Five Every Day Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Reducing your carbon footprint is not difficult and is within your reach. Just by making a few changes to your lifestyle, you’ll be helping to reduce your carbon footprint. Some of the side benefits to a “greener” life include saving money and time and living a more healthful life. Here are a few tips from the Nature Conservancy on how to help save the planet:

1. Make sure your have air in your tires. A car with properly inflated tires will
save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 miles you drive.

2. Turn down the heat. Hard to do in the Northeast, especially when it is snowing
outside, but if you turn down the heat before you go to bed or when you leave
the house during the work day, you’ll not only save on your energy bill, but on
your carbon footprint as well.

3. Walk, don’t drive. You will save a pound of carbon for every mile you walk
or bike if you don’t drive your car. If you need to drive, carpool or take public
transportation.

4. Phone work. Use the phone or meet over the web instead of flying long
distances for meetings. Teleconferencing saves time, money and fossil fuel.

5. Eat local. Plant a vegetable garden or buy produce that is grown in your
community. You’ll be surprised at how delicious locally grown food tastes and
you’ll be supporting farmers in your community by helping them to remain
sustainable.

For more information on how to reduce your carbon footprint, visit these sites:
www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/climatechange/help/Tips-
from-a-Nature-Conservancy-Scientist.xml, http://theclimateproject.org/, www.sustainablebraintree.org and www.ucsusa.org.