What is a Carbon Footprint: Definition and How to Reduce Yours

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are both directly and indirectly put into motion by a person, business, product, or caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, incident, or commodity.

The negative effects of a carbon footprint on the environment are plentiful. Not only can a high carbon footprint result in the rapid draining of natural resources, but it also leads to global warming, as well as the eradication of various living organisms on earth.

Climate change is not a trivial occurrence, and overflowing seas and rivers means that greater numbers of people are encountering floods. Climate change also results in extremely dangerous heat waves, as temperatures across the globe reach record-breaking proportions.

Many people in the United States and Canada take having access to air conditioning for granted, because as soon as temperatures start to rise, all people from these countries must do is turn on their air conditioning units. However, many people in other countries don't have the convenience of simply turning on an air conditioner when it gets hot.

How Can You Reduce Your Carbon Footprint?

You might find yourself wondering, what is my carbon footprint? If you're interested in determining what your carbon footprint is as well as finding ways to reduce carbon footprint, this can be easy to accomplish. There are many carbon footprint apps online that can help you figure out what your carbon footprint is. The average carbon footprint per person is about 5902.75 million metric tons, and it's steadily increasing.

Consider a Plant-Based Diet

Working on decreasing your meat consumption can work wonders for reducing your carbon footprint. Even if you're not interested in becoming vegan or vegetarian, you could reduce the number of days that you consume animal products.

Use Alternative Transportation

If you opt to use alternative forms of transportation, such as walking, biking, using public transportation, or carpooling, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.

Consume Less & Shop Sustainably

Sustainability in the fashion industry is becoming more and more prevalent. By choosing to shop at second-hand stores and reusing clothing and other items, purchasing high-quality products that are going to last significantly longer, and repairing items instead of replacing them can help more than you might believe to lower your carbon footprint.

If second hand isn’t your forte, it’s important to support clothing brands that take sustainability seriously and are doing the work to help the environment.

Implement Energy-Savings Systems

Saving energy in as many ways as possible can dramatically decrease your carbon footprint. How can you save energy? You can practice unplugging appliances when they're not in use, turning off lights when you leave a room, and even using LED light bulbs and conducting an energy audit.

Prioritize Local Vendors

Purchasing goods from local vendors can lessen your carbon footprint. Rothy's sustainability efforts are paying off, as more and more people are purchasing sustainability-sourced clothing, shoes and more from them. Rothy's offers eco-friendly material shoes and bags, as they have sustainable shoes knit from plastic.

Get Involved

So, if you'd like to do your part in order to reduce your carbon footprint on the environment, then there are many ways to do so. Start today, and you can be on your way to making a positive impact on the earth.