Author : Anna Stenning

Talking about the environment for some people may be an alien subject and a lot of people may not know how their daily actions have an impact on the atmosphere Even small tasks such as disposing rubbish bins and cooking can leave ones carbon footprint, which will eventually affect the environment In recent times studies have shown that our actions have a direct affect on the environment and certain actions to which we may not have considered to be adding to the carbon emissions have been a cause of this

If one is to become more aware of how to help in reducing their carbon emission, they must first know what a carbon footprint is How does one leave their carbon footprint and how do you monitor this? In simple terms this is a measure of the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) released into the atmosphere This is expressed in the equivalent tons of carbon dioxide or commonly seen as CO2

Things like driving your car causes a rise in the release of CO2 through the burning of fuel in ones engine depending on how much fuel your car consumes Even when one heats up their house using electricity, coal, oil or gas then CO2 is generated The generation of producing electricity may emit a certain amount of CO2 Simple tasks such as buying food and goods may seem like a harmless event, but the production of food and goods will emit CO2

If one was to break this down into bullet pointed facts the figures would very much look like this: in the UK using a Gallon of petrol fuel, approximately 10 4kg of carbon dioxide is released A carbon footprint is therefore calculated over a time period of a whole year One gallon of using oil for heating will produce 13 6kg of CO2 emissions

Simple daily activities such as travelling via public transportation for distances of more than 7 miles will clock up the numbers in carbon emissions Even driving your own car for a distance of more than 3 miles and travelling on plane journeys of distances of over 2 2 km further add to the emission rate If you use your computer on a daily basis, having them on for more than 32 hours consumes 60 watts of power Production of plastic bottles can also release a large number of CO2

Simple measures can be adopted to reduce your carbon footprint, such as having the heating system on a timer and avoiding keeping them on all night Having the computer and television on for a few hours and avoiding leaving them on when the room is not occupied Keeping lights turned off when the rooms are not in use or having them set on a timer Try to use other means of transportation other than your car can help reduce the carbon emission It is surprising how much we contribute to the carbon emissions without realising it, which is why it is useful to research the matter and begin acting upon reducing the emission rate

Anna Stenning is an expert on measuring ones carbon footprint having researched the subject extensively.

Syndication Source: Article Wild

Filed under: Healthy Home

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