In these four weeks, I focused on how we can reduce our carbon footprint. My position with my BAT group was what are the reasons that incease our carbon footprint at home. I realized that we use water, heating, electricity and so on very excessively. I focused on the issues and produced solutions for them. I think that I reduced my carbon footprint in these four weeks and I was more careful in my use. If we don’t pay attention to these, we will leave an uninhabitable world to future generations.
The weather is getting colder and we find out that there are some problems with our heating system and our flat. This week, I am going to talk about the heating problem issues.
Since the weather starts to be worse day by day, we have begun to face some problems. There is a huge storm in the past days and this shows us our window can’t close because of the shortness of the stick so we place a pen to keep it close. Another problem is the door. There is a little open side on the door and this one also affects the degree of our dorm so we stick a carton there. After all, we save a lot of energy from these changes and be ready against the illnesses.
These all show us the main problems of our flat and we figure out all of them. These help us save energy and reduce the carbon footprint. Ultimately, don’t be sick that much.
Today, computers are the most general devices in the world. I use the computer too much for fun and work. This week, I make some changes on my computer and I will talk about the changes and effects of these on carbon footprint.
First of all, I try to give up my computer games addiction so that I save some energy and time from that. Secondly, I change some parts of my computer again save energy and electricity. I hope that my computer opens faster so I don’t need to keep my computer always open or in sleep mode. Overall, I change my hard disk with a faster hard disk. With these habits and part changes, I reduce my electricity usage and carbon footprint.
All in all, I figure out problems with my computer and it helps me to reduce the electricity consumption and time that I wait until the computer opens. Thus, I reduce the carbon footprint. On the other hand, live faster to die faster.
Energy efficiency isn’t just easier on the environment; it also saves you money! When you invest in an energy efficient home, the benefits are tremendous.
Here are lists of household materials to efficiently save energy
Smart Power Strips
The handy devices allow you to connect multiple appliances to a single electrical outlet. Though with traditional power strips, devices plugged in often consume electricity even when you aren’t using them. This results in larger electrical bills and poor home energy efficiency. Smart power strips solve this problem by cutting power to connected items in standby mode. In an average home, this can save you 5-10 percent of the energy you consume.
Charging Stations
Did you know that smartphones plugged into the wall continue to use energy even when they’re charged? Similar to traditional power strips, you’re wasting valuable energy every time you plug in your device. The solutions are something called “smart” charging stations. These stations allow set charging schedules that cut power when the connected device is fully charged. Or, you can purchase a station with an on/off switch. Flipping a switch is considerably easier than remembering to unplug your phone after charging.
LED Lights
One of the best value-for-money options when making your home energy efficient is replacing your existing lights with LED bulbs. Lighting accounts for 25 percent of the average home’s energy costs, which lets energy efficient LED lights really impact your savings. They make up for the initial cost by lasting much longer.
Smart Thermostats
Their ability to save owners both power and cash have made them appealing to those looking for an easy way to save energy. The thermostats work by adjusting the temperature in your house based on whether or not you are at home, and which rooms are in use.
Smart Fridges and Kitchen Appliances
Some people complain about smart fridges because of their high price tag, and many wonder how to improve efficiency on a device that constantly runs. The answer, is that smart fridges save you money by consuming less power during peak demand cycles. The fridges can also encourage your utility company to provide incentive payments, reducing your costs as a homeowner and putting less stress on your local grid.
Energy Efficient Plumbing
Energy efficient toilets provide another excellent way to reduce your energy consumption, this time by saving water. If your toilet was made earlier than 1994, replacing it with a high-efficiency model can save you more than 4,000 gallons of water per year.
High Efficiency Laundry Machines
Washing your clothes uses significant energy and water. However, using an ENERGY STAR certified washer can lower your costs up to 25 percent when compared to standard washers.
To conclude, Using a combination of energy efficient products and smart devices will help make your home environmentally friendly, and lower your current costs.
Small or big, everybody has a hobby in this world. These hobbies some effects on people and nature. Besides, I am an aquarist so this week I will talk about the aquarium and the effects of this.
Today I will talk about the aquarium which I love. In this hobby, I waste too many things. First of all water and electricity are wasted too much for cleaning the aquarium, filtering, lightning, etc. and also I waste the money and time but these are sacrificed things to reach the desired feelings. On the other hand, water consumption can be reduced and I try to do this. For example, I try to make the optimal water changes every week so I save water and provide my fish keep healthily. Moreover, I try to use lights and the filter carefully.
In conclusion, I save electricity and water this week. Thus, I reduce my carbon footprint. After all, this hobby is felt different things in my soul and I suggest this hobby to everyone.
