Minimize Your Negative Impact on the Environment By Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

You've probably heard of the term carbon footprint. This is another name for your negative impact on our environment. Every individual has an effect on the environment through the non-renewable resources consumed and CO2 emissions created. While one person may not seem like much, when multiplied by millions the effect is greatly magnified. Three simple things you can do right now to help the environment is recycling, reusing as many things as possible and reducing your energy and product consumption.

Everything we do and everything we consume has a particular amount of power or energy associated with its manufacture. As a result of the manufacturing process, harmful toxins and emissions are released into the environment. Everything counts, including your clothing and food. For example, what you eat requires energy to produce, manufacture and sell. By researching the companies which you buy from you can find eco-friendly solutions.

On the subject of the carbon footprint, there are two designations. One is the primary carbon footprint, this is the amount of CO2 produced due to our actions. An example of this would be the consumption of fossil fuels through automobile travel and the use of energy via electric power and gas heat. The secondary carbon footprint refers to the energy used and emissions created by our consumption of products.

It is possible to reduce the impact of our individual and collective carbon footprint by choosing to consume fewer resources. This means purchasing things you need and forgoing some you want, choosing products produced in environmentally friendly ways and perhaps even creating your own products from sustainable methods rather than turning to traditional consumer buying venues. Whether you cut down a little or a lot, consuming less can help reduce your carbon footprint.

And of course you should recycle. This is one of the first things most people learned about helping the environment -- to recycle whenever possible. It requires far more resources and energy to make brand new things than it does to recycle old things and make them new again. This is not just speculation but fact. It takes approximately 50% less energy to recycle paper than it takes to make new paper.

On a related note, recycled glass is 40% more energy efficient than glass newly made. There are many products other than paper and glass for which this is true. Therefore, it is common sense to recycle whatever, and whenever you are able.

When you recycle, you basically keep your trash sorted into categories so it can be reused. You can recycle paper, plastic, aluminum and much more. In California, 10 billion bottles and cans have been recycled which is the same amount of energy needed to provide power to 500,000 dwellings. And that is just from one state, imagine if you measured the impact the entire country could have on the conservation of resources through recycling.

An important component of recycling is composting. By creating compost you can reduce the amount of trash in the landfills while harnessing the power of compost as a natural fertilizer. It's a win-win situation because you are reducing your negative impact on the environment both directly and indirectly.

Reusing things more than once can also make a huge difference when it comes to the health of our environment. It is possible to use rainwater for washing clothes or flushing the commode. Not only that, but many people do laundry when not absolutely necessary. Small changes like reducing the amount of laundry you do and conserving water by saving it in containment devices can go a long way towards the conservation effort. By reducing, recycling and reusing you can make your carbon footprint smaller without a lot of hassle or hard work.

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