Reducing Your Home’s Carbon Footprint: The Why and How
The impacts of climate change are being felt throughout America. In the Northeast, infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries, and ecosystems are among the aspects of life being increasingly challenged by heat waves, heavy downpours, and sea level rise. Trees are dying in large numbers in the Northeast due to increasing wildfires, insect outbreaks, and disease. Sea level rise and reduced water availability are threatening the Southeast’s economy and environment. In addition to causing extreme heat, heavy downpours, and flooding in the Midwest, climate change has intensified an array of risks to the Great Lakes. Wildfires have increased in the Southwest due to elevated heat, droughts, and insect outbreaks linked to climate change. As if that weren’t enough, a United Nations report released earlier this month said immediate and widespread action is needed to prevent unsustainable global warming.
Housing has contributed to the carbon footprint responsible for the severe climate crisis the world now faces. A study focusing on approximately 93 million households and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July 2020 found that residential energy use was responsible for roughly 20 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions. With an estimated 70-129 million residents and 62-105 million new homes added to America by 2050, there is abundant opportunity for the problem to worsen.
There’s obviously never been a better time to calculate your home’s carbon footprint, which Dwelly enables you to do. But how can you reduce that footprint to the point it reaches net zero? Fortunately, there are many options.
Simply turning off the lights when you leave a room makes a difference, but when the lights are on make sure they have LED bulbs. Not only do LED bulbs use an estimated 75 to 90 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, they last 25 times longer. LED bulbs can contribute to a greener future in more than one way: The Department of Energy predicts savings of more than $30 billion at today’s electricity prices if there is widespread household use of the bulbs by 2027.
And lights aren’t the only thing that doesn’t need to always be on. Unplugging electric devices not being used is another easy way to reduce your home’s carbon footprint. Doing so can also reduce your monthly energy bills by as much as 20 percent. At a time when Americans spend approximately $19 billion per year in energy costs, that kind of savings is sure to make your wallet happy. Of course, you can save energy even while using electricity. Steps like streaming movies on a smart TV instead of a game console or using a laptop computer rather than a desktop computer help with that goal.
How your home uses water also matters. Turning your water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit can save about 550 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Don’t want to take shorter showers? You can still save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide by installing a low-flow shower head to reduce hot water use.
Can a refrigerator be too cold? According to the Department of Energy, the answer is yes. The department recommends keeping your refrigerator’s fresh food compartment at about 35 to 38 degrees and the freezer at zero degrees to reduce the carbon footprint. Don’t let the refrigerator get too cold, either: Noah Horowitz of the National Resources Defense Council told the New York Times that old refrigerators, which he called “energy hogs,” need to be replaced. “If it’s 15 to 20 years old, it’s a no-brainer to recycle it,” Horowitz said.
It might also be time to replace the air conditioner. Sense, a leading smart home energy company, conducted an analysis of energy data and found approximately 20 percent of Americans have inefficient HVAC systems. As a result, they pay almost four times more annually to cool their homes than similar homes with more efficient systems do. Making those homes more efficient could save 8 percent of residential electricity usage in America overall, as well as eliminate almost 52 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Ways you can reduce your home’s cooling load and allow your air conditioner to work less include planting shade trees and shrubs, closing draperies or window shades on your home’s sunny side during the day, and increasing ventilation by using whole-house fans or portable fans.
Whatever methods you choose to reduce your home’s carbon footprint, you can take pride in them. As President Ronald Reagan said during his 1984 State of the Union address, “Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge; it’s common sense.” Nearly four decades later, his words are as true as ever.
