Now that you understand what an ecological footprint is (see the article “What is an ecological footprint?” to learn more), you can try to reduce it with simple tips, tricks and advice. To maintain the greatest transparency, it is important to mention that obviously the efforts of a single household will not be enough to tip the scales overnight. However, the actions of one person lead to another, then another, then another, and so on. Even if you think you do not see any change now, each action has an impact and taken together, these actions can bring about a significant change.
Reduce your ecological footprint at home
Gas emissions from Canadian households have been constant for several decades. It must be said that despite the global climate situation, no Canadian citizen has been informed of new measures aimed at reducing our consumption. In 2019, this consumption amounted to 43 megatonnes of CO2 produced by Canadian homes. The solutions to reduce this inglorious relationship are known and rather simple to implement in our daily lives:
- Reduce your water consumption by taking shorter showers and avoiding baths as much as possible Take slightly cooler showers to reduce household electricity consumption Practice recycling and composting
- Reduce your use of the dryer and hang your clothes out more often (Perfect for our merino wool hat - Thuya which does not go in the dryer)
- Turn off the lights in unused rooms
- Reduce the heating of the house and more particularly the heating of unoccupied rooms
- Use as little as possible simple-to-use products such as paper towels, cotton swabs, etc.
Reduce the impact of your food consumption
Although we can be proud of many things in Canada, our food consumption and especially our food waste are not among them. Unfortunately, the average Canadian throws away 79 kg of food per year. That’s 20 kg more than an American! Our consumption, often focused on ultra-processed products and meat products, also contributes enormously to our ecological footprint as Canadians:
- Reduce your consumption of red meat (beef, pork, lamb, etc.) and replace it, ideally with plant-based products, white meats (poultry, pork, veal) or seafood (fish, seafood, etc.)
- Reduce the purchase of ultra-processed products
- Favour food products from Quebec, or at least from Canada
- Buy products such as grains, cereals, vegetables in bulk to minimize the use of unnecessary, plastic and disposable packaging
- Pollute less with your travels
In 2019, transportation was the second largest source of CO2 emissions in the country. So high that they almost equal the amount of CO2 emitted by oil and gas exploitation. With an emission of 60 megatons for the transport of goods by truck, 51 megatons for the transport of passengers by light truck, 35 megatons for the transport of passengers by car, 12 megatons for the transport of goods by plane, train and boat and 18 megatons for the transport of passengers by plane, bus, train and motorcycle as well as for the category "Others", there is room to find solutions:
- Reduce your car journeys as much as possible
- Promote carpooling to avoid taking your car alone
- Consider buying a smaller or electric car, and therefore possibly less polluting
- Use public transport as much as possible when possible
- Avoid air travel when possible
- Reduce your ecological footprint when shopping
We buy all kinds of products every day for the home, friends, children and also to please ourselves. This consumption, which is even the basis of our economic system, is however very rarely eco-responsible. With global mass production and all the information consumers don’t know, it’s easy to get lost and continue our bad consumer habits:
- Use reusable bags for shopping, especially for grocery shopping (Our partner Another Land Nearby’s shipping bags are meant to be reused)
- Use bamboo or metal straws instead of plastic
- Ditch plastic water bottles and opt for reusable ones
- Buy reusable glass or plastic lunch boxes instead of pre-prepared meals
- Prioritize buying second-hand clothing that you can find in thrift stores or second-hand stores
- Prioritize local products (like Greener Locals?!)
- Encourage pro-businesses producing eco-responsible products (like us?!)
- Prioritize products made from eco-responsible raw materials (see the “Raw materials” section of the Greener Locals newspaper to find out more and the Greener Locals store to find out more)