ways to reduce your carbon footprint

Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
1. Buy a laptop instead of a desktop
Laptops can use up to 80% less energy than a desktop, and unless you are a die hard tech junkie that needs to have the fastest processor on the planet, a modern laptop will suit your needs just fine.
2. Wash with cold water
This is especially true if you are washing or rinsing clothes. About 90% of the energy used in the process goes towards heating the water. So unless you are trying to kill all the germs on your clothes with boiling H2O, this could save you some cash and win you some green points.
3. Use the top shelf of the oven
Of course, this depends on how technical you want to get with your food but generally speaking hot air rises. The heating mechanism is usually on the bottom of the oven but because it emits bursts of heat the top of the oven tends to be consistently hotter. While this will cook your food faster you may have to sacrifice some crispiness.
4. Unplug your phone charger
When you re not using it that is. According to the US Department of Energy, appliances consume a significant amount of electricity even when they are switched off. Ever notice how your phone charger can get hot with no phone on it?
5. Take a shower
Taking a shower uses about 1/5 of the energy as taking a bath, and as long as you don t fall asleep it should use less water too. If not, you can always install a
6. Avoid black trash bags
Because of the black pigmentation these trash bags cannot be recycled. A better option is to use white trash bags and the best option is of course
7. Filter your own water
This one is huge. Most tap water (in western countries) is safe to drink and by filtering it you can do a lot of saving. First of all, the water is usually flown in from far away which requires fuel and then the packaging itself uses a lot of energy. Besides, buying bottled water only feels good until you check your bank account.
8. Buy local
Once again, if you keep things local it will reduce the amount of fuel that is required to get the food from the farm to your fridge. The same concept goes for other goods and services as well.
9. Replace lightbulbs with CFL bulbs
CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs can last up to 15 times longer and use up to 8o% less energy than regular lightbulbs. Again, this could certainly have the added benefit of streamlining your electric bill.
10. Shift gears sooner
If you drive a manual, shift into a higher gear as soon as you can. On most cars this would mean before 2,500 rpm but on diesel it would be before 2,000 rpm. If you do this right you will find yourself saving some gas because your engine is maintaining a higher speed without working as hard.