Over the next few months, we will continue to share some of our favourite easy tips for reducing carbon emissions. (If you’re a newbie-S2Zbie, you can find the others here!) These steps might seem small individually, but lots of little changes add up to big things! And at Switch2Zero, it’s all about taking action, however small that first step may be.
We all know that change doesn’t happen overnight, and sometimes, it’s not particularly helpful to focus on the ultimate extremes when we could be doing all sorts of little (yet very significant) things right now.
Learning how to make carbon-friendly changes without spending a lot of money can seem hard, but sometimes it’s simpler than you think.
With that in mind, here are five top tips to reduce your carbon footprint (and your expenses) today – quickly, easily and effectively.
Eat seasonally.
Eating seasonally means that you are buying whatever fruit and veg is currently being produced in the country where you are.
For example, if you live in the UK and you love strawberries, the months that strawberries are being supplied to the supermarkets by British farmers is from May to September. Outside of that time, strawberries are imported from places such as Spain, Morocco and Egypt.1
Importing fruits and veg produces more carbon emissions as the products have to travel further. It is estimated that the global yearly emissions from food is about 3 gigatonnes of C02 equivalent.2 Both the way that the food is transported and the distance it travels is important to consider when measuring carbon emissions. Temperature-controlled transport releases three times more the amount of CO2 equivalent than non-temperature-controlled transport.3
So, eating seasonally from what’s available where you live will go a long way to reducing your carbon emissions. The more local, the more environmentally friendly! Find out which fruits do well in winter in your part of the world, or use canned or frozen alternatives for a few months instead.
Meal plan.
Meal planning is a great way to reduce waste AND the amount you spend on food.
By planning in advance what you are eating, you are less likely to buy things that ultimately end up going to waste.
You can also cook additional portions of meals to have for lunch or to freeze for another time.
Often, waste is caused by having too much of certain ingredients. For example, you might need mushrooms for something you decide to make, but you don’t need the whole pack; the leftover mushrooms sit in the fridge, forgotten and going bad until they are ultimately thrown away. By planning in advance, you can ensure that the leftover ingredients are used later in the week.
And for those leftover ingredients like the mushrooms, look up Clean-Out-the-Fridge Soup or Fridge-Raid Soup recipes.
Draught proofing.
We know it’s not winter yet! But now is a great time to think about draught-proofing your home.
This is a cheap way to ensure that you are getting the most out of your heating.
Checking the sealant around windows and doors and replacing any that is worn will mean that less hot air is escaping through those cracks and less cold air is coming in.
You could even try a door draught excluder to stop the warm air from escaping from the room you are using.
Carpool to work.
Do you live near any of your work colleagues?
Some people are lucky enough (carbon-emissions-wise at least!) to work remotely, but if you aren’t and you don’t live close enough to walk, why not consider carpooling with colleagues who live near you or whose house you pass on the way to work?
Running 1 car instead of 3 or 4 will reduce the carbon footprint of all the passengers. As well as reducing traffic and noise pollution!
If everyone carpooled, around 336.53 million litres of fuel would be saved yearly.4 Wow.
Water plants during cooler hours.
Did you know that if you water your plants early in the morning when the temperature is cooler, the water you give them is less likely to evaporate?
If you water them before it gets warmer, it gives the plants time to absorb the water so that they can be better hydrated throughout the day.5
When you water your plants when it’s already warm, then the plant is fighting with the weather to absorb as much water as it can before the water evaporates.
So, if you water your plants in the early morning, you’ll have healthier plants, and you’ll save yourself some water!
Conclusion
Even doing just one of these will reduce your energy or water usage. And any reduction is a positive step towards a healthier environment.
If we are all able to make just a couple of these changes, we will make a real impact on the world’s carbon emissions. It’s important that – even in lots of small ways – we all do what we can to help achieve a carbon-neutral future.
Small changes add up to big results!
2 https://www.lettusgrow.com/blog/summary-nature-study-food-miles
3 https://www.lettusgrow.com/blog/summary-nature-study-food-miles
4 https://www.earthreminder.com/how-does-carpooling-help-the-environment/
5 https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/best-time-of-day-to-water-plants/