Education about societies' impact on the Earth and its natural resources has become more common, and though it seems like too big a task to compete with, there are many ways you can reduce your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emission your actions produce, and if you've read my last post, "The Impact of Man," you'd know that greenhouse gases are a no-no. They cause the climate to warm, affecting the earth's natural equilibrium, and causing extremely harmful environmental affects. Reducing your carbon footprint, as well as your amount of consumption, can greatly lower your impact on the world.
Conservation
The best place to start your eco-friendly journey is to understand your role in conservation. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines conservation as a careful preservation and protection of something, especially planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect. Participating in Earth conservation is important to ensure you have a healthy planet to live on. Imagine what life would be like without any natural resources like wood, metals, and gases. The possibilities for creation would be very limited. Not only that, but we wouldn't have any more beautiful forest scenery, wildlife, or healthy air to breath. "Conservationist work to preserve natural resources such as forests, soil, and water supplies. They also protect rare wildlife, for example by banning the hunting of rare species(Jackson, 62)." Conserving our planet can be as simple as using less plastic, which soils landfills and beaches, and burning less fossil fuels, which creates harmful air and climates. Not only should we aim to conserve the land we walk on, but also the other species we share it with. Every species has what is called a niche. "An ecological niche is the position a plant, animal, or other organism has in its environment together, with its role there(Jackson, 95)." This means that every form of life has a purpose, and when one of them is removed, it can be very harmful to the ecosystem. Preserving the lives of one species will protect many others, as well as ourselves.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions calculated that the primary sources for carbon emissions are 31% electricity and heat, 11% agriculture, 15% transportation, 6% forestry, and 12% manufacturing. This information is very valuable when forming the best ways to reduce your footprint. For example, when considering that the use of electricity and heat are the biggest sources of carbon emission, we can conclude that they are the most important things to reduce in our everyday lives.
The US. Department of Energy recommends that purchasing energy-efficient products, making the most out of natural light, and starting to reduce your "always-on" appliances are ways to decrease your energy consumption, and they also save you some money! Transportation is a pretty hefty cause of carbon emissions, as well. There have been many technological advances to help, like electric cars, but big purchases don't have to be made to reduce your footprint when it comes to driving. Some great tips from The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) are to drive less, drive efficiently, like easing on the acceleration and brakes, and maintaining your car with its regular inspections and oil changes. Idling the car is also a recommended no-no, and a waste in fuel and engine wear.
When it comes to agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing, the amount of consumption of goods and services you use will affect your footprint. There are many aspects when considering your consumption of goods, like where you are purchasing them, how often you purchase them, and how much you waste. A common catchphrase might catch your eye with this topic: Reduce and Reuse. Reusing items can extremely lower your consumption in certain fields, as well as purchasing used goods. The EPA is a great source for learning how to know what items are accepted for recycling or donation in your area. Buying only what you need can also make a big difference. I know it can be hard not to find joy in material things, but buying an excess of clothes, and other products has a huge affect on your consumption, and promotes manufacturing.
One thing that is extremely important to consider when buying clothes is to never shop with fast fashion industries unless absolutely necessary. "Fast Fashion is one of highest polluting industries in the world, aside from oil and gas. By using cheap and dirty fabric, it is causing all kinds of pollution to our environment. The toxic chemicals in these types of fabric also cause negative effects to the planet and threatens our oceans." Fast fashion is relatively cheap, so it has become very popular. Circling back to only buying what you need, if you have enough clothes and money to avoid purchasing from these kinds of businesses, then it is best not to.
Reducing Your Plastic Usage
Reducing the amount of plastic you use is probably one of the most common habits for reducing your impact on the planet. Not only does plastic cause the release of greenhouse gases when they are produced, but they also cause tons of pollution and harm to wildlife. The tons of plastic we use each year go to landfills, and though some of it ends up in recycling plants, only the smallest portion is actually reused. An article titled "A Whopping 91 Percent of Plastic Isn’t Recycled," by National Geographic, states that only 9% of all plastic ends up being recycled. Currently, reducing plastic usage in your everyday life is the best option. Landfills are a huge source of pollution, and limiting their growth will pose as a great help.
There are tons of products on the market that are plastic free, or reusable that make an eco-friendly life easy. For example, you can buy bars of soap instead of bottles, use reusable containers and bags instead of Ziplocs, avoid plastic wrappers for produce, and even buy biodegradable floss and tablet toothpaste. A little search online will pull up tons of options to choose from. One great book I'd recommend for information is Quitting Plastic, by Clara Williams Rolden and Louise Williams. They talk about tons of products and hacks for all sorts of items in your home. One of my favorite topics they discuss is microplastics, and how scary they are! Rolden and Williams describe how plastics break down into microscopic pieces that are emitted right into the environment, and even our food and drinks! Micro plastics are embedded into our clothes, as well. So, imagine all the plastic shed that you've contributed too. I think you'll recognize these plastics the most by learning that these are what tampers with wildlife, and ends up in their stomach and blood stream.
Reducing plastic in your life is an easy task, it just takes a lot of will-power, considering it makes life pretty convenient. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better about your carbon footprint, and what you contribute to the world, though!
It can be hard to imagine that you, being one person on this world of billions, can make an impact, but there are numerous studies and even statistics in other countries that have proved that everyone's actions can make all the difference. America is one of the worst countries when it comes to environmental damages like pollution and extinction. If you want to notice change, you'll have to start looking at your own actions, and the ones of those around you.
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Works Cited
JACKSON, T. O. M. (2020). Biology: An illustrated history of life science. SHELTER HARBOR PRESS.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Conservation definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservation
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. (2022, March 24). Global emissions. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.c2es.org/content/international-emissions/
US. Department of Energy. (n.d.). Reducing electricity use and costs. Energy.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/reducing-electricity-use-and-costs
Miller, M. (2021, June 27). What is the problem with fast fashion? Salts and West Clothing. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://saltsandwest.com/blogs/news/what-is-the-problem-with-fast-fashion
National Geographic Society. (2019, July 1). A whopping 91 percent of plastic isn't recycled. National Geographic Society. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/whopping-91-percent-plastic-isnt-recycled/
Roldan, C. W., & Williams, L. (2020). Quitting plastic: Easy and practical ways to cut down the plastic in your life. Allen & Unwin.
Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/
This was great
I totally read the whole thing