Introduction
The world is currently in a crisis due to pollution and climate change. Since humans are the largest contributors to the crisis, it is their responsibility to embrace environmentally friendly practices. The carbon footprint is the aggregate greenhouse generated by human actions through food, stuff, home, and travel. Since every person contributes to the global footprint, creating a carbon-neutral world is a collective effort (Onat and Kucukvar, 2020). My contribution to the global footprint is slightly higher than the UK average, and improvement is needed. One of the highest rates is observed in the USA, with an average of 16 tones per person (Diacono et al., 2019). The global average is 4 tons per person; neutrality can be achieved when everyone strives to achieve it. Footprint reduction can be approached in a four-pronged strategy of ensuring people reduce the emission of greenhouse gases at home and the stuff bought, travel, and food taken at home (Onat and Kucukvar, 2020). Reduction in each of the four sections is likely to have a positive outcome.
Carbon Reduction in Food
Food plays a significant role in greenhouse emissions based on the food thrown away and left to decompose. The decomposing food significantly contributes to the world’s carbon emissions. The current rate of food being disposed of is 40% making food one of the highest contributors of greenhouse gases (Karolinczak et al., 2021). Society and families must ensure that all the food prepared is consumed and waste minimized at all costs. Dairy and meat must be eliminated because they are major contributors. Encouraging people to be vegetarians helps in reducing greenhouse gases. It is imperative to note that buying locally-produced foods encourages carbon emission reduction (Ronga et al., 2019). On the contrary, refrigerated foods encourage carbon emissions as refrigerators use energy, increasing their carbon footprint. Food from other regions involves transportation which contributes to carbon dioxide emissions. Promoting local food reduces the need for transporting utilities from one place to another.
Carbon Reduction at Home
Homes are considered to be the major contributor to carbon emissions because of the energy usage that takes place. At the individual level, people must always be encouraged to switch lights and devices when not using them. For example, TVs, lamps, and other electrical appliances must be switched off immediately after use (Ratinen et al., 2022). Further, the community can play a role by ensuring that people use renewable energy in their homes to lower carbon usage in the discourse. Recycling domestic wastes helps in overcoming carbon emissions. Community leaders can work closely with energy provision agencies to encourage renewable energy and recycling of home-based wastes (Sarkar et al., 2019). Energy-saving bulbs are significant in lowering the emission rate in the discourse.
Carbon Reduction through Travel
The use of locomotives contributes significantly to carbon emissions. Research by Kause et al. (2019) inferred that the transport industry contributes over 31% of global carbon. The use of solar-powered cars to reduce carbon emissions must be encouraged. It is imperative to note that lowering local and international travel is key to reducing carbon footprint. The use of personal cars increases carbon emissions in the world. For example, if every person uses personal cars to work, the overall carbon emission (Grealey et al., 2022). At a personal level, people must lower their carbon usage by staying near their workplace and walking instead of driving or cycling. Society at large must discourage the use of a personal car and ensure that carbon emission is lowered.
Carbon Reduction through Purchasing Eco-friendly Stuff
Buying household stuff contributes significantly to the overall carbon footprint in the world. For example, when the equipment bought requires more energy, it increases the contribution to the footprints (Willits-Smith et al., 2020). Consumer habits play a significant role in climate change and require people to adjust their behaviors to protect against climate change and neutralize their carbon footprint.
Conclusion
Individuals must therefore refrain from buying stuff that increases emissions, such as motorcycles, cars, and electronics must be reduced (Belkhir and Elmeligi, 2019). Society must therefore revise consumer behavior and ensure that all products increasing emissions, such as plastics, are banned from use for effective outcomes.
References List
Belkhir, L. and Elmeligi, A. (2019) ‘Carbon footprint of the global pharmaceutical industry and relative impact of its major players’. Journal of Cleaner Production, 214(1), pp.185–194. Web.
Diacono, M., Persiani, A., Testani, E., Montemurro, F., & Ciaccia, C. (2019) ‘Recycling agricultural wastes and by-products in organic farming: Biofertilizer production, yield performance, and carbon footprint analysis’. Sustainability, 11(14), pp.38–42. Web.
Grealey, J., Lannelongue, L., Saw, W.Y., Marten, J., Méric, G., Ruiz-Carmona, S. and Inouye, M., (2022) ‘The carbon footprint of bioinformatics’. Molecular biology and evolution, 39(3), pp.24–34. Web.
Karolinczak, B., Dąbrowski, W. and Żyłka, R., (2021) ‘Evaluation of dairy wastewater treatment systems using carbon footprint analysis’. Energies, 14(17), pp.53–66. Web.
Kause, A., Bruine de Bruin, W., Millward-Hopkins, J. and Olsson, H., (2019) ‘Public perceptions of how to reduce carbon footprints of consumer food choices’. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14(2), pp.85-94. Web.
Onat, N.C. and Kucukvar, M., (2020) ‘The carbon footprint of the construction industry: A global review and supply chain analysis’. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 124(2), pp.109-117. Web.
Ratinen, I., Linnanen, L., Claudelin, A. and Halonen, V., (2022) ‘Toward sustainable development: Connecting systems thinking competency and carbon footprint knowledge’. Journal of Sustainable Development, 2(1), pp.34-44. Web.
Ronga, D., Gallingani, T., Zaccardelli, M., Perrone, D., Francia, E., Milc, J. and Pecchioni, N., (2019) ‘Carbon footprint and energetic analysis of tomato production in the organic vs the conventional cropping systems in Southern Italy’. Journal of cleaner production, 220(1), pp.836-845. Web.
Sarkar, B., Guchhait, R., Sarkar, M. and Cárdenas-Barrón, L.E., (2019) ‘How does an industry manage the optimum cash flow within a smart production system with the carbon footprint and carbon emission under logistics framework?’ International Journal of Production Economics, 213(1), pp.243-257. Web.
Willits-Smith, A., Aranda, R., Heller, M.C. and Rose, D., (2020) ‘Addressing the carbon footprint, healthfulness, and costs of self-selected diets in the USA: A population-based cross-sectional study’. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(3), pp.98-106. Web.