There are endless ways to significantly reduce a family’s carbon footprint. Some examples are opening windows or using blankets, planting a garden, installing fake grass, sorting all trash, drinking home-filtered water, riding bikes and walking to nearby places, taking shorter showers, and using buckets to collect unused water. Rather than using air conditioning or heaters when the temperature changes why not open some windows or snuggle in some blankets? Having a garden reduces the amount of trips needed to get fruit or vegetables from the grocery store. This would also help reduce the global footprint as we would be growing and eating local food. Fake grass saves an unimaginable amount of water and sorting trash allows for more compost and recycling resulting in less pollution. Putting tap water in a filter at home and drinking it out of reusable cups or glasses prevents the need for plastic water bottles. Also, for my family, we have a local grocery store five minutes away, yet we still proceed to drive there. Taking a little more time to ride our bikes or walk there  would make a huge difference in our carbon footprint. Lastly, showers are where my family wastes the most water. While waiting for the water to eat up in both showers and while washing dishes, slipping a bucket under the faucet would be a great way to save water.

You could also turn the lights off after you leave every room, or use solar panels for energy to reduce your families carbon footprint.