Carbon Footprint

3 effective tips to reduce your cleaning carbon footprint

Global warming and climate change are related to a single-family entitled to the emission of carbon and carbon-related gasses into the atmosphere. Like all the other gasses, carbon dioxide and its related gasses are also naturally occurring. However, due to humans’ high intervention, the co-occurring balance is lost with increasing amounts of carbon.

This phenomenal change is tracked using a metric called “carbon footprint.” Although there are many ways suggested to reduce the carbon footprint, the best methods can be implemented within your household. After all, your cleaning techniques account for significant numbers of your carbon footprint.

Check these 3 effective tips to reduce your cleaning carbon footprint:

1. Use washable plates, glasses, and dishes instead of plastic or disposable paper ones 

The lifetime of the single-use (or disposable) plastic is less than a year, even months or weeks at times. Although their lifecycle is short, the trouble they cause during the process from creation to disposable is quite deep. These single-use plastic products create a vast carbon footprint.

Hence, it is always good to use washable and reusable crockery for your meals. Cleaning them either directly or through the dishwasher reduces large volumes of the carbon footprint.

2. Make your DIY cleaning detergent or natural biodegradable cleaners to reduce 0.5-1 lbs. CO2 per load of cleaning

The common cleaners available in the market tend to emit 1.5-2 lbs. of CO2 per load. Powder detergents especially have a higher carbon footprint than liquid. However, DIY cleaners or natural biodegradable cleaners will emit only 0.5-1 lbs. of carbon dioxide. Hence, it is highly recommended to use higher concentrated liquid detergents as they have the lowest carbon footprint.

3. Use refillable or reusable packaged cleaners as storing and packing cleaning agents alone consume 35% of the plastic created.

On an alarming note, 35% of the total plastic produced is utilized for packing and storing different cleaning agents. Researches revealed that 2 - 4 pounds of carbon footprint are left behind for using every one pound of packing plastic. In such a scenario, preferring the reusable and refillable packaging over others can reduce the amount of plastic packaging usage, thereby reducing your carbon footprint.

Also read and learn how to reduce your carbon footprint in various walkthroughs of your routine.

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