Reducing Carbon Footprint: Purchasing Power

By Michael Nietfeld

Local food can:

Buy local

Reduce the use of inorganic chemicals

Reduce traveling time and provide fresher food

Reduce energy used to transport the food thousands of miles

Eat at restaurants that serve local food

Eat local

Many restaurants use pre-prepared food that requires packaging, transportation, and refrigeration.

Order food that does not have to travel far rather than foods such as coffee and native foods of other continents.

Do not buy excess packaging

Buy Minimally

Excess packaging appeals customers by making foods look clean and fresh but has a large carbon footprint

Buy loose fruits and vegetables rather than packaged or boxed

Use reusable bags at the grocery store

Avoid using plastic bags whenever possible

Buy Minimally: Bottled Water Bottled water not only uses

plastics that require energy to make but also requires the transportation due to manufacturing at a facilities.

Order tap water from restaurants when possible

Use reusable bottles

Buy and Plant Native Native plants often grow

more efficiently in their natural environments

Native plants are often transported shorter distances because they were grown locally

Use local and organic soil Plants help to reduce the

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Hold Out on a New Gas Car

The production of a new car has a large carbon footprint and is more harmful than keeping an older car with worse gas mileage for now

Even production of a hybrid car has a large carbon footprint on the environment

An eco-friendly produced electric car may be an option when found at a reasonable price in the near future

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