{"id":7737,"date":"2016-12-22T08:12:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/green-mom.com\/?p=7737"},"modified":"2016-12-22T08:12:24","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:12:24","slug":"reduce-carbon-footprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/reduce-carbon-footprint","title":{"rendered":"How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">By Larraine Roulston:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth\u2019s ecosystems.\u00a0 Conspicuous consumption, waste and the accumulation of material possessions place unnecessary pressures on natural resources and the environment.\u00a0If we all consumed less, our footprint would be greatly reduced.\u00a0Together, we can all be a powerful force to change the path of climate change by demanding green products, reducing fossil fuels, and by placing our investment money in green products and technology.<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15519\" src=\"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/carbon-footprint-main-300x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For over 20 years, articles have been written about the ecological footprint and how to build eco cities; however, when left in the hands of our present politicians, little appears to happen.\u00a0One of today\u2019s biggest concerns centers on the greenhouse gas emissions created by Alberta\u2019s Tar Sands; its production, at least, needs to be slowed down.\u00a0Sadly, under Canada\u2019s current government, reduction is unlikely. Awareness of big issues and individual steps to become sustainable, however, will make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>Cars and trucks pollute, with the average vehicle contributing at least 2 metric tons of carbon each year.\u00a0Resolve to drive less and either walk, bike or use public transit.\u00a0Cars do not require lengthy warm up times, so avoid this.\u00a0Slow down to reduce emissions as well as fuel consumption.\u00a0Avoid both idling and using the auto\u2019s air conditioning.<\/p>\n<p>Organics in a landfill cause greenhouse gases.\u00a0Composting alone will not solve climate change, but it will buy time.\u00a0By composting, you will reduce what is sent to the landfill by 30%.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strive for water efficiency by installing water-saving shower heads and taking shorter showers. Use water sparingly <a href=\"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/green-tips-for-a-reduced-carbon-footprint-300x231.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-7739\" src=\"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/green-tips-for-a-reduced-carbon-footprint-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"green-tips-for-a-reduced-carbon-footprint-300x231\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" \/><\/a>while brushing teeth.\u00a0To wash cars, choose buckets of water rather than a hose. Rain barrels also play a major role in water conservation.<\/li>\n<li>Go Green if building or renovating.\u00a0Insulate well.\u00a0Shingle your home with a light color to reflect the sun\u2019s rays. Investigate straw bale homes.<\/li>\n<li>Raising livestock for food has a huge detrimental effect on air and water.\u00a0Try more veggie dishes, and choose organic produce to reduce pesticide use.\u00a0Grow your own vegetables and support in season, locally grown food.<\/li>\n<li>Be energy efficient.\u00a0Turn lights off when not in use and turn the thermostat down at night. Hang laundry outside or on a drying rack.\u00a0Visit Project Laundry.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Plant trees as well as flowers, and milkweed for the bees and butterflies<\/li>\n<li>If you do not join a crusade to tackle the ocean\u2019s pollution, help by picking up litter along a beach before it is swept into the sea.\u00a0And separate the recyclables.\u00a0There is no such thing as garbage, just misplaced resources.\u00a0Cleaning up every \u201clitter\u201d bit in parks, around rivers and on city streets helps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We depend on nature to provide a steady supply of life\u2019s basic requirements.\u00a0The latest scientific report on climate change is grim, but it takes a period of darkness for our brightest stars to emerge.\u00a0This is the powerful environmental movement of grassroots activities and individuals.\u00a0This decade will be challenging; the stakes are high and political will is lacking.\u00a0Vote for \u201cGreen\u201d choices. Take on at least one environmental cause.\u00a0We each have ability, power of purchase, and a voice.<\/p>\n<p><em>Larraine authors the Pee Wee at Castle Compost series that are fun and factual. Visit<a href=\"http:\/\/www.castlecompost.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.castlecompost.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By Larraine Roulston: The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth\u2019s ecosystems.\u00a0 Conspicuous consumption, waste and the accumulation of material possessions place unnecessary pressures on natural&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":15520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,243],"tags":[383,375,757,725,377,112,131,292],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerowastefamily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}