Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with a Low Carb Diet

Environmentalists are finding that by making some subtle changes to their diet they are reducing their carbon footprint and protecting the planet. Low carbon diets are the new approach that many are taking to offset the tons of carbon emissions that the average diet makes up. Changing that resource intense diet towards a more eco-friendly one is not as hard as you would think.

Reading the Labels
One of the first ways you can reduce your carbon footprint and get started with that low carbon diet is by reading labels. Choose foods that have a local or organic label on them and verify that are certified. By eating produce, meat, and dairy products that are grown or raised on local farms that do not add pesticides and hormones will reduce your carbon footprint. Consider growing your own fruits and vegetables or visiting a local farmers market to stock up. In the supermarket check labels and choose to buy as local as possible.

Eating Less Meat
Reducing your carbon footprint or making it a low carbon diet also includes eating less meat. Livestock that provides that meat account for almost 20 percent of the total greenhouse gases. If you need meat in your diet, choose chicken or fish as they have a much smaller carbon footprint than beef. Consider having red meat only twice a month and buy only cuts from local, organic farms.

Drinking Better
Buy yourself a reusable water bottle and switch out from bottled water to filtered tap water. A very large carbon footprint is made when using plastic water bottles. Even though most water bottles are recyclable, more than 70 percent end up in our landfills.

Eating it All
You should make sure that you eat everything on your plate to reduce your carbon footprint. We waste over 30 percent of all the food produced and purchased which in turn adds to our carbon footprint. Learn to cut back on waste by shopping for foods with smaller packaging and buying only what your family realistically needs. Doing so will help your carbon footprint and reduce the chances of too much food going bad in your refrigerator or kitchen shelves. If you have food waste, do not throw it away, create a compost heap, and reuse in your garden.