The Paris Agreement brought numerous nations together in an attempt to reduce the world’s overall carbon footprint. We all know that this many countries rarely agree on something, so we can deduce that if they’re all this worried about global warming, it’s a serious issue. We all need to do our part to reduce our impact on the planet. One major contributor to our carbon footprint comes from our homes. Here are 5 ways you can reduce your home’s carbon footprint and help keep the planet healthy.
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Switch to Solar Energy
One of the best ways to reduce your home’s carbon footprint is to reduce the amount of carbon-based electricity your home uses. While the most common ways to do this include turning off lights and lowering your thermostat, they don’t compare to the savings your home receives if you install solar panels in your home. Every kilowatt of power installed in your house lowers your family’s carbon footprint by 3,000 pounds per year, which means that in your typical 5-kilowatt set-up, you’re reducing your home’s carbon footprint by 15,000 pounds annually! For more information on how switching to solar energy can help you, check out this Solar Energy Company.
Insulate Your Home Better
Heating our homes is one of the biggest ways we use CO2 daily. When your home is poorly insulated, warm air escapes and cool air trickles in, meaning that you have to burn even more CO2 to keep your house warm. Similarly, in the summertime, you have to use the AC more often to keep your home cool. So if you’re passionate about reducing your home’s carbon footprint, you’ll want to make sure the seals around your windows are tight and increase the insulation in your home’s attic or crawlspace.
Replace Incandescent Bulbs
If you’re not in a position to make huge changes to your lifestyle in order to reduce your home’s carbon footprint, consider making this small change: Replace all the incandescent bulbs in your home with LED bulbs. LED bulbs are significantly more energy efficient. Not only that, but it takes a lot longer for them to burn out, which means that not only do you help the environment and save money on electricity each year, but you also save money on light bulbs. We call this situation a win-win-win!
Start a Compost Pile
30% of what we throw away each year consists of food scraps and yard waste. When this heads to landfills, other trash seals it in, preventing it from decomposing as quickly as it otherwise could. As a result, landfills are even more overflowing than they need to be. When we choose to compost this material instead, we reduce the amount of garbage filling our landfills and the methane emissions caused by that. We also eliminate the need to transport that garbage over and over again, which reduces the CO2 required by that transportation. Meanwhile, we create natural, healthy fertilizer for our soil—or, if we don’t garden, for the soil of our neighbors or friends.
Replace Old Appliances
Old appliances can wreak havoc on your energy use, sucking up electricity like no one’s business. Today, more and more energy efficient appliances are being produced, created to be able to do the same work on significantly less electricity. Replacing old appliances with newer, energy-efficient appliances is a great way to reduce your home’s carbon footprint while simultaneously increasing your home’s resale value.
In Conclusion
Green is in right now, and with good reason. Reducing your home’s carbon footprint takes some initial investment, but long-term, it doesn’t just benefit the environment. It also reduces the money you’re spending on electricity each month and can increase your home’s resale value, meaning that over time, these investments actually earn money—and all while helping save the planet you live on!
