Simple fixes to reduce your carbon footprint

Hey everyone, this week’s sustainability article is on simple fixes to reduce your carbon footprint.

The current global warming we’re experiencing is climate change driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases, resulting in large changes in weather patterns. Since 1880, there has been a combined land and ocean temperature increase of an average of 0.07°C per decade. This may not sound like a lot, however, there are significant negative impacts. An increase in temperature is dangerous as it can cause rising sea levels, more severe and unpredictable weather patterns, an increase in natural disasters, and higher wildlife extinction rates. When carbon and other heat-trapping emissions are released into the air, they act like a blanket, holding heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet.

You may be wondering – what is a carbon footprint? A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact your activities have on the amount of carbon dioxide produced through the burning of fossil fuels; it’s the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual. A large carbon footprint is negative for the environment as it depletes resources and accelerates climate change. To reduce the risk of global temperatures rising 2°C, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop below two tonnes by 2050. We are here to give you some simple solutions to reduce your individual carbon footprint and prevent negative events occurring to our world. You can calculate your carbon footprint here. 

Driving less

One of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to consider firstly how often you travel and secondly in which use of transportation you take. In November 2017, carbon emissions from transportation surpassed the amount of emissions from electricity as the top source of greenhouse gases. If you didn’t use a car for one year, you could prevent over 2,000kg of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. However, this may be a bit difficult, so try to bike or walk to school, get the bus rather than a lift in the car, cut down the amount of air conditioning you use or try carpooling with friends as this way you will split emissions between multiple people.

Eating sustainably

One of the main contributors to global warming is the increased greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity. While carbon dioxide is currently the biggest contributor to the issue, methane is also a major source of the world’s greenhouse emissions and it comes largely from the overproduction of livestock. An average cow produces around 70 – 120 grams of methane per year with the majority of these cows being raised for human gain, e.g. meat and dairy products. The ever-increasing demand for meat and poultry means that there is a higher demand for cows, and more methane is released every day. So how can you help? In order to help you don’t need to become fully vegan or even vegetarian, but rather participate in simple activities such as ‘Meatless Monday’, which can help you to do your part in decreasing the demand for livestock thus lowering methane emissions.

Reducing food waste

The Australian Government estimates that food waste costs the economy $20 billion each year. Over five million tonnes of food ends up as landfill. This is enough to fill 9,000 Olympic sized swimming pools. Furthermore, one in five full shopping bags ends up in the bin resulting in $3800.00 worth of groceries per household each year being wasted. To reduce this from happening: 

• Make grocery shopping lists before buying to prevent buying items you already have;
• Be cautious of buying in bulk as it is often wasted;
• Don’t cook more than you will end up eating;
• Reuse leftovers instead of putting them in the bin;
• Freeze food to make it last longer;
• Take home leftovers from restaurants.

Composting

Organic food waste may seem harmless… but don’t be fooled! Organic waste releases copious amounts of methane as it decomposes, contributing a significant amount to global yearly methane emissions. To help combat this you can compost your fruits and vegetables by collecting your scraps and feeding them to a worm barrel (or other methods of composting – check Ma Nishma next week for an article on composting!). This is an awesome way to turn your potentially harmful waste into useful fertilisers, and also limit the use of chemical fertilisers, which have other negative environmental impacts. It’s a win-win win-win! By reducing the methane you release into the atmosphere when you compost, you can feed worms, fertilise your plants and decrease the use of harmful chemical fertilisers. 

Home appliances

There are small things you may do in your day-to-day life that may seem insignificant, however, they can actually be having detrimental effects on the environment. Little things such as turning off a light in a room when nobody’s in there, only using air conditioning when necessary, closing windows when any form of AC is in use, as well as switching off fans when there is no one in the room are all ways to reduce your carbon footprint (and reduce your electricity bill). Next time you leave a room remember to turn off your lights, fan and AC so you can help reduce carbon emissions!

Dressing sustainably

Per year, each person has 20 items of clothing manufactured for them. This is as a result of “fast fashion” – clothes that are produced quickly, cheaply and unsustainably. The pace of the fashion cycles and consequent increased clothing production, transport and waste negatively impacts our environment. Tips to reduce your individual impact:

• Look for Fair Trade logos;
• Shop second-hand/vintage (not only can you find some unique and affordable items but you will also be saving the environment);
• Think about how much use you will get from an item before buying it;
• Consider the material and fabric used in your clothes – will it last a long time or will it quickly fall apart?
• Donate or sell old clothes instead of throwing them away.

Reducing your individual impact is an important way to contribute to the global effort to decelerate global warming. By eating less meat, carefully considering your transport, reducing food waste and dressing sustainably you can reduce your carbon footprint and help decrease carbon emissions.

Have a sustainable weekend!

Romi Lapidge and Sophie Sawicki