Top 5 Things You Can Do At Home To Fight Climate Change

If there’s one thing 2020 has taught us, it’s that climate change is a concerning and ongoing problem. With both the media and businesses showing a commitment to the issue, many people are wanting to reduce their carbon footprints. That’s why we’re sharing our top five tips to get you started from home, to help you feel ‘climate positive’ about reducing your impact. 

You might be aware that electricity is a key part of your ‘primary’ footprint - aka the biggest part of your carbon footprint. However, this is one of the easiest things to address in a household.

Switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier today. The best way to find a good-value, green supplier is to use a comparison website. Websites such as Big Clean Switch will be able to help you find a suitable renewable tariff at a good price.

Transport is another big factor that impacts our primary footprint. It’s important to look at how your daily travel choices may be harming the planet. Private transport - in the form of a taxi or car - is one of the world’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases. 

Take a bus or rail trip for longer journeys, or consider a bike for shorter ones. Cycling has a carbon footprint of about 21g of CO2 per kilometre - which is less than a tenth the emissions of driving. Consider carpooling too.

We’re surrounded by plastic wherever we look and single-use items are a BIG offender to our secondary footprint. However, not all plastic is bad. It’s important that we look at the lifecycle of the product and apply the 5 R’s to our thinking.

What are the 5 R’s? These are 5 alternatives you should be considering when it comes to waste management. Apply them in order to manage your intake effectively:

1. Refuse (wherever possible first); 2. Reduce; 3. Reuse; 4. Recycle; 5. Rot.

4. Choose seasonal and sustainable produce
It’s widely known that eating less meat (particularly red meat) will have a huge impact on reducing your carbon footprint but have you thought about making your other food choices more climate friendly too?
Eating with the seasons can help limit your impact. Buying seasonal groceries means you can cut down the emissions released when transporting food across the country and globe. Additionally if you eat seasonally, look into getting local or unwanted supermarket vegetables delivered to your door. Oddbox are a fantastic business that will deliver rescued fruit and vegetables to you on a regular basis. Don't forget number 5 of the 5R's - Rot. Turn your kitchen scraps into compost (either in your garden or home composting bin)!

5. Get carbon-clever with clothes

Fast fashion has so many implications for both people and planet. The industry’s obsession with producing new clothes for each season means more greenhouse gas (carbon) emissions with manufacturing and more clothes wasting in landfill.

We would always advise you “repair before you re-buy”. If you do need to buy new, there are a lot of credible brands now producing clothes with organic standards. It’s also extremely important to look local for clothing - whether that be second-hand shops in your neighbourhood or clothes made in the UK or Europe. Don't forget to support your small businesses and shop local whenever you can 💪🏻