Pollution fills our air every single day and we humans contribute heavily to that. Most people don’t realize there are many simple ways to protect our environment; here are some easy yet effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint:

Cut back on driving

One great way to reduce your carbon footprint is to cut back on driving – consider other transportation alternatives such as walking, biking, or carpooling. The CDC recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day (or 150 minutes each week). In doing this, you’re also taking advantage of the health benefits that come with simply going for a walk for 30 minutes including lowering your blood pressure and reducing stress. If you do need to drive, try to avoid heavy traffic as much as you can; the longer your engine runs, the more dangerous gases are released into the air. Consider reducing the amount of air conditioning you use in your vehicle as well. You can always roll down the window to cool off or get fresh air.

Be mindful of food waste

Another simple step to protecting the environment (and your wallet) is to cut back on your food waste. If you’re cooking food at home, try to only cook the amount of food you’ll need for that meal. If you end up with leftovers, you can have those for another meal that week. You can also take your leftovers from a restaurant to help cut back on waste. If you’re able to, another idea to consider would be composting. This would be taking any leftover organics you may have and let them decompose for soil use later on. This ensures you don’t throw any unnecessary products away that could be repurposed for something else. Common compost items include fruits, vegetables, and grass.

Try to recycle more

Similar to composting, recycling is a great way to reuse materials. Common recyclable items include paper, aluminum, plastic, glass, cardboard, and metal. If you’re not able to recycle something, consider using it in a “do-it-yourself” (DIY) project. These projects can be used to make gifts or even decorate your home on top of reducing your carbon footprint.

Making changes in your home

There are also several ways to reduce your overall carbon footprint in your home. One step to take would be to turn your thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter to conserve energy; you can always open windows to cool down or add more layers to warm up. With this, you should also make sure your home is well insulated – this will help keep you warm in the winter. Another thing to consider would be to line dry your clothes when you can; this will help save your spare change if you use the laundromat and save you even more money if you have your own dryer. Lastly, try to unplug devices in your home when they’re not in use. Many people believe that even if a device is plugged in but turned off it doesn’t pull any power; this is incorrect. As long as your appliances and devices are plugged in, they are still drawing power from the outlet. When you’re done with a device, you eventually turn it off anyway – it is just as easy to unplug it as well to help save energy.

There are hundreds of other ways to reduce our carbon footprints; though they may not all be feasible for everyone, we hope you’ll consider some of these tips to help protect the environment. Remember – we only have one Earth!