This list of 10 simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint at home are quick practical wins you can adapt into your everyday life. Easy eco friendly lifestyle tips and swaps that add up, save you money and help simplify your life.
Living sustainably isn't about wearing a hair shirt and living off-grid. It's about sensible practical steps that benefit you as well as the planet. This list of 10 eco-friendly actions are suitable for everyone including beginners and will help you reduce your environmental impact everyday.
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Jump to:
- What is a carbon footprint and why does it matter?
- 1. Eat Sustainably: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
- 2. Green your money : Eco-Friendly Banking & Investing
- 3. Make Your Home More Energy Efficient
- 4. Cut Energy Use from Household Appliances
- 5. Drive Less: Eco-Friendly Transport Tips
- 6. Sustainable Fashion: Reduce Your Clothing Footprint
- Did you know?
- 7. Composting and Low-Carbon Gardening at Home
- 8. Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle: Reduce Your Waste Footprint
- 9. Eco-Friendly Household and Bathroom Swaps
- 10. Reduce Everyday Plastic Waste
- Common questions around reducing your carbon budget
- Final Thoughts: Start Small, Stay Consistent
- 💬 Reviews
What is a carbon footprint and why does it matter?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the planet. It's measured in greenhouse gas emissions and is a simple way to understand how harmful different actions or habits are. The larger the carbon footprint, the more harmful that action. Reducing our carbon footprint is crucial to slow down the climate emergency, reduce extreme weather events and protect our eco-system.
1. Eat Sustainably: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
With 30% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions coming from food, eating a sustainable diet and reducing foodwaste are the top most impactful things you can do at home to reduce your carbon footprint. A sustainbale diet is about less meat and dairy and more plants and grains. It's better for the planet and better for our own health too. The Real Meal Deal is all about making a sustainable diet simple with lots of easy recipes. Check out this guide for more information about eating and cooking sustainably . and these top tips for reducing foodwaste.
2. Green your money : Eco-Friendly Banking & Investing
Your money is your future and eco investing your money is one of the most powerful things you can do to tackle the climate crisis. Many high street banks and pension providers still invest your money heavily in fossil fuels and products linked to deforestation. A growing number of people including small investors are calling for change and you can too. Many pension providers now offer ethical investment products following demand.
- Switch to a High Street or Main Street bank that doesn't invest in fossil fuels.
- Move to sustainable options in your pension fund.
- Move away from investment funds and pensions linked to deforestation.
3. Make Your Home More Energy Efficient
Energy usage in our homes accounts for roughly 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Poorly insulated homes lose heat quickly, which is inefficient and expensive. These quick wins will help reduce your carbon footprint and also save you money. You may also be eligible for a grant to help with improving the energy efficiency of your home.
- Ensure your loft & cavity walls are well insulated.
- Reduce drafts around doors and windows.
- Upgrade your boiler if necessary to a more efficient one.
- Double or triple glaze windows.
- Research solar panels for your roof space.
- Can you install a ground or air-source heat pump?
4. Cut Energy Use from Household Appliances
We all have many electrical appliances and these are some quick wins to reduce the amount of energy we consume. For tips on using cooking appliances more efficiently, check out this guide to top energy efficiency cooking tips.
- Avoid overfilling your fridge & let food cool before placing it inside. Keep the filter free from dust.
- When boiling water, only heat the amount you need.
- Using a washing machine at 30 C will use around 40% less energy than on a higher temperature setting. Ensure you have a full load before washing.
- Don't leave appliances on standby. Install timers and switch them off at the wall.
- Computers, printers, etc take around 9% of our energy usage. Switch off when not in use
- Lighting accounts for 18% of our household energy. Energy-efficient lightbulbs use 75% less energy than the standard to generate the same level of light.
- Don't leave lights on unnecessarily.
- Install timers on appliances such as TVs, computers, printers, and broadband routers to switch off automatically at night.
- Delete unnecessary emails, spam, and photos. The backup process required to store all this data uses energy!
5. Drive Less: Eco-Friendly Transport Tips
Cars & trucks account for around one-fifth of all CO2 emissions.
