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Reduce Your Ecological Footprint

Reduce Your Ecological Footprint

According to the Global Footprint Network, we currently consume more resources per year than our planet can produce in the same timeframe. Their calculations show that it takes the planet 18 months to regenerate everything we use in a 12 month period. The good news is that there are many simple things you can do to reduce your ecological footprint (which measures human consumption of natural resources against the Earth’s ecological capacity – biocapacity – to regenerate them). Do you wish to discover your biggest areas of resource consumption? Check out this: Ecological Footprint Calculators and CO2-Calculators

Here goes some of RESET ecological tips: 

  • Use cleaner transport (don’t drive when there is an alternative! Walk, bike, or take public transport whenever possible; If you need a car make it a small as possible one and reduce the mileage; check your car regularly. Have your vehicle serviced regularly to keep the emission control systems operating at peak efficiency; avoid short airplane trips – take a bus or train instead).
  • Add Energy-saving features to your home (Install energy-saving lamps in your home – but be sure to dispose of old bulbs safely; make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated, and consider double-pane windows. Explore green design features for your building, like passive solar heating, a rainwater catchment or greywater recycling system, and recycled materials; choose energy efficient appliances, including low flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets; use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products – for your health and environment.; Keep the thermostat relatively low in winter and ease up on the air conditioning in summer; unplug your electronics when not in use.; dry your clothes outside whenever possible and run your laundry machine only when full; defrost your refrigerator and freezer regularly).
  • Reduce your foods and goods footprint (shop at your local farmer’s market. Look for local, in-season foods that haven’t travelled long distances to reach you. Organic and other forms of low-input farming that use minimal or no pesticides and fertilisers – which are energy intensive in their manufacture – consume up to 40 per cent less energy, and support higher levels of wildlife on farms; choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste (check Jinja blog Zero Waste article); plant a garden as it will reduce all the energy and waste which normally goes into getting food from the field to our plates, such as transport, refrigeration and packaging; going meatless for just one meal a week can make a difference – vegetarians ecological footprint is estimated to be around half that of meat eaters; recycle all your paper, glass, aluminum, electronics and plastic; buy recycled products like recycling paper)
  • Save water (take shorter, less frequent showers; run the dishwasher and the laundry machine only when full; plant drought-tolerant plants in your garden and yard; wash your car rarely and try taking it to a carwash where they use less water per wash than you would need at home; regularly look for and fix leaks at your home.

The environmental damage caused cannot be undone but you can find ways to minimise your impact on the planet. For more info check the full article at Reset: https://en.reset.org/act/reduce-your-ecological-footprint-0

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