5 Everyday Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

We're approaching Earth Day and many of us are looking for something special that we can do to improve our environment. One item for certain is reducing our "carbon footprint."

The carbon footprint may be thought of as the amount of energy used by yourself or family to sustain itself. A common association between life and carbon emissions is the amount of oil used in or daily lives. You may not know, however, that there are many things that are associated with oil or petroleum products beyond the fuel we use in our cars, boats and lawnmowers.

Plastic Bags and Their Pitfalls

Don't we have enough of them? Every time you go to the store, the cashier will gladly pack all of your items into those plastic bags. Personally, it drives me crazy. For one thing, I want to be environmentally conscious and recycle the bags, and luckily, just about every retail supermarket has the recycling bin at the front door.

It's good to recycle, but better to avoid using the bags in the first place. In order to make the bags, it takes energy which often comes in the form of oil. You can totally avoid this by purchasing reusable bags.

I've found that A&P has great bags for about a dollar, and the proceeds go to environmental causes. Of course, you can use the bags in any supermarket.

Aside from reducing the amount of energy required to make the bags, you usually get a 5 cent reduction in your grocery bill. In most instances I usually use two bags, since you can fit a lot of grocery items in the reusable bags. I've estimated that two reusable bags is probably the same as using four or five plastic bags.

Watch Your Idling

You're sitting in line at your local bank drive through; we've all been there. Consider turning your engine off. It's been reported that if you shut your engine down for 9 seconds, you begin to save fuel. In the old days we all would think this is crazy, but with direct fuel injection technology standard on all modern vehicles, it's a reality.

It's similar to parking your car and going into your favorite convenience store. How many times are your stuck in a bank line and waiting? If you shut your engine off for more than a few seconds, you're saving fuel and minimizing emissions.

Plant a Tree or Shrubs

There's no denying that trees and shrubs suck up carbon dioxide and offer shade to the environment. Plant a tree in your yard or contact your township and see if you could donate one in a public setting. With some coordination with the township and the selection of indigenous trees, you could have an everlasting dedication to the environment.

In the area of Brick Township, this may include various oak species, Red maple, blueberry plants and butterfly friendly flowers.

Turn off the Lights

When leaving a room, make sure the lights are turned off.

Think about the energy required to fire up the light bulb. Even if it means two or three minutes of the light bulbs being turned off, you’re saving energy. Could you imagine if every one in the state would do the same thing? It may sound overly simple, but if we would all do our share there would be substantial savings in the overall demand to produce energy. As a side note, using energy saving light bulbs is also a step in the right direction.

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

A lot of energy goes into making just one aluminum can for Pepsi, Coke or any other canned product.

Think about the amount of energy required to fuel the excavation equipment to mine soils to extract aluminum. Think about the energy required to make the cans. By recycling the cans you're saving energy and bypassing the whole process of extracting aluminum from soils.

The cans that you recycle are simply melted down and reformed.

Editor's Note: John Zingis is the Principal Environmental Scientist with Air Land & Sea Environmental Management Services in Point Pleasant. He is a Brick resident.