One way to make a positive difference in the world is to reduce your carbon footprint, but it’s not always easy to lower your impact, even if you avoid flying and driving as much as possible. The truth is, a carbon footprint is the culmination of every aspect of life—not just transportation—leaving plenty of room for improvement. 

What is A Carbon Footprint?

Your carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gases generated by your actions, including all the carbon emissions that enter the atmosphere thanks to your individual decisions. What you eat, how you make purchases, how much water and electricity you use, and how you dispose of items at the end of their lifecycle all influence the amount of carbon emissions you release into the atmosphere. So, making conscious decisions to lower your impact can make a huge difference. 

Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Since every decision we make impacts our carbon footprint, it’s incredibly easy to decrease it. Swapping single-use plastic water bottles for a reusable glass bottle, riding a bike to work instead of driving, and choosing to eat one less serving of meat per week all help to reduce your carbon footprint. Here are a few other things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint—and support California–based businesses in the process.  

Eat More Plants

About 14 percent of our carbon emissions come from food, with the majority coming from animal proteins. Beef, lamb, and dairy products are the largest polluters, so choosing plant-based alternatives can make a huge difference in lowering your carbon footprint. While adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet makes the largest impact, even small changes can help. Luckily, the Golden State is home to a wide variety of produce options, so it’s easy to incorporate different veggies into every dish.

Whether you want to try intermittent fasting, a pescetarian diet, or a flexitarian lifestyle (where you primarily eat vegetarian foods but occasionally allow room in your diet for meat), now’s the perfect time to give it a shot.

Choose Seasonal, Local, and Organic Foods

California has an abundance of locally grown fruits and vegetables, making it possible to eat seasonally. Many grocery store chains have dedicated sections for local goods, but visiting your neighborhood farmers market is a more direct way to support farmers and eat hyper-seasonal, organic ingredients. Since the produce doesn’t have to travel very far from the farm to your table, the carbon emissions associated with it are much lower, too. 

If you don’t live close to a farmers market, many farms offer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes that can be mailed straight to your door, so you can still support locally owned farms.

Ditch The Plastic

I know, this is a big one. Plastic has infiltrated our entire lives—bags, water bottles, takeout containers, and protective wrapping are made of it—but ditching plastic is one of the easiest ways to make a change. You don’t have to give up all plastic to lower your impact; simply increasing your awareness of your plastic usage is a great first step. 

You may be wondering, Why is this so important? Well, it typically takes a whopping 1,000 years for plastic to decompose in a landfill, and because most plastic items aren’t recycled, they end up in the ground. So, start making changes with some of these incredible products from Golden State brands: 

• Swap single-use plastic baggies with multi-use alternatives from Emeryville’s Stasher bags.
• Replace single-use coffee cups with San Francisco’s Soma mugs.
• Trade out plastic water bottles with a glass bottle from San Francisco’s Bkr.
• Rethink plastic food containers and opt for Pleasanton’s MIRA Brands metal versions.
• Choose paper bags at the grocery store or—better yet—bring reusable bags.

When it comes to plastic, there are unlimited ways to decrease carbon footprint, so figure out what items you use most and make incremental changes to remove single-use plastics from your life.

Reduce Food Waste

Food waste is a huge problem. So make sure to buy only what you need, freeze or pickle what you might not use in time, and learn how to properly clean and store your produce to lower your chances of wasting large amounts of food. If you still have food waste, compost it using your local waste management company, or start your own bin to use in your drought-tolerant garden. 

Interested in more ways to lower your impact on the planet? Purchase high-quality garments online from vintage and thrift stores instead of wearing fast fashion; shorten your showers to reduce CO2 emissions and water use; support local brands so items don’t have to travel as far to get to you; and when flying, purchase carbon offsets to lower your net impact. Above all, follow the five Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse, rot, and recycle.

What are your favorite California-based companies that help you reduce your carbon footprint? Join the conversation in the comments below.