Climate change is real and it’s here. But what can you, as an individual, do to help slow it down? Isn’t the problem too big for any one person?
No challenge is too big if every individual does his or her part. There are over 8 billion people on this planet. If every single one of us reduced our carbon footprint, then the global impact would be enormous and generationally life-changing.
What Is “Carbon Footprint?”
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat inside the earth’s atmosphere, causing climate change. An inordinate amount of these gases is emitted by fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gases. Every time we do anything that involves the consumption of these fossil fuels, we leave behind a carbon footprint.
Examples Of Carbon Footprint
- Travel – Many forms of transportation, especially the older ones, use a lot of fossil fuels. Frequently traveling via jet plane, for instance, leaves a large carbon footprint.
- Electrical consumption – Most power plants in the world still use fossil fuels to generate energy. If your home gets its energy from these plants, then your carbon footprint increases the more electricity you consume.
- Food consumption – The more fossil fuels it takes to transport and process the food you eat, the larger your carbon footprint.
How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
1. Ride A Bike Or Take A Walk
Cars, jeepneys, buses, and motorcycles get you from point A to B fast. Unfortunately, most of these vehicles are gasoline-powered. So, if you have the time and energy, there are greener alternatives that are also good for your health: riding a bike and walking.
The country has recently been more open to devoting portions of our national roads to bikes. This a policy that started during the pandemic lockdowns aimed at mitigating limited public transportation options at the time but has since been retained by many local governments. In Davao, for instance, bike transportation is being embraced with the recent opening of 47.7 kilometers of bike lanes in Davao City and Tagum City.
Better take advantage of these zero-carbon alternatives when you can!
2. Use E-vehicles
If you still need a car to get around, then maybe you can try e-vehicles instead. Electric cars are becoming more popular in recent years and some are even priced as low as gasoline-powered cars. Hybrid cars are even more common and more affordable than e-vehicles. While they still use a gasoline engine, they’re also powered by an electric battery, making their carbon footprint significantly lower.
With the government giving tax cuts to e-vehicle and hybrid vehicle distributors in the country, you can expect to see more and more affordable and greener transportation options.
3. Don’t Leave Your Appliances On
You can leave a big carbon footprint even if you’re just sitting at home. This is especially true If you’re watching TV while a few other appliances are also running. You can reduce your carbon footprint by simply being mindful of your power consumption.
Do you really need to have your air conditioner and your electric fan on? Is it really necessary to use your laptop, which is connected to a plugged-in charger, while you’re watching TV? Have you left some lights on in another room? Does your family really need to binge-watch your favorite shows in separate air-conditioned rooms instead of just one?
Conserving energy is an easy way to minimize your carbon footprint on a daily basis. All it takes is turning off a few switches and switching to better, more energy-efficient habits.
4. Go Solar
If you want to take energy conservation further, maybe you can consider installing some solar panels in your home, so that you’re not fully reliant on fossil fuel power generation. With solar power, you have a more sustainable and more eco-friendly energy source. Plus, with solar panel technology getting more advanced in recent years, it’s becoming a cheaper and more viable alternative.
5. Eat Local
What you eat and where you eat greatly impact your carbon footprint. Mass-produced food sources, like the ones you find in big supermarkets and fast food chains, take a lot of carbon emissions to be processed, distributed, and transported to your neighborhood.
If you want to lessen your carbon footprint in your food consumption, then there’s no better way than to go with locally sourced food. Go to your nearby market and support local businesses that use organic and locally sourced ingredients. Mindanao is a rich resource of rice, corn, coffee, and cacao, just to name a few. You don’t have to go far or burn too much fuel to get high-grade nutrients and high-quality meals. Everything you need is right in your own backyard!
