This year, the world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. That means it's a good time to talk about environmentalism and how we can do our part to help stop climate change.
This blog post will talk about what carbon footprint is, why it's important, and how you can help reduce your own carbon footprint.
What is a carbon footprint?
Carbon footprint is a measure of how much carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, you are responsible for emitting into the atmosphere. It's calculated by measuring all of the CO2 emissions from products and services you use in a year, and then multiplying that number by your share of the world's population.
Why is it important?
The carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that our activities produce.
The Earth's atmosphere is currently about 0.04% carbon dioxide, which is not a huge amount. However, when humans burn fossil fuels and release this CO2 into the air, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 rises. This causes the planet to become warmer and warmer—which we experience as climate change.
We are now at 400 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in our atmosphere and this is the highest it has been in millions of years. If we don't stop emitting CO2 into our atmosphere, it will rise to around 1,000 ppm by 2100—and we'll have global warming that is completely out of control by then.
Ways to reduce your carbon footprint
There are many ways to cut carbon footprint, but we have picked 10 most important ones
1. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
2. Use public transportation when possible and carpool when not.
3. Get a reusable water bottle and fill it up at home or at work.
4. Turn off lights when you're not using them, including your phone screen!
5. Unplug electronics when they aren't in use (like your laptop charger) so they don't drain energy from the wall outlet while you sleep or leave them behind at work.
6. Buy used items whenever possible—you'll save money AND help keep those items out of landfills!
7. Use less water by taking shorter showers (or even baths!) and turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving—and don't forget to turn off all appliances that use water when not in use (like dishwashers!).
8. Switch to LED lightbulbs instead of incandescent ones; they use less energy and last longer than traditional bulbs, so you don't have to replace them as often! Plus they're more environmentally friendly since they don't contain mercury like older bulbs do (which can cause a lot of harm if released into the environment).
9.Walk or bike as much as possible
10.Use public transportation