Thirty Days to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
I wrote this as an ebook, but wanted to publish it on the website too! This list is designed as a thirty day challenge to learn more about ways to reduce your carbon footprint. I realize that it is a lot to do in thirty days, but even choosing a few things to try can make a difference. Then you can add new habits to your eco toolkit once different steps become second nature. I wanted to compile this list to expand my own knowledge base to focus on some shifts I personally want to make over time.
Thirty Days to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
By Kathryn Sturges
http://www.kathrynsturges.com
Nature is vast with mountains and jungles, but we are a part of it!
Looking up I see a sky that fills my lungs with air. Looking to the trees and the stones and the rivers I see a fragile ecosystem that needs our care. The potential of future generations looking back to see their ancestors paving a way for the future. You can make a difference, one action at a time!
Why bother to make a change at all? If you have ever camped out in the mountains or gone swimming in a lake, then you have seen the beauty of nature in all her glory. But wildlife and the environment struggle to keep up with the way that humans live. People want to be happy and lead a life that doesn’t involve too much discomfort. So, we buy lots of stuff and travel and do all the things that we think will make us feel more satisfied.
Your carbon footprint equals the amount of CO2 your actions release into the atmosphere each year. Half of the CO2 in the air goes into space, while the other half comes back down to the Earth’s atmosphere. CO2 is a major cause of global warming.
Even simple actions can make a difference! You can learn new habits that add up over time to reduce your carbon footprint. This little ebook breaks down simple steps you can take over the next 30 days. When the actions become habits, it will truly make a difference!
Let us begin!
Day One: Do a thirty day no-spend challenge. Shopping is a fun pastime, but it can lead to headaches when it comes time to manage clutter. Throwing things in the trash to make space for more is detrimental to the environment. Taking a thirty day no-spend challenge can feel daunting but it will help you to get a fresh perspective on the things you buy. Stick to only buying what you absolutely need or make do with stuff you already have for the thirty days. When you feel like shopping, do something relaxing or creative instead.
Day Two: Unplug appliances that you aren’t using. Make it a habit to unplug each appliance right after use. Appliances still draw a small amount of energy when they are plugged in, even if they are not turned on.
Day Three: Turn off lights after you leave a room. Also, be sure to unplug things like Christmas lights or other lighting if you aren’t in the space to enjoy them. Also, switch to LED lightbulbs. I think most people have made the change by now, but LED lightbulbs last a lot longer than their counterparts and use way less power.
Day Four: Start recycling. Get a bin to place in the kitchen or dining room, and break down packaging from food, cardboard boxes and more to recycle. Most cities have a recycling program, it just takes a commitment to put your recyclables in the appropriate bin at the curb. If you are unsure what you can or cannot recycle, look online for details about the recycling program in your city. If you have lots of areas where you have paper waste, place a cardboard box or bin in these spaces as well to make recycling easier. Many plastic bottles from toiletries to beverages can be recycled if they are rinsed out. Also food packaging is another easy thing to recycle.
Day Five: Wear clothing more than one time before you wash it. At the end of the day, hang your clothes back up to air out in between use. There are natural fabric refresher sprays available or you can make your own. Reducing the frequency of wash cycles is so beneficial to curbing excess power usage.
Day Six: When using water, opt for cold or cool instead of hot. Washing your hands in cool water gets them just as clean as hot, and be sure to set the washing machine to cold as well. Take lukewarm showers, which is better for your body and a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. Also, turn off water when brushing your teeth.
Day Seven: Make today meatless. Better yet, choose a few days a week to go vegetarian! Animal products contribute to CO2 levels substantially, so if you can do a meal meat free it will reduce your negative impact.
Day Eight: Bunch together errands into one day a week. I love to save errands for the weekend, and then do everything on Sunday. This reduces the amount of time spent in the car and eases the amount of CO2 transmissions put into the atmosphere.
Day Nine: Swap out plastic cups for paper instead. When you order fancy coffee drinks, ask for the drink hot. That way you will use less plastic on an everyday basis. Also, recycle plastic beverage bottles if you choose to buy bottled items.
Day Ten: Use up toiletries before buying anything new! This one is a challenge because often we buy things that might not work the way we hope. Be brave and set vanity aside, and try to use what you have first. A good rule of thumb is to only have one of each item at a time. And if you already have something, resist the temptation to buy another.
Day Eleven: Make more meals at home instead of getting fast food. Fast food packaging is very detrimental. If you can buy bulk of food items that is even better!
Day Twelve: Start a compost. Composting is a fun way to turn leftover fruit and vegetables into soil for your garden. Do some research and figure out an easy way to get started!
Day Thirteen: Carpool when possible. If you have children, work out a carpooling system with other parents. Or streamline your cars down to one car in the family and figure out carpooling amongst the members of your home.