Humans use over half of all accessible water runoff. Of total water use less than 10% is used for domestic use. Households are the smallest consumers of water, but have a large potential impact. Daily water usage can be needed in toilets, shower, faucet, washing machine, leaks, bath, dishwasher, leaks and more. Some of these end uses are detectable (and measurable) while others are more difficult to measure. Managing these consumptions can reduce the impact of over-usage in the carbon footprint. The methods include Turning off the water while we are not using it at the moment; not running dishwashers until it is s full; Installing a dual-flush toilet; Adding water tap aerators; installing a water-efficient Purchase energy- and water-efficient appliances; Purchase energy- and water-efficient appliances and Checking for leaks.
According to studies, switching to water-saving fixtures and appliances can reduce indoor water use by twenty percent. Newer bathroom fixtures and appliances like toilets, shower heads and faucets are designed to be more water-efficient than older models and can save hundreds of gallons a month. Yet, reducing household water use in developing nations can improve households’ ability to meet their needs, and greatly improve quality of life.
In everyday phenomenon, people consume a lot of things and this leads to the increase of their ecological footprint. Our group focused on what we could change in our homes. The first thing that we should consider is identified the forms of consumptions happening in our house. We thought about 3 main consuming activities that increase the carbon footprint. These are usage of electricity, heat and water. Most of us use these energy forms excessively as we have analyzed in the survey we did. Therefore, we must find solutions to decrease these actions in our houses.
The First solution we came up with is lowering the over-usage of electricity by using solar panels. most of the electricity supplies in our houses are produced by burning fossil fuels which have been creating a massive and negative impact on the environment. Solar energy can be the perfect substitute because it is environmental-friendly energy. Elon Musk’s solar panel project can be listed as a very good example to this idea. Elon Musk states “Solar glass Roof replaces your existing roof and brings it to life with beautiful solar tiles that can power your home for decades with the energy you produce.” Nowadays heating is also done by using electricity so in the above way, we can be able to reduce it. The other solution is decreasing our consumption using saving bulb this is cheap, easy and accessible for everyone.
What can we do about over-consumption of water? For this, we can find a two ways of solution. These are behavioral changes and modifying equipment . For example, Turning off the tap while brushing our teeth; Only using dishwashers when they are full and shortening our shower time. we even can use timers while showering to finish in a short time saving plenty of water. Moreover, we can use advanced household appliances like water efficient washers because they use approximately 40 percent less water than regular washers. Using water saving shower heads can also reduce usage.
These are very basic solutions to decrease our carbon footprint we create in our homes. These activities prove to us that everyone can possibly do at least some basic things to decrease their consumption and involve themselves in fighting against ecological destruction we are encountering today in the world.
Problem: Overuse of electric energy by excessive usage of laundry machine, hair dryer, heater, oven, TV, bulb, a refrigerator, dishwasher, iron etc.
Survey Result: Most of people use electrical devices more in their home. For example, the almost 30% use of refrigerator, about 10% use of laundry machine and 12% use of television. In conclusion, this situation increases carbon emissions and then carbon footprint.
Our Solution:
We will plan to increase awareness between people about impacts of carbon emissions on the Earth by sharing photos and informations on social media like instagram.
We will emphasize the negative effects of excessive use of electricity about carbon footprint in our home.
We will search an environment friendly source of energy which is effective to reduce carbon footprint and does not release greenhouse gases into air.
We can plan to implement a solar energy above the roof of houses as a solution to our problem.
So that, we can contact with family members and talk about benefits of solar panels.
We can organize a speech with solar panels campaigns to implement this panels.
What can we do to decrease our carbon footprint? Until now, I focused on what can we do in our homes to reduce our over consumption. This week I thought about other solutions for example transportation. When we use our cars we automatically increase our carbon footprint and we damage to the environment. What should we do is that we should use public transportation more and we can walk this is the best thing to do because this is also very good for our health. In addition, we can use bicycle if the destination is too far to walk we can use bicycles this is also another way both to decrease our over consumption and to be healthier.
REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT with SMALL TOUCHES at KITCHEN and LAUNDRY ROOM
We spend lots of time of our lives at our homes. Also, we affect carbon emissions with some devices in like kitchen, laundry room but we can lower our impacts with easy ways. Here are some suggestions about reducing carbon footprints.
KITCHEN
To grow herbs or plants on windowsill can reduce carbon emissions releasing from kitchen.
We can cook foods which include more vegetables instead of animal-based foods increasing carbon emissions like meat, eggs and dairy.
We should prefer to use repurpose packacking instead of single-use food packacking. In addition, we should decrease to buy plastic-packaged foods.
We can do plans to reduce food waste such as meal planning, less shopping aiming only necessary things, getting inventive with food scraps.
For leftovers, a compost can be set up no matter where.
LAUNDRY ROOM
Before we buy a new laundry machine and dryer, we should search an energy-efficient ones.
We should use plant-based and non-poisonous detergent.
We should take care to wash laundry with cold water.
Hang dry when possible.
We should avoid using fabric softener and dryer sheets.
ECO EFFICIENT HOUSE 