A Healthy Planet Makes for Healthy People – Lowering Your Carbon Footprint

Submitted by Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon

Your “carbon footprint” is how much greenhouse gas your actions cause to be released into the atmosphere each year. For the average Canadian, this is 22 tonnes per year. Considering that the average for the rest of the G20 nations in the world is 8 tonnes per person, we’re not doing all that well as a nation. Climate change and global warming affect everyone, as people who experienced historic flooding along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence river this past spring can attest to. Cottage country experienced record flooding as well. All of us will benefit from reducing or eliminating greenhouse gas production, but the challenge becomes what can an ordinary person do about this?  The good news is that it turns out that there is lots you can do. The following suggestions start with simple, inexpensive changes you can make and lead up to more expensive options you might consider if you can.

• Go Zero Waste. Trucking garbage around, incinerating it, and putting it in landfill generates a LOT of greenhouse gases and causes pollution. The manufacturing and transportation of packaging materials also results in the same problems. There are tons of blogs, workshops, websites and ideas around that give you ideas on how to reduce or eliminate your household garbage. For some ideas to get you started, see the August edition of this newsletter.
• Buy Local. When you buy food or items grown or manufactured in distant places, there is more fuel used to transport these things to you, releasing more greenhouse gases into the air. Spending your money on local business reinvests it in your local economy, helping you, and your friends and neighbours too. Items manufactured in other countries may also have been harvested or made by people working in unsafe conditions or who are paid very little. Buying local means you know that Canadian standards for fair wages and safety for workers have been enforced.
• Walk or bike when you can. Need to run out to the corner store for something? Consider walking (or biking if you’re in a hurry!). People-powered transportation uses no fuel and the exercise is good for our health.
• Consider teleconferencing rather than face to face meetings. There are lots of free computer programs that allow for groups of people to talk face to face by video or meet in a group typing chat platform. Skype and Google Hangouts are two examples. To save time and driving, the next time your organization meets, consider trying a meeting this way instead.
• Turn down your thermostat and air conditioning. A lot of home heating systems run on natural gas or fuel oil. The less you burn, the less greenhouse gases you will produce. It’s easy to put on a sweater and a pair of slippers and you’ll save money on your bills too!
• Plant deciduous trees outside areas of your home with lots of sun exposure. The sun hitting your house is your friend in winter when you want your house to warm up, and your enemy in the summer when you want your house to be cooler. Deciduous trees shade your house in summer, keeping it cooler and lose their leaves in the fall to let the sun warm your house in winter. Trees also pull carbon out of the air as they grow, an added benefit!
• Don’t rake your leaves to the curb. Compost them on your property and/or use them as mulch and fertilizer for your lawns and gardens. Trucking leaves away removes carbon from the soil on your property and adds greenhouse gases into the air from the motor fuel used to transport them. Getting rid of your leaves also increases your property maintenance bills because you’ll have to pay to water and fertilize your lawns and gardens more. The tax dollars spent on removing leaves could be better put to other purposes.
• Support government initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas production. Be supportive of investments in infrastructure such as improving public transportation, installing electric vehicle charging stations and for initiatives like updating the building code so we can demand that housing be built with sustainable principles in mind. (For example, constructing buildings that maximize passive heating and cooling so they use less energy for these things.)
• Educate yourself on ways to lower your carbon footprint. The internet has lots of ideas for you to consider. Do a browser search on “Drawdown.org” for example. Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon also has film nights and panel discussions on these topics  from January to April every year. Be on the lookout for posters in community businesses and spaces for details on when and where these events are held.
• Get things fixed when you can, rather than replacing them. Sometimes this can be as simple as picking up a new part for your blender, getting a friend to sew the rip in your seam, or taking your bike into a repair shop. Repairing something rather than replacing it means less greenhouse gases released. Fuel and energy are needed to manufacture, package and transport a new item to a store. Repairing something also means less waste to be transported for recycling, incineration or landfill.
• Include home efficiency upgrades in your renovation plans. Improving insulation, replacing old windows, and changing to a sustainable home heating system (for example, a pellet stove rather than a natural gas furnace) are all things you can consider in your renovation plans. Reducing your needs for heating and cooling, and improving your home’s energy efficiency lowers your bills as well as your carbon footprint.
• Go solar. Solar power can generate electricity and provide hot water. Many solar installers offer free, no obligation consultations to determine if switching to solar is a feasible option for you. If it isn’t, consider joining a community clean energy co-operative or signing up with an organization like Bullfrog power: https://www.bullfrogpower.com .
• Go Electric. For some of us, public transportation is just not an option because of where we live. The next time you buy a car, consider investing in a hybrid or fully electric vehicle.

To Learn More: To learn more about Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon, please visit our Facebook page and click “like” to follow us!