are packed in plastics instead use your plates that are recyclable and can be used often.
- Avoid wastage and ensure to check the food stored in the fridge to make sure that it is consumed before it goes bad. The practice of cooking smaller positions that are enough for consumption during meal times can also help reduce waste.
Each and everyone of us can start slowly to help reduce the carbon emissions footprint by practicing the tips shared above.
References
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint
Wow! Even the simple things like behavioral change can save our planet. We have to do this!