3 Easy Ways to Reduce your Carbon Footprint

We have all heard of climate change, the scary man-made phenomenon that threatens the health of our planet every day. When thinking about an issue this big and overwhelming, it’s easy for us to feel helpless and like nothing we do really makes a difference. Even though what we do every day to help, or hurt, our planet doesn’t make a giant difference, the difference is still there. We at The Edge have come up with three simple things you can implement into your lives that will help you reduce your carbon footprint and ultimately help our planet: walk, eat green, and vote.

Walk

Walking is such an easy way to reduce your individual carbon footprint. Transportation is the largest contributor to global warming as it makes up over 26 percent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. By driving less, we can reduce our carbon footprint significantly. What better place to do this than on a walkable college campus! Choosing to walk or bike instead if driving is a decision that will not only help your own health because of the additional exercise you’re getting, but it’s also a decision that will help the environment. If you need to go somewhere you can’t walk or bike to, there are other alternatives! Carpooling is a great way to save multiple trips, so next time you’re going to Harris Teeter, ask your friends if they want to ride with you; it could save them an extra trip in their car. Taking public transportation is another great alternative. Most college campuses have a bus or another form of transportation that is easy for students to use, so take advantage of it.

Eat Green

Another great way to reduce your carbon footprint is to eat green, that is, to cut down on your meat consumption. The meat industry causes significant harm to our environment, so cutting back on meat is a great way to help our planet. Some of the many negative impacts the meat industry has on our environment are: deforestation, specifically in South America where so many forests are being chopped down to make room for farms, greenhouse gas emissions, and water usage since meat production, especially red meat production, requires a large amount of water. A diet that is best for the environment is eating a small amount of meat. The recommended amount of meat for someone who wants to have an environmentally friendly diet is one beef burger a week or one large steak a month. Now, it’s even easier to do this because of all the alternatives like the Impossible Burger! And look, we’re not telling you to completely change your diet and stop eating meat, but next time you’re at a restaurant choosing between a burger or a pizza, choose the pizza, because it’s better for our environment.

Vote

Voting is the easiest and most important way to reduce your carbon footprint. It is estimated that over 8 million environmentalists did not vote in the 2020 presidential election. If people who care about the environment are not voting, it means politicians will shift their campaign towards those who are not as passionate about climate change. Our politicians have the power to implement policies that can help our environment. As individuals, there is only so much we can do in combating climate change, which is why we need to take our efforts to a national level. When voting, we at The Edge encourage you to become informed on where your candidates stand on environmental issues and vote for the candidate you believe will best help combat climate change.

It’s easy to feel helpless when talking about such a large and overwhelming issue, but the simple things you choose to do have an impact, it might not be a gigantic impact, but it’s still an impact. If we all implement these three things into our lives, we might start to see a change in our carbon emissions. These aren’t difficult things to do either, it just requires you to make small, conscious changes in your day to day lives. Always remember, you have the power to make a difference in our world; it just takes a little bit of effort.