Tips to lower your carbon footprint

There are many little things we can do to reduce our carbon footprint. With this summer’s dangerously high temperatures, more people are realizing the importance of reducing their carbon emissions. Here are some of the best ideas to be a more responsible environmental citizen:

Add solar panels to the roof of your home

Solar panels provide enough energy to supply most homes and you may sell back the surplus electricity to your utility company. If you live in a state with a Net Metering law, you could eliminate your electricity bill or even earn money by selling electricity back to the grid.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint From Food

Eat locally-produced and organic food  It has been estimated that 13% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the production and transport of food. Transporting food requires petroleum-based fuels, and many fertilizers are also fossil fuel-based. Reduce your intake of beef and dairy. It takes a lot of resources to raise cows, and it’s especially bad if you buy beef from somewhere like Brazil, where it was grazed on land that used to be tropical forest but was cleared for agricultural use. Deforestation is a top contributor to carbon emissions and thus climate change.

Other Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Water usage. Reduce the amount of energy used to pump, treat, and heat water by washing your car less often, using climate-appropriate plants in your garden, installing drip irrigation so that plants receive only what they need, and making water-efficient choices when purchasing showerheads, faucet heads, toilets, dishwashers and washing machines.

Reuse and recycle. Estimates suggest that 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the “provision of goods,” which means the extraction of resources, manufacturing, transport, and final disposal of “goods” which include consumer products and packaging, building components, and passenger vehicles, but excluding food. By buying used products and reselling or recycling items you no longer use, you dramatically reduce your carbon footprint from the “provision of goods.” Whenever possible, support clean energy choices and advocate for clean alternatives to fossil fuels, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and appropriately designed hydroelectric and biomass energy sources.

Now is the time to begin saving money with solar energy!

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. 

For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles