Listen to the podcast.

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

Anybody who drives a car, rides a bus, takes an airplane or uses electricity produced by burning fossil fuels contributes in some way to the amount of greenhouses gases rising in our atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide each of us is responsible for producing is referred to as our “carbon footprint.”

With so much focus in recent years upon the problem of global warming and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, a number of websites have popped up that allow people to calculate their personal or household “carbon footprints.” Many of these sites then direct consumers to companies that sell “carbon offsets,” or ways in which people can contribute to developing renewable resources that help absorb or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The idea is that you can compensate for the emissions you help to produce by investing in companies or organizations that help reduce emissions. For example, one site encourages you to invest in reforestation of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, because trees not only help absorb carbon dioxide emissions, but more trees in Africa mean less desert, and potentially fewer droughts. Other projects include renewable energy sources that produce fewer emissions than coal-fired power plants, such as wind or hydropower plants.

Offsetting carbon emissions is far less expensive than many people might think. For example, a family of three traveling from Washington, D.C. to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador (by air and by ship) could offset the emissions produced on that trip for just $53.

Not sure you trust online companies selling carbon offsets? You can also help offset your own emissions by planting more trees in your yard or neighborhood, or buying stock in a wind or solar-power company of your choice.

There are also multiple ways each of us can reduce our carbon footprint by making wise choices about the energy we use in our daily lives. Turning off the lights and appliances when not in use; opening windows and turning on fans instead of air conditioners on days that aren’t very hot; walking or riding a bicycle instead of driving for neighborhood errands; and carpooling or using public transportation to get to work are all easy ways to reduce energy usage and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information about how to reduce your carbon footprint, visit http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/, www.safeclimate.net/calculator/ or http://www.carbonfootprint.com/.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org