Almost 20% of Australia’s carbon emission comes from households [1]. This has opened a new avenue of debate and opportunities for environmentalists. If citizens are educated about reducing their carbon footprint it can lead to a big change. We usually think that our association with power companies is just to compare electricity plans and save money by choosing the best. But, this association goes far beyond just a customer-seller relationship. As an individual, we can impact the environment positively by choosing how we utilize the power we purchase.
So, as a citizen how can you contribute by reducing carbon emission? What impact will it have globally? And when you compare electricity plans is there anything to look for that can help in your endeavor to reduce carbon footprint? Let us discuss today.
Reduce Carbon Footprint for a positive change?
Here are three easy and great ways to reduce your carbon footprint. They can be followed easily without compromising the quality of your life. This will not only help in reducing overall carbon emissions but also help in improving the health of our environment.
1- Efficient lighting
Lighting and heating are the main sources of energy consumption in your home. The more electricity they require to perform the more carbon emission it generates. Therefore, to begin with, you should immediately change your old lighting system to a newer, modern, and much efficient lighting system. Modern LED lights consume a fraction of the energy that the conventional blubs or lights used to consume. Apart from that LED or any modern lighting system emits lesser heat. This will also further decrease your power bill. LEDs are getting cheaper by the day and it won’t be long when you recover the price you invested in buying them.
2- Modern heating system
As mentioned earlier heating systems consume a big chunk of your electricity. Especially during colder seasons, it can increase your monthly budget. Modern heaters are efficient and consume less energy than ever before. At the same, ensuring your house is properly insulated – good insulation can save you around 15% [2] on heating or cooling costs annually.
The less energy you consume to heat or cool your home will drastically decrease your carbon footprint. As a bonus, you can save up to 15% on your electricity while still playing your part by contributing to a healthy environment.
3- Carbonless traveling
You can compare electricity plans from different companies, opt for the best, cheapest plan and save a lot of money. You might also choose a company that uses renewable energy with a low carbon footprint. But, what about when you are outside your home? Traveling to your office and coming back daily? What about when you travel to nearby groceries or markets? Every time you travel with a vehicle that uses fossil fuel, you increase your carbon footprint. Surprisingly even when you use an electric car you are still contributing. The production of electricity is still a high factor in generating carbon emissions. So what is the solution? Walking or cycling whenever and wherever possible is the best way to achieve a zero-carbon footprint outside your home. By reducing the use of fossil fuels you will reduce your carbon footprints drastically.
There are numerous other ways by which you can reduce carbon emission on an individual level. It may not seem like your actions can help with macro-environmental issues but if every person minimized their carbon footprint but 10%… it adds up!
