Well, the good news is there is no cleaning involved and you most certainly can make a massive impact! The great thing about humans is that we are animals of routine so, what if we all introduced some easy actions into our day to day lives to reduce our carbon footprint and increase the chances of having a positive impact on slowing, or even putting an end to global warming.
Why are we so keen to reduce our carbon footprint?
Sustainability is a big part of what Cloud Assess stands for as it is a truly paperless assessment solution for RTOs.
One of our new year’s resolutions was to do more at a national level to show our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint. We reached out to the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) who are making it their mission to protect koalas and their habitats, and thus create a more sustainable Australian landscape. We want to do our bit too and not just leave it all to the AKF.
We realised that big problems can be solved by the sum of lots of little actions, so we put together a list of things you can do to help lower your carbon footprint and have your part in saving the planet.
1. Think about what you eat not only in terms of calories!
“Cowspiracy may be the most important film made to inspire saving the planet.”
— Louie Psihoyos, Oscar-Winning Director of “The Cove”
Through the work of scientists and lobbyists committed to raising awareness of global warming, documentaries like Cowspiracy are trickling through to the public. They show that it’s not just the use of fossil fuels that produce Green House Gasses. In actual fact, animal agriculture is accountable for a huge proportion of the damaging emissions filling the earth’s atmosphere today. If fewer cattle were reared for meat, we would reach the reduction of carbon needed to maintain the earth’s temperature much quicker than if we were to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. As Methane (or cow “wind”) has a global warming potential 86 times that of CO2 on a 20-year time frame. So, why not start by making at least one night a week meat-free?
What are your travel plans?
Car pollution is a massive threat to the environment. Whenever possible walk, cycle, take public transport or even carpool. Even consider investing in an electric scooter if that walk to work is just that little bit too far. With the fantastic advances in technology these days, why not make video conferencing a means for catch ups that don’t really require a face to face meeting. Tools like Zoom or GoToMeeting are great and offer various packages.
3. What is your water consumption?
A person can live weeks without food, but only days without water. It is one of the most important requirements for life on earth and so we need to make sure we have enough of it! As the driest inhabited continent on Earth, Australia is the highest user of water per person in the world.
Here are some things you can do to ensure your water usage is sustainable:
- Keep a time limit for showers or have a shallow bath
- Use towels more than once
- Don’t keep the tap running whilst brushing your teeth
- If you spot a leaking tap get it fixed asap (A tap that drips once every second wastes 30 litres of water daily.)
4. Say no to single use plastic
Alarmingly, last year a whale was found off the coast of Indonesia with 1000 pieces of plastic in its stomach. We may not put our plastic in the ocean, but somehow it is getting there. In order to be totally sure things like this don’t happen is to say no to single-use plastic.
There is a new trend in Keep Cups and cool (excuse the pun) insulated water bottles that can keep your drinks both hot or cold, genius! So unless you are desperate for water when you go out, try not to use single-use plastic. A new Gold Coast based company, Water3 is taking this to the next level allowing you to refill your bottles on the go.
On top of that…ironically…when we think about plastic we mainly think of how hard it is to decompose, but what about how much water is used to produce it? It’s estimated that 3 litres of water is used to package 1 litre of bottled water. Not the most sustainable solution!
5. Reduce your paper usage
Using paper can cause inefficiency and is extremely costly to a business, particularly an RTO. Not only this, but it is also a huge threat to the planet. Paper’s lifecycle is damaging from beginning to end. According to, The World Counts, paper production is responsible for over 30 million acres of deforestation a year. A process that creates boundless CO2 emissions as well as diminishing the planet of carbon-neutral life.
You can reduce your use of paper by following the tips in this infographic.
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