You’ve probably been hearing the term “carbon footprint,” a lot these days – but what does it actually mean? Your carbon footprint is how much energy you use, and how much your lifestyle contributes to the emission of greenhouse gasses, like carbon and methane. Reducing your carbon footprint, by doing things like switching to solar energy, is an important way to keep our environment greener and healthier for the future. It’s never too late to try to reduce your carbon footprint to preserve the planet for the future, so let’s get started with ways you can live a greener life!
Understanding Your Carbon Footprint
A lot of daily activities, such as using electricity in your home, driving a car, or disposing of household waste all contribute to greenhouse gasses. To understand how big your carbon footprint is, look online for tools that can calculate it for you: all you have to have on hand to create an estimate of your carbon footprint is your monthly utility bills and your car’s maintenance records.
The calculator will estimate your footprint based on your home energy use, transportation style, and waste production, depending on your location. This way you’ll have an idea of how much you’re contributing to greenhouse emissions, and how much you might be able to reduce your carbon footprint by making small changes.
How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you’ll need to do some planning, and change some of your daily habits. All of the little things can add up, like driving to the grocery store multiple times a week, driving to pick up your children from school, or leaving the lights on in a room that you’re not in. And did you know that if you don’t wash out plastic containers before throwing them into the recycling bin, they will be sent to regular trash? In fact, in some areas, the whole bag of recyclables will be thrown into the regular trash.
You might not realize just how much your lifestyle is contributing to greenhouse emissions, so take a look at a few ways you can reduce your footprint.
Plan Ahead
Before going to the grocery store, make a complete list of everything that you need before going. Take the time to walk around your home and make sure you know what you need before going to the store, so you don’t have to make a second trip because you’ve forgotten something. In addition, try to consolidate all of your errands that require driving into one day, so you can cut down on your car use.
Consider Solar Energy
Another major way that you can reduce your carbon footprint is by switching to solar power for your home or business. Solar energy is the cleanest form of energy because it is renewable, carbon-free, and pollution-free. The carbon footprint of solar energy is roughly 20 times less than that of coal-powered electricity sources. A residential solar panel system can provide the electricity needs of an entire home with about 80% fewer carbon emissions than fossil fuels.
Worried about the cost of switching to solar power? Don’t worry: there are major financial incentives for going solar. Solar energy systems are incredibly affordable these days: not only can you save money on your electric bills by installing one, but you can also get federal and state incentives of up to 26% of the cost of your system, increase your property value, and get a return on your investment more quickly than you might think!
But beyond all of the incentives available, the actual costs of solar energy systems have gone down dramatically in the last few decades: in fact, the cost of an average-sized residential solar energy system decreased 55% between 2010 and 2018, and that number is not even including the incentives mentioned above.
If you are considering going solar, come to Go Solar Energy. We will provide you with the best service and all the information you need, for free. Working with a trusted company like Go Solar Energy will not only help you get the most efficient solar panels, but will also help you to save thousands of dollars, since our agents work with the top-rated solar companies in the nation, and can compare all available plans and find the right one for your needs. We will go over all of the tax exemptions in your state and make sure we save you as much money as possible. To get free instant quotes, simply enter your zip code in the bar on our home page, or to speak with one of our licensed agents, call 888-290-3112.