Other Ways to Reduce Carbon Footprint

While going Vegan is for most people the best thing that can be done on an individual level to reduce one's carbon footprint, that isn't the be all end all of helping the environment. Believing that Veganism is pretty much all you need to do to fight climate change is not only objectively incorrect, it also will make you look rather hypocritcal when you claim to care about helping the environment yet not do as much as you reasonably can towards fulfilling that goal.

Make no mistake, the environmental effects of Veganism are still incredibly significant, and going Vegan would easily reduce your carbon footprint more than just about everything else, but you need to go above and beyond if you want to set a good example for others to follow.

Of course we're not going to be reccomending anything overly drastic like only showering once a week, forgoing any and all climate control, not doing laundry, and subsisting only on beans (though we're not necessarily condemning it if you really are willing to do all that), this article is going to reccomend practicable, efficient, and effective ways of reducing your carbon footprint without hampering your overall quality of life significantly.

Within each item we will also quickly compare their cost-effectiveness compared to Veganism in terms of time, difficulty, and effectiveness. Veganism fundamentally speaking is a fairly easy thing to do (especially with so many vegan alternatives that are accessible) and has a huge return on investment, though this proportion will vary depending on the action and your circumstances.

Reducing shower time and temperature

Alternatively, you can take what is known as a Scottish Shower, which is pretty much just an otherwise a typical warm shower that has the final minute with the water being set to the lowest temperature (so if you usually take ten minute showers, nine minutes will be warm, one will be ice cold). It's also believed to have a few health benefits, so why not give it a try?

Regardless of what you do, just never outright forgo showering, or at least not for more than a few days at a time. Believe it, people will smell you; You know that oily scent your hair gets when it hasn't been cleaned for a little while? Multiply that by ten and put it all over your body; That's what one week of no showering smells like.