The term carbon footprint is being tossed around a lot these days, but many of us don t have a clue what it actually means. A carbon footprint has nothing to do with your size nines or a misplaced piece of carbon paper. It is a measurement of the effect that your life has on the environment and most specifically on the climate changes.
Your personal carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases that you produce in your life and is figured out by the carbon dioxide levels that you individually create. There are two types of carbon footprints, and no I don t mean a left and a right. There are primary carbon footprints, which are the measurements of the direct carbon dioxide emissions that you personally create by doing things like burning fossil fuels or driving your car, or breathing. Yes breathing adds to your carbon footprint. In fact the average person exhales approximately 290kg of carbon dioxide per year. Primary carbon footprints are ones that you personally have control over and can reduce by your own actions (though I am not suggesting you cut out breathing all together in order to reduce yours).
A secondary carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide that you create indirectly by the production and manufacturing of the things you use in your life in order to live. The packaging of food products or the amount of carbon dioxide created by the trucks that take the food to the supermarket where you buy it. The production of red meat apparently is responsible for up to 18 of all the greenhouse gas emissions in the world (according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization) and so a vegetarian has a much smaller secondary footprint than someone who eats red meat on a regular basis.
There are many who feel they can t live without their steaks and burgers and pot roasts, so how do these people reduce their carbon footprint without eliminating their favorite food? There are several small things that you can do which when added together will have a big effect on the amount of greenhouse gases that you produce.One of the best ways is to be more energy efficient in your life. Turn off lights when you don t need them, don t leave the television running all night and turn the heat or air conditioning unit down when not needed. There are energy efficient light bulbs that can make a difference in the amount of energy that you use and you can reduce your energy usage by unplugging appliances and electronics when not being used. Many of these continue to waste energy even if turned off. Another way that you can reduce your energy usage and save yourself some money in the long run is to install double paned windows or cover them with plastic in the winter so that you are not losing heat through them.
While the initial cost of installing more energy efficient windows can be expensive, you do save a great deal of money over time.Another effective way to reduce your carbon footprint is to start buying local products so that less greenhouse gases are emitted in the process of getting the product to you. Eat at restaurants that have local cuisine and shop at stores that provide the option of local foods.
You can improve your health and your carbon footprint by walking or riding your bike more. If you have to use a car or are looking to buy a new one then choose a hybrid to drastically reduce your greenhouse gas emissions or take public transportation that is going your way anyways. Never sit in your car idling and instead of using a drive thru turn your vehicle off and go inside. Better yet, if you are going to the donut shop or fast food joint down the road... you should probably walk there anyway. That way you can burn off the calories you are about to stuff in your face when you get there.
You don t have to make drastic changes to your life but if you change a few small things you can make a big difference in the size of your carbon footprint and this is one time that size matters and smaller is definitely better.
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