by Linda Castillo
Can you imagine the impact if everyone on this planet was a little greener in their daily routine? I think about this often because I know that a lot of small changes can lead up to a big impact for our mother earth. We can all do something to help mother earth and it starts with reducing your carbon footprint.
What is a carbon footprint? This is the amount a person contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. Your carbon footprint can be calculated by everything you do in your daily life from commuting, housing, eating, what you buy and throw away to name a few. To find out what your carbon footprint is visit http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm
Here are five simple things you can commit to doing this year that will make a big difference for mother earth. And bonus not only are these simple changes great for mother earth but you will also end up saving money and living a healthier lifestyle in the process. What is good for mother earth is also good for you too!
- Buy organic and local. Who doesn’t love going to the local farmer’s market – fresh fruits and vegetables, beautiful flowers and plants, and more yummy things too. Buying local does not has a small carbon footprint because of the short distance it had to travel to get in your hands. Furthermore, buying organic is better for your body and you are supporting the local community with your purchase.
- Stop drinking bottled water. There are so many reasons why you should not drink bottled water but I am only going to focus on three. First, bottle water has a huge carbon footprint because of the amount of shipping it takes to distribute to the stores. Second, bottle water produces so much waste accounting for up to up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. Third, you can save so much using a water filter system versus buying bottled water.
- Reduce the amount of red meat you eat. Did you know that livestock such as cattle and sheep produce large amounts of methane, which is a greenhouse gas that packs 72 times the punch of CO2 over a 20-year period. Try to cut back to eating red meat to only once a week and you are doing one more simple thing for your planet.
- Make your home more energy efficient. There are so many things you can do to make your home energy efficient but I am only going to highlight three. First, replace your old incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). CFLs cost 3 to 5 times as much but use less than a third of the power. Second, turn off lights, televisions, videos, stereos and computers when not in use – they can use 10 to 40% of the power when on standby. Third, purchase energy efficient appliances. By making these changes you are living a little greener and putting more green in your wallet as well.
- Practice the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Reduce the amount of things you purchase, you will not only eliminate clutter but your pocket book will also be thicker too. Reuse things as much as possible and fix things instead of buying new things. Recycle each week by sorting recyclable materials from the trash.
Sources:
- http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumed/tips.html
- http://www.12simplethings.org
- http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water
Linda Castillo is the Founder and Executive Editor of http://www.modernlatina.com/. She writes on topics that empower and inspire Latinas including art, motherhood, green living, culture, travel, and issues transforming the Latino community. Linda has earned a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Mass Communications from San Jose State University.