10 Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint For Good

10 Easy Principles We Can All Adopt:

• For local journeys try to Walk, Cycle or Run (c.65g CO₂e per mile), or use public transport (150g per mile) but avoid the car (710g per mile ) and especially MPVs/4x4s (2000g per mile) unless they're packed full of people. For longer distances, coaches, trains and ships trump cars and planes every time (an MPV would need to carry 9 people to reduce its footprint to that of a train over a 400mile journey).

• Change your food habits for the better. The biggest impact will come from reducing your food-waste by buying only what you intend to eat - planning meals can be a huge help in this. You can also join innovative food sharing apps like Olio to reduce waste. And you can reduce your meat and dairy intake, which is associated with much higher carbon emissions than plant-based food.

• Choose products and services which have clear and proven green credentials such as IKEA who invest huge amounts into their sustainability efforts, and companies which actively encourage reduction of consumption via reuse and rental such as Pure Bundle and thelittleloop.

• Make improvements to your home such as replacing all incandescent lightbulbs with low-energy bulbs; or adding loft insulation, double glazing, a more efficient heating system, storage heaters, carpets and curtains, all of which improve energy efficiency and therefore reduce carbon AND bills.

• Switch off all electronic items and lights which are not in use. And make sure you SWITCH OFF THE SOCKET AT THE WALL to reduce needless electricity waste. A computer left plugged in but switched off can get through around 0.02 Units of electricity which, in the UK, is equal to 12g CO₂e per hour.

• Switch to a green energy supplier which can provide upto 100% energy from renewable sources at competitive prices. The energy we use in our homes accounts for around 20% of the CO₂e emissions in the UK. Plus, the more we invest in green energy companies, the more they will be able to invest in renewable technologies. Take a look at GoodEnergy and Ecotricity.

• Turn Down your heating or turn it off when you aren’t home. By turning down your central heating thermostat by just 1°C you could reduce the energy you use for heating by 10%. As a bonus you’ll get even more wear from your gorgeous sweater collection!

• Wash your clothes on a cold or cool cycle and dry them on a line / rack not in the tumble dryer. Modern detergents are formulated to work just as well at lower temperatures and the carbon savings of not having to heat all that water can be considerable. (Line dried, 30'C wash = 600g CO₂e . Machine dried, 60'C wash = 3300g CO₂e )

• Reduce what you use, Reuse what you have, and if you must get rid of it Recycle. Especially high embedded carbon products such as electronics and white goods.

• Calculate your carbon by taking the WWF’s brilliant Carbon Calculator quiz to see how your everyday choices, from the food you consume to the clothes you wear, affect your personal carbon footprint – and find out how you can make a difference.

If you'd like to take Carbon Footprinting further you could try following our Step By Step CO₂E  Reduction Plan

If you would like to have a go at calculating your full carbon footprint BRAVO!  It can be a tad complicated, because every single object or service we purchase, and activity we do, has some level of carbon footprint. Plus often the CO₂e is a hidden result of the manufacture of a product, or the products used in the manufacture! But if you're committed to changing your lifestyle a full survey will make a world of difference.

Step 1 Calculate at least your basic footprint bearing in mind that EVERY activity you do will have some form of carbon footprint. You can use an line tool like this one from carbon footprint.com. Make a note of the tonnes of CO₂e you and your household family emit and identify any clear problem areas.

Step 2. Identify the easy steps you can take to reduce your CO₂e (e.g. a family commitment to waste less and recycle more);

Step 3. Identify the medium term steps which might take a little longer to put into place (e.g. switching to a green-energy supplier);

Step 4. Identify the long term steps which you may have to work towards over a number of months or years (e.g. next time you replace your car downsizing or going hybrid). 

Step 5. Make a timetable of when you are going to tackle each of the steps you have identified. 

Step 6. Set goals for your ideal Carbon Footprint at each stage in the process.

Overall, these steps should aim towards a specific, measurable goal. Perhaps you could adopt Mike Berners-Lee's 10-tonnes CO₂e  lifestyle (see more about this in our Guide to Carbon Footprinting)  Or maybe, over time, you can go even further...

Step 7. Have an annual review of how you're getting on. If you've reverted to old habits be honest with yourself about why and see if there's a way to make things easier to achieve. Be kind to yourself...it isn't easy to change your lifestyle and every little helps!