Citizens are now encouraged to take some actions to reduce their carbon footprint because of the worsening climate change. However, this is sometimes a difficult feat, and most people fall short of making this happened. The key here is to understand the consequences of the little actions we do every day and minimize activities that contribute much to carbon emissions.  

Here are the practical ways you can do to reduce carbon emissions in your daily activities in your neighborhood or communities: 

1. Stop patronizing single-use plastic – Plastic is everywhere. It is partly because we tolerate single-use plastic in our daily purchases — plastic bottles from drinks, plastic utensils for take-out meals, and plastic wraps for the food and materials we buy. Why don’t you use a recyclable water bottle that you can use for drinking, bring your utensils that you can use and reuse for every take-out meal, and use a recyclable bag when grocery shopping or shopping at the mall? By doing these, you discouraging most establishments from using plastic and potentially reduces the use of it. 

 
2. Reuse that old-fashioned way of gardening – this sounds a little bit inconvenient, but other professional companies like  San Antonio landscaping have the expertise even devoid of the high-tech equipment and tools. This entails hard work, but it will definitely be worth it. Besides helping the environment, this is also a good physical exercise! 

If you have a small lawn, manual labor, either from raking and brooming to pruning, is more encouraged. 

3. Drive less – the country has a growing population who drive to a myriad of destinations: work, school, grocery store, food chain, and more without considering the number of carbon emissions from all of these small, unneeded travels. How to drive less? There are two ways: first, buy local. Buying what is available in your community will help local businesses and reduce carbon emissions and avoid long car travel. Second, go out once. Instead of making separate purchases that increase the number of meters for car travel and, therefore, increase burning fuel, make a list of your errands and do it in one day or one trip.  

4. Create a compost – the United States is one of the top contributors to food waste. According to a recent study of EPA, there could be more than 25 million tons of solid waste thrown in the disposal area — which is avoidable.  

Composting removes millions of tons of waste per day, so this is highly encouraged. One reason why homeowners do not compost is because of the assumption that composing needs a more oversized yard and is high-maintenance work. The truth is the opposite. You can start composting by digging a small hole in the backyard and start composting your leaves, branches, and grass besides food waste. You can even compost by letting dead organic materials decompose in your lawn or yard.  

Other ways to reduce carbon footprint: 

Grow your produce 

Discouraged the use of paper 

Shop local 

Switch to solar-powered equipment or appliances 

High professional services that are eco-friendly