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Small Yet Powerful Ways to Reduce Your Daily Household Carbon Emissions

With Australia’s heightened cost of living coupled with climate considerations, finding methods to reduce your carbon footprint and boost your energy efficiency is sure to be of growing importance for your household. These green or eco changes can be significant, like installing solar panels to deliver sustainable power to your home, or more incremental, like updating your lights to more efficient bulbs when they next go out, or even setting up a compost in your backyard. 

Whatever pace you choose to reduce your ongoing carbon footprint, staying informed on all the small changes you can make will help you take more incremental steps to sustainability that can add up to one big leap (and one tinier carbon footprint) over time.

Below, we’ll explore some of these small yet powerful ways you can reduce your daily household carbon emissions one step at a time.

Invest in Solar Power for your Household

When it comes to green swapovers, investing in rooftop solar panels is likely to be the most obvious first step for Australian families. But on top of solar panels, Aussie homeowners also have the option to invest in solar batteries and solar hot water heaters as well.

Australian families are advised to consider solar investment opportunities that align best with their budget. Even if you aren’t in a position to invest in a full solar photovoltaic system for your roof yet, you can still benefit from at least swapping out your gas or electric hot water system for a cleaner, solar alternative instead. 

In addition to making your household more environmentally friendly, you’ll also reduce your heating and cooling bill as the solar hot water will mean you pay less each bill period. That’s a big win – doing your part for the planet and saving money at the same time.

Upgrade to an Electric Vehicle

If you drive a combustion engine car, chances are you’re contributing, in part, to carbon emissions that then go on to affect our atmosphere. Burning petrol also greatly contributes to poor air quality in urban areas across Australia. Thankfully, with more electric vehicle models arriving on our shores annually, now may just be the perfect time for you to invest in either a hybrid vehicle or a pure electric vehicle. 

While a hybrid electric vehicle still consumes fuel, it burns much less than a regular combustion engine vehicle and, therefore, has lower emissions. Contrastingly, a purely electric vehicle that you need to plug in to charge burns no emissions at all, being the top choice for environmentally conscious households who are looking to do their part for the planet. 

We recommend checking out the government’s Green Vehicle Guide to find an EV model that suits your lifestyle best.

Swap Outdated Halogen Bulbs for Smarter LED Lights

Upgrading your home’s lighting to smart, programmable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is another great way to boost energy efficiency while adding a delightful splash of colour to your modern home. LEDs are an excellent alternative to traditional, inefficient halogen or incandescent light bulbs and allow you to have complete control over the look and vibe of your interior spaces.

LED lights are also incredibly easy to install. They’re available in a wide range of bulb styles and will fit into your existing light fittings, whether you have a socket or downlights. You can find smart LED downlights, high-intensity security flood lights for the outside, or even LED work lights that can illuminate your outdoor spaces or garage with brilliant intensity – and with much smaller energy requirements than traditional alternatives.

LED lights were actually developed specifically to use far less energy than traditional light globes, allowing you to keep your house well-lit without having to compromise your commitment to clean and green living. So if your home happens to still have outdated halogen or incandescent lighting, you should consider swapping out your older globes for modern smart LEDs or maybe even hiring a qualified and licensed electrician to install LED downlights for you.

Compost Your Garden & Food Waste

Composting is an excellent way to adopt some sustainable habits in your yard and reduce the amount of organic waste matter that your home contributes to landfills. This is particularly important for emissions, as decaying organic matter in landfills creates lots of methane. This greenhouse gas directly contributes to global warming.

You can compost most organic matter from your garden and kitchen, apart from meat. Coffee grounds, veggie scraps, fruit peels and scraps, egg shells, bread and more make excellent compost. A good idea is to invest in a kitchen compost bin, which you can then empty into your larger garden compost bin.

A top bonus tip here: get yourself a raised, tumbler compost bin. There are a few reasons for this. One is that rats and mice love compost, and a raised, closed-lid tumbling bin will keep them out of it and keep your garden free from vermin. The other is that regularly tumbling your compost will help it to aerate, which will assist with the natural decomposition process.

Once your compost has decayed down to a rich, dark soil-like substance, which should take six months or so, you can spread this nutrient-rich matter on your garden and flower beds to give your green and colourful friends a much-needed nutrient boost or mix it into potting mix when you’re potting new seedlings. The nutrients in compost are excellent for growing all types of vegetables and other plants, making your garden more sustainable and lowering your household’s emissions.

Reduce your Household’s Carbon Footprint Step by Step

Remember that building sustainable habits is always going to be a gradual process. But when you begin to make small, positive changes and habits towards a less wasteful and more efficient lifestyle, these habits can become more manageable for your family to practice collectively. It’s all about laying an eco-friendly foundation upon which you can continue to build your own carbon-cutting processes.

By utilising the tips we’ve provided above – from investing in solar hot water heaters, swapping out your petrol for an electric vehicle, upgrading to energy-efficient LED light bulbs and embracing the power of composting – you and your family can build practices that help you contribute to Australia’s own climate-conscious sustainable development goals.