Introduction

The climate crisis is worsening every day affecting the lives of everyday people and that’s why it has become such a hot topic of debate. While you push governments to bring in new regulations and vote with your dollar to make companies change their practices, you also need to take certain personal steps to make a positive change and resolve the climate crisis. You need to reduce your home’s carbon footprint and thoughtful landscaping can be a great solution. You can do it yourself or search for “landscape companies near me” and hire professionals. Apart from landscaping, there are several other ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Let’s check them out:

The Details

1. Thoughtful landscaping – Thoughtful landscaping can reduce your home’s carbon footprint drastically and also save you a lot of money. If you can plant trees in the right way, you can get plenty of shade on your property. It can create a cool microclimate that lowers the ambient temperature in your home. That means your air conditioning system has to spend less energy on cooling your home. It will be more efficient, and you would spend less on the energy bill. 

Moreover, when your property is more shaded, the soil won’t lose water due to evaporation as often. You can efficiently water your plants and keep the soil moist for the healthy activity of microorganisms. Water waste would be reduced, and this gets you another positive score on your climate change efforts. 

2. Strip off the lawn – Lawn grass is the largest crop in the United States, followed by corn. It is the plant equivalent of a sponge that does nothing more than hog water and in tune looks pretty. The American lawn obsession isn’t just bad for the environment but also hurts American wallets. Moreover, lawn maintenance with thousands of gallons of water and fertilizers produces more greenhouse gases than your patch of grass absorbs. Lawns are also biodiversity desserts that are a large contributor to vanishing insect populations. 

Instead, you can have better landscaping features that are sustainable and reduce your carbon footprint. Get local plants that are more suitable for your geographic location and climate. You don’t have to contribute towards more emissions due to fertilizer production. A small amount of compost and the local soil is enough for them. Moreover, they are less thirsty for water and can be grown sustainably. 

3. Better insulation – Cooling and heating your home costs half your energy bill. You can reduce that and in turn reduce carbon emissions by installing better insulation for your home. If you can choose the right materials to insulate your home, it can reduce your energy bill and also bring more benefits. For instance, if you insulate your home with mineral wool, also known as rock wool, apart from increasing the energy efficiency of your home, it also reduces certain material costs. For instance, unlike cotton and paper-based insulation, you don’t need to invest in extra fire retardants. It is also extremely moisture resistant and doesn’t get damp or moldy easily. That means you spend less energy, time, and effort on maintenance. Moreover, rock wool is mostly made of recycled content. 

4. Buy energy-efficient appliances – When you buy home appliances make sure that you check for the Energy Star rating. The number of stars on the label is proportional to the energy efficiency of the appliance. Moreover, the label also has estimated power consumption of the appliance. You can use it to figure out how much you would pay on your energy bill every month. You should also switch all the old bulbs and light fixtures in your home to LEDs. If you have ceiling fans, switch to those with brushless motors. When your home is energy efficient, you keep more money in the bank and allow fewer carbon emissions into the atmosphere. 

5. Use manual or electric gardening tools – Gas-powered gardening tools use cheap single-stroke engines that get the job done at the cost of high emissions. A gas-powered mower spews over 80 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and over 50 pounds of other pollutants every year. This number quickly climbs up if you have a large lawn. Gas-powered trimmers aren’t any better. 

That’s why it’s best to switch to manual gardening tools. Yes, it takes more time and effort. But it’s also a great way of getting some exercise and breathing in the fresh air. If manual tools sound too exhausting, you can try the next best alternative. Switch to electric gardening tools. Your operating cost isn’t dictated by the whims of the oil market, there are no emissions to worsen climate change and you don’t have to spend much on maintenance.  

6. Switch to renewables – Investing in solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable sources of energy for your home cuts down on carbon emissions effectively. They can put out several tons of carbon emissions every year and with the lowering cost of installation, in a few years, you can also turn a profit. With an on-grid rooftop solar panel or wind turbine, you can sell excess electricity to the grid and draw power from the grid at night or whenever there is low sunlight or low wind speeds. A lot of people have already made the switch to renewable energy plans, you can see their testimonials at TXU Energy reviews.

7. Grow your produce – Turning your unproductive eye-candy lawn into a sustainable garden can be a great way to reduce carbon emissions. Industrial farming makes heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the food has to travel thousands of miles before it reaches your kitchen. This creates an alarming number of emissions that can be mitigated a little when you grow your produce. It also gives you access to fresh and organic veggies. The “organic” section at the supermarket isn’t remotely environmentally friendly and fresh when compared to your garden veggies. 

Conclusion

Now that you know the steps that need to be taken to reduce your carbon footprint, you should execute them right away. If you need to implement landscaping changes, it’s best to leave that task to the pros by searching for “landscape companies near me”.

Raphael Garcia