Government figures show around 60% of journeys of less than 2 miles are made by car. One-third of drivers use cars for walking-distance journeys. Because emission systems fitted in cars take around 5 minutes to activate, many of these short journeys cause high pollution levels and expose drivers & passengers to harmful pollution bursts.
Try these carbon reducing tips:-
- Turn your engine off when parked as an idling car can produce up to twice the emissions of a car that's in motion.
- Try car sharing! Asking friends to car share for environmental reasons is easy!
- Walk or cycle short distances rather than drive. A great way to exercise.
- When running errands, plan your trip to make the most of your journey.
- Switch to public transport.
6. Sustainable Fashion: Reduce Your Clothing Footprint
Fashion is the world's second most polluting industry after oil. You've probably heard the term 'Fast Fashion', associated with buying cheaper clothing you only wear once or a couple of times. These eco habits will lower the carbon impact of your clothing and save you money.
- Buy Less! A capsule wardrobe is owning fewer clothes that you wear more often. Mix and match to create different outfits.
- Lend and borrow from friends. If you have an event, can you lend or borrow instead of buying new?
- Shop second hand. This is an easy way to extend the lifecycle of an item as well as shopping cheaply for clothes and grabbing a bargain. Charity shops and Vinted are great places. Oxfam also have an online clothes section that includes some designer pieces.
- Only wash clothes when necessary. Try airing them instead if they are not dirty.
- Wash with a full load.
- Dry clothes outdoors whenever possible and minimise the use of your tumble dryer.
- Textiles should never be put into a landfill bin. Clothes release toxic gases such as CO2 and methane when they are left to decompose in a landfill, which in turn adds to global warming.
Did you know?
It takes 7,600 litres of water to make just one pair of jeans and 2,700 litres to make a simple t-shirt.
7. Composting and Low-Carbon Gardening at Home
If you're lucky enough to have your own garden, then composting and eco-friendly gardening are great ways you can make a difference. If you don't have your own garden, maybe you have access to an allotment or even just a container garden or window box.
Much of our foodwaste can be composted at home! It can be done all year round & it's an effective way to shrink your environmental impact and recycle as nature intended. Check out this guide on how to compost food scraps at home.
Switching over to sustainable gardening practices helps create a garden you can enjoy, admire and even eat. It reduces your environmental footprint, by increasing carbon storage, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and contributing to plant and animal biodiversity. Here are a few tips to create your eco-friendly garden:
- Plant trees. Planting trees helps to store carbon from the atmosphere into the soil.
- Grow your own organic food. Not only does this help to reduce food miles, it also helps to save water and fossil fuels.
- Compost your waste. The less green garden waste and food scraps that go into landfill the better. You also get to use the compost in your sustainable garden.
- Take responsibility for your gardening practices. Think carefully before you reach for the bug spray or synthetic fertilizer! So many good, sustainable alternatives exist - use your compost to help feed your plants and get worms and insects working for you.
- Minimise your use of power tools. Mowers, blowers, and brush-cutters have an environmental impact. Try an energy-efficient mower, mow less often and keep the grass height to about 4 to 5 centimetres - it's better for your sustainable lawn as well.
- Create a haven with a diverse range of plants. Not only do you help increase plant biodiversity, but you also provide a habitat for animals, beneficial insects, and birds.
8. Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle: Reduce Your Waste Footprint
By reducing and sorting waste, emissions from the average home could fall by 0.25 tonnes of CO2 per year. Our main aim needs to be on REDUCING what we use, then REUSING, and then finally RECYCLING. Avoid single-use items wherever possible.
All councils and authorities differ in what they recycle kerbside. However, it's often possible to recycle far more products through other recycling points which can minimize our waste to landfill. Waste for recycling should be clean and dry. If in doubt, leave it out. Check you local council website to understand what items can be recycled both at kerbside and at local waste sites.
Repurposing is an important low carbon lifestyle change as it not only extends the life of a product but prevents a new one from being made. This saves resources and also energy and fuel.
