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Energy efficiency and sustainability are essential to helping reduce carbon emissions and, in turn, to reduce the effects of climate change. It can feel like you as an individual can’t do much to help a worldwide issue, but as they say, every little bit helps. If you run an energy-efficient household and do your best to keep your own carbon footprint at a minimum, that is one less home that is contributing to the devastating effects of carbon emissions.
Running an energy-efficient home isn’t as much of a hassle as it may sound; you can start off small and work your way up to more significant changes if you choose.
- Turn off the Lights
If you aren’t using the light, don’t turn it on! Most of us are guilty of forgetting to turn off a light now and again. It’s easily done, but you should do your best to make sure that every time you leave the house, or you go to bed, all of your lights are turned off. A light left on with no one to see it is simply wasting energy.
Similar to this, make use of natural light. If you are home during the day, most often, the light of the sun will be enough to light up your home, so open up the curtains and let it in.
- Turn off, Not Standby
Most appliances will automatically go into standby mode if you switch them off, but this means they are still using some energy. Manually turn off devices, like your TV and gaming consoles, at the switch to ensure that they aren’t just on standby mode and sneakily using and wasting energy, completely unaware to you.
If it has a light on, even if it’s red, it’s probably using some energy.
- Compost
Investing in a compost area for your garden is a great way to make use of your waste food. No matter what you do, most families will produce food waste. It’s almost unavoidable.
When you have food waste, add it to your compost heap instead of simply throwing it away to landfill. In the compost, it will naturally decompose to produce soil that you can then use in your garden.
- Try Solar Energy
Installing solar panels to your home is a big, but largely beneficial decision! They provide you with a sustainable source of energy if you make the most of them. Take a look at solar power tips to save money; you can become a more energy-efficient home and reduce the strain on your wallet at the same time.
- Grow Your Own
Producing your own fruit and vegetables in your garden, or simply buying locally, is a fantastic way to reduce your carbon emissions and become more sustainable. Using the soil from your compost, you can grow your own food and know that it is sustainable.
Many food options at the supermarket are guilty of food miles, so buying locally and growing your own energy-efficient a wonderful alternative.