Day Fourteen: If you have an item you were going to throw away, try to figure out how to repair it. Reducing the amount of items thrown in the trash is an excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint. Plus, fixing items or reusing them in a new way gets your creative energy going.
Day Fifteen: Have a staycation for your next adventure! Figure out more fun things to do in your own city instead of traveling far away. Many areas have museums, green belts, lakes and urban adventures ripe with potential for fun.
Day Sixteen: Get into essential oils to make your own products. Everything from cleaning products to toiletries to perfumes can be made with essential oils. If you have pets, look for essential oils that are safe to use around your animals. A lot of products have ingredients that are harmful to you and the environment. Do some research into your favorites and when you run out, look for natural alternatives.
Day Seventeen: Save junk mail and make your own stationary! Paper making is fun for the entire family, and you can even give away stationary sets as gifts. Also, try to opt out of magazines and other mail that you are no longer enjoying.
Day Eighteen: Create a reward system for your family. Encourage the kids to tally up eco actions they take, and then reward them once they reach a certain number. This is a great way to inspire younger generations to go green and helps them learn good habits from a young age.
Day Nineteen: Air dry your hair instead of using heat. Figure out a style you can do fresh out of the shower or make your own sea salt spray. Try foam rollers if you shower in the evening. Roll your hair and it will set as you sleep! Or opt for simple hair styles like ponytails or buns with scrunchies on weekends. Then you can be ready in a flash and use hair appliances only for special occasions.
Day Twenty: Layer up in the winter and turn the heat down a couple degrees in your home. Also, in summertime try to keep the air set a degree or two warmer than you typically would. Get a self-adjusting thermostat for bonus points.
Day Twenty-One: Light your outdoor spaces with solar powered lighting. This one is fun, and today there are all kinds of fairy lights and lanterns that use solar power instead of electricity.
Day Twenty-Two: Start growing vegetables indoors for year-round gardening. All you really need is some grow lights and adequate space. Research what herbs and veggies do well indoors, and start with easy to grow foods.
Day Twenty-Three: Use electric lawn mowers and trimmers instead of gas powered. This switch is expensive at the outset, but over time you will not have to pay for gas to fuel the equipment.
Day Twenty-Four: Use reusable silverware and food wraps instead of plastic. Plan ahead of time before eating on the run and get silverware ready before you go. Also, pack a lunch or other snacks in drawstring pouches, beeswax wraps and metal bento boxes instead of plastic.
Day Twenty-Five: Get into thrifting! If you did the thirty day no-spend challenge, you will be rethinking the things you purchase at this point. Start looking for ways to thrift instead of buying brand new. Check out Poshmark and ThredUp for great online options. Or look for a group on Facebook to connect with thrifters in your area.
Day Twenty-Six: Opt for ebooks and readers like nook or kindle. This one is good especially if you read mostly fiction or non-fiction without imagery. There are special glasses you can get to protect your eyes from screen lighting, which might be a good option as well instead of buying paper books. Or visit the local library.
Day Twenty-Seven: Go vintage for gifting. People love vintage and you can have fun perusing local shops for specialty gift items. Or try your hand at making gifts instead of buying something new. Wrap gifts in fabric or drawstring bags for eco- friendly packaging that can be reused.
Day Twenty-Eight: Join the Buy Nothing movement and get involved on Facebook. There are Buy Nothing groups for just about every major city throughout the USA. People post what they have to offer or what they are looking for, and it creates community around generosity.
Day Twenty-Nine: Use less products to get ready in the morning. The next time you run out of a product, try something multi-functional instead. There are lots of beauty products today that serve multiple functions. You can even cut out foundation and lotion by using a glowy lotion or facial oil instead. And there are natural face creams that serve as blush, lipstick and eyeshadow in one for a perfectly matched look. Also, avoid nail polish and other unessential beauty items. Instead, try keeping nails clean and short, and keep eyebrows perfectly shaped without adding product which goes a long way to create a beautiful look.
Day Thirty: Try to keep items longer before you throw them away. Some suggest keeping an item for seven years. When you are shopping it can be so beneficial to think long term and assess whether you will really want that item in your space for such a long time. Consider the consequences of the purchase, the amount of time it will take to keep clean and stored, and the space it will take up in your home. Also, avoid shopping from big box stores like Amazon and Walmart when possible. Items from those stores often don’t work right out of the packaging. Look for items that are made well and built to last.
I am so proud of you! It has been thirty days, and you have taken the time to learn some new habits to reduce your carbon footprint! Feel free to share this ebook with people in your life and keep learning new ways to go green. I’m rooting for you! High fives all around!
Cheers!
Kathryn Sturges
