6 Ways to lower your Carbon Footprint – by Stephen Wisely

Here are six tips to help the environment all year long.

Switching the direction of your ceiling fan depending on the season cuts heating and cooling costs.  In the summer, ceiling fan blades should rotate counterclockwise to create cool downward airflow. In the winter, fan blades should rotate in a clockwise direction to redistribute warm air, which rises to the ceiling.

LED lights are praised for their low energy consumption, impressive durability and high performance in cold environments.

Often the best energy-saving tips are the simplest, like unplugging the phone after its finished charging. It is not enough to simply turn off most devices as they will enter standby mode and continue to consume power. Items that are known culprits of consuming energy when not in use are: battery chargers, computers, game consoles, TVs, DVRs and printers.

The environmental benefits of shopping with reusable bags is simple, they eliminate the need for plastic bags that tend to wind up in landfills. Also, many grocery stores give discounts for using them.

Utah is a desert and it’s not wise to battle against Mother Nature by trying to force flowers, plants, and grasses to grow in areas where they’re simply not suited.

Composting reduces the amount of waste in our landfills and is generally as simple as dumping vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, fallen leaves and grass clippings into a bin. The resulting material can help your garden and eliminate much of the need to water and buy fertilizers and pesticides.