Humanity is destroying the Earth because of activities detrimental to its continued existence. Everything that we do contribute to the degradation of the planet’s environment. The culprit behind is the huge volume of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere each day. This relative amount of CO2 released by humans is popularly known as carbon footprint.
Maintaining a sensible carbon footprint should be practiced by everybody. It must be a collective effort not solely dependent on the efforts of large industries. At home, families must also try implement practices that will help reduce the carbon footprint. Here are a few tips that should minimize a home’s carbon footprint and result in a healthier and cleaner planet for the incoming generation to inherit.
- Use a laptop instead of a desktop: Laptops use less energy and are also portable. The reason could be laptops are partially powered by its built-in batteries. Desktop computers require a lot more energy to operate. As much as 60% energy is saved when using laptops.
- Print and copy on two sides: Printing on both sides of paper reduces paper consumption by 50%. And help protect many of the trees that would otherwise be cut down for the manufacture of paper.
- Quick showers: Don’t do long hot showers, quick short showers help save energy. Less energy used delivers low carbon footprints directly protecting the environment.
- Automatically adjust the thermostat: Use a state of the art device attached to the thermostat that can automatically adjust and maintain a comfortable room temperature.
- Opt for solar power: Adding in solar panels to homes can be a very good investment. Except for the cost of the panels and batteries, solar power is free. It is the best source of energy and environment friendly as well.
- Use only energy efficient appliances: The more energy efficient the appliances are, the more the environment is protected. Energy efficient appliances are usually those with ENERGY STAR classification.
- Do full loads of laundry: Washing machines use the same energy whether laundry is half or fully loaded. Maximize the efficiency of the machine by doing a fully loaded laundry.
- Turn off the lights when there is natural light outside: It’s counter intuitive to leave the lights on. It won’t help at all if there is already natural light coming from the outside.
- Always try to minimize the plug load: Try to have only a few energy-hogs using the grid at a time. Share items with others in the family to avoid plugging in too many devices at the same time. Besides, plugging multiple appliances on the same grid simultaneously could cause the line to overheat. And repairs could be expensive.
- Recycle: Don’t just throw away the items no longer in use. Recycle! Go to a dedicated recycling center to share the electronics, cans, plastic, glass, paper, printer and peripherals including empty cartridges. And if the empty cartridge is still in perfect condition, choose to replenish with a refill kit to reuse. Know that a single toner refill costs 90% less compared to the OEM. Where to buy compatible toner refill kits is not a concern, the market teems with alternative printer consumables.
These are just few of the remarkable tips devised to maintain if not reduce a home’s.