Whether we are from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or India, we all live on the same planet Earth. As people of the Earth, we need to do our very best to keep this planet livable for ourselves and our children. Over the past few decades, human ingenuity and advancement have made life much more comfortable and easy for everyone everywhere; however, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased exponentially and our carbon footprints is larger than it has ever been before.
But, what is a carbon footprints? In simple terms, carbon footprints is the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by our actions, and it contributes to climate change. Thankfully there are simple ways that you can implement to reducing your carbon footprints. What’s more, all these can be done within the comfort of our own home.
With these 5 simple ways you can decrease your carbon footprints at home, so let’s get started!
1. Change your lights
If your household happens to use regular light bulbs to brighten the rooms then now is the time to change. Compact fluorescent bulbs are much more eco-friendly than regular light bulbs; one fluorescent bulb alone saves 150 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
On top of that, fluorescent bulbs require less power to run than regular light bulbs, saving electricity. Now you can save the planet with the flick of a switch.
2. Use less hot water
As nice as it feels to have a hot water bath, heating the water takes a lot of energy which also means a lot of carbon emissions. Using normal or cold water to wash not only means saving on the electricity bill, but it also reduces carbon emissions by 500 pounds a year.
If you absolutely must have hot water, then consider installing an on-demand heater instead of a regular one. It will not reduce your carbon emissions as much as if you used regular water but it still reduces it by a considerable amount.
3. Choose a laptop over a desktop
Unlike desktop computers, laptops are created to maximize battery life, so they are purposely designed to be energy efficient. An average laptop can be up to 80% more energy efficient than its desktop counterpart. Better LCD/LED screens, CPUs, adaptors and hard drives all play a part in making laptops much better electronic tools for the planet. One of the many ways to reduce your carbon footprints is as easy as using a laptop rather than a desktop.
Read more;
6 Criteria that Make A Building Green And Reduce its Carbon Footprint
4. Adjust your air conditioner
Air conditioners have now become a household item, available in almost every room of every building, both commercial and residential. We use our Air conditioners pretty much every day, keeping our rooms cool and also using up a lot of energy. You don’t need to turn off your A/C to help the environment, all you have to do is adjust the temperature to something between 23 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius.
By keeping your A/C temperature within this range you will be to keep the room cool, save electricity and reduce carbon emissions.
5. Unplug all your electronic gadgets
A lot of us tend to just leave our gadgets like our computers, our televisions and chargers switched on and left idle or on sleep mode. You may not realize it but this uses up a lot of electrical power which just goes to waste. To save energy and reduce carbon emissions, make sure to turn off all your electronic devices and unplug them from the power socket as well.
Some electronics like a laptop or desktop still drain a little power from a socket even when they are switched off, so it is better to completely unplug these devices when we are not using them.
6. Extra point – get a GBI Certified property
On 21 May 2009, the Green Building Index (GBI) Malaysia was launched to encourage developers to adopt the practice of constructing and designing sustainable buildings using green technology. These types of buildings are given a GBI Certificate and are the most environmentally friendly buildings around, decreasing the use of fossil fuels, adopting sustainable building practices and promoting overall green living.
What’s more, buyers purchasing GBI Certified buildings are given stamp duty exemption, the exemption amount being equal to the additional cost incurred in obtaining the GBI Certificates.
The Earth is not just your home, it is everyone’s home and we all need to do our part and look after our planet, after all, it is the only one we have. Most importantly, you can make a difference by reducing your carbon footprints and contribute to lowering down its impact on the environment.
Want to learn more ways you can help the Earth and still receive a good ROI (Return of Investment)?
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