Easy Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Line-dry clothing.

The dryer is one of the top energy consuming appliances in your home. Save on energy by line-drying your clothing. One dryer load uses five times more electricity than one washer load. That's also the equivalent of turning on 225 light bulbs for an hour.

Use plant based cleaning products and detergents.

Cleaning products with planted based ingredients are usually safer for the environment. Look for items with the blue and green EPA Safer Choice label.

Switch to reusable bags.

Eliminate plastic and paper grocery bags by taking your own reusable bags (like the ones featured in this post) to the store. You can eliminate the use of single-use plastic sandwich bags by switching to sturdier, washable, reusable silicon bags. Both ideas will reduce the amount of waste in landfills. 

Upgrade your light bulbs.

Incandescent light bulbs do not use electricity efficiently and add money to your monthly bill. They also give off excess heat increasing your home cooling costs. Energy Star qualified light bulbs like CFLs and LEDs are more efficient and last six times as long.

Buy clothing secondhand.

The best way to be sustainable about clothing is to reuse it. The production process to make garments is energy and water heavy. Check out your local consignment shops or scroll through ThredUp or Poshmark.

Eat local and organic. 

It's estimated that 13% of US greenhouse gas emissions result from the production and transport of food. Eating local and organic in-season produce from your city or the surrounding area can help reduce the carbon footprint created by foods being shipped in from elsewhere. Organic foods often come from smaller farms which are more likely to adopt important soil-care practices.

Turn down the heat.

Turning down the heat by just one degree reduces energy consumption by 8%! Turn the heat even lower overnight and when you aren't home.