Sites such as Freecycle.org & ilovefreegle.org are great ways to pass on stuff you no longer need. Facebook Marketplace or Vinted allow you to sell second hand items and charity shops accept a wide variety of items.
Repairing items extends their life which leads to lower consumption. Repair Cafe is a worldwide organisation that can help. Local Facebook groups are good places to find repairers for items.
9. Eco-Friendly Household and Bathroom Swaps
These easy sustainable swaps for everyday items will help you consume less and reduce your single-use plastic.
- Beeswax wraps are a great environmental alternative to clingfilm. Although more expensive than cling film, they will last 12-18 months and can be re-waxed. You can also use an upturned plate to cover bowls or invest in a set of reusable containers with lids for storing food in the fridge & freezer.
- Avoid Wet wipes which contain plastic, don't break down and cause blockages in sewage pipes. For cleaning, use reusable cloths or old flannels.
- Environmentally friendly toilet paper is made from recycled paper as opposed to virgin paper. This preserves trees, protects habitat, and saves energy. Toilet rolls can also be bought without any plastic wrapping.
- Plastic toothbrushes cannot be recycled & take over 400 years to decompose. Bamboo toothbrushes are an excellent alternative.
- Toothpaste tubes are difficult to recycle and take around 500 years to decompose in landfill. Toothpaste tabs are a good environmental alternative.
- Swapping to re-usable make-up and face wipes that can be put through the washing machine are easy swaps for disposable options, including cotton wool pads.
- There are many sustainable alternatives available to sanitary products. Period pants are increasingly popular. Washable cloth sanitary pads are discreet and excellent sustainable alternatives. You might also like to try Mooncups. If these options aren't for you then consider switching to 100% organic tampons & sanitary pads, which have a lower environmental impact.
- Soap bars, as well as shampoo & conditioner bars last a long time and, are good sustainable alternatives to liquid soap and bottled shampoo & conditioner. You could also try refills of soap, shampoo & conditioner or buy in bulk to reduce plastic.
- A dish of traditional shaving soap, complete with brush and real razor are great ways for men to reduce their waste. They last an incredibly long time, compared with aerosol shaving foams.
10. Reduce Everyday Plastic Waste
Only 9% of all the plastic ever produced, has been recycled. It's vital we find ways to reduce it in our everyday lives. Look in your bin, find the most used plastic items and start with those. Try these tips.
- Carry a re-usable coffee cup & environmentally friendly water bottle.
- Shop for fruit & veg package free or sign up for a plastic-free veg box scheme.
- Take re-usable containers to buy meat and fish from deli counters
- Look for non-plastic alternatives to common household & personal hygiene products
- Have your milk delivered in glass bottles
- Clingfilm or foodwrap can't be recycled, try Beeswax wraps instead, or used an upturned plate to cover dishes!
- Making your smoothies is a great way to reduce plastic and food waste. Smoothies work best with fruit that's a little past its best so can help reduce foodwaste too!
- See if you have a Zero Waste Store near you.
- If you can't find an item plastic-free, buy it in a larger container as this will use less plastic in the long run.
- Let retailers, companies & organisations know that reducing plastic is important to you. Consumer pressure has already achieved so much.
Common questions around reducing your carbon budget
Got questions about reducing your carbon footprint? These might help:
Start with small changes like eating less meat, cutting food waste, turning appliances off standby, and reducing short car journeys. Simple everyday habits make a big impact over time.
Many sustainable actions save money - like walking instead of driving, buying second-hand clothes, composting food scraps, and switching to reusable items. Living green doesn't have to cost more.
No - you don't need to be perfect. Focus on making small changes that work for you. Even imperfect action - like swapping single-use plastics or reducing food waste - makes a real difference.
Final Thoughts: Start Small, Stay Consistent
There are many simple, practical things we can all do in our everyday lives to reduce our carbon footprint and protect the planet. You don't need to live perfectly or go fully zero waste - just start with small changes that feel manageable. The more you do, the easier it becomes, and those small actions quickly add up.
Remember, living sustainably is a journey, not a destination. It's not about doing everything - it's about doing something, and doing it consistently.
"We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly."
Anne Marie Bonneau
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