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All household has had share of carbon footprint which is accounted from daily energy used for fixtures and appliances down to basic stuff. As defined in Wikipedia, carbon footprint is “the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product”(UK Carbon Trust 2008). On a daily basis, people unconsciously augment their carbon footprint from indirect result of their purchases, lifestyle and activities. While others are able to curtail their footprint, these people rather ride bicycles or walk during weekends, dry their clothes outside the house instead of using tumbler dryer; open their window to utilize natural ventilation instead of using ACU and they are smart buyers as they purchase energy efficient appliances.

As we are now gradually experiencing climate changes which was evidently a corollary from greenhouse gas emissions, this disturbing impact on environment is believed to keep on if we will not put together preventive actions. The dire certainty is that climate changes are nearly impossible to revert if it continues to get worse, that is the reason why environment advocate organizations are urging the government, policy maker and corporation to take aggressive measures to address these issues as well as persuade individuals to combat the problems starting from our very own home, indeed a collective solutions would create a positive results. In additions, those who have plan to build new home, renovate their existing houses and acquire real estate property must establish energy efficiency as the core principle of the house projects and selection of property instead of concentrating only on aesthetics. Along with this, purchasing of household-used products and basic goods such as foods, clothes, home appliances and electric devices have to be done prudently and consider items that have zero or lesser attributes of carbon footprints.

Construction of energy efficient housing doesn’t have to be expensive, designer and builder merely needs to think of innovative and sustainable approach. These includes employing high value insulation, passive cooling and heating, maximizing the use of day lighting, installing energy efficient windows, go for energy saver fixtures and appropriate orientation of building. According to the Sustainable Development and Mitigation report for Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change, “Considering energy efficiency as the guidance principle during construction of new homes results in both reduced energy bills . . . and GHG abatement”, this robust approach would not only mean a financial savings on the operations and maintenance but also assuage carbon footprint from increasing steeply. Furthermore, utilizing energy from renewable source such as wind power, solar energy, hydro power, and other natural renewable energy is a positive approach to offset carbon as there are various local areas that has abundant and cheaper renewable energy sources and owners could as well mount solar panels on the top of their roofs to support its power requirements.

Procure and use of certified energy saver home appliance is as much essential as selecting energy efficient house. As home appliances put away huge amount of electricity, in fact it share relative high percentage on the energy bills. It is very important to note that a few types of appliances increase its energy demands and decrease its performance as it gets older such as refrigerator, freezer, and ACU; accordingly, it is wise to replace those with new one. On the other hand, other type of appliances are still able to perform well even at its older life such as entertainment appliances and computers, however, despite the fact that some appliances are still running well, for some reason, some people still have a tendency to buy new item, possibly because their appliances are not anymore as efficient as it was new, while others are tired of bringing their appliances to the shops for repair, or they are tempted to purchase the latest model that virtually has many exciting features. Unfortunately, these habits of frequent purchase and dumping of a still good appliance doesn’t help, it only adds up on home’s carbon footprint as it entails relative amount of energy to produce this new appliances as well as it generate direct air pollution during production.

Basic home necessities such as foods, furniture, home products and transportation are not exempted from the accountability of generating carbon footprint. Needless to say, individuals regularly purchase basic goods in supermarket and malls, and the fact that these products comes from different region or might be imported from various countries, the transportation of these products requires relative quantity of energy. That is why individuals are encouraged to purchase locally produced products. Furthermore, people used different mode of transportation on their way to workplace and schools, selecting a more environmentally friendly and energy efficient vehicles as well as using a mass transit are best choice to reduce individual’s carbon footprint. While several famous and well-designed urban and town have developed apartments and high dense housing buildings within proximity from central business district, consequently this urban areas encourage people to use bicycle and pedestrian -friendly walkways.

Generally, reducing carbon footprint ought to start at our very own home, these requires awareness on every choices and its corresponding impact to environment as well as employing consistent ideal approach. If everyone can participate in this contemporary challenge as this collective effort would positively avert climate change from getting worse. Participation of few populations is in fact not enough as we practically need everyone’s effort to make a difference and save our environment.

J.V. Baslot is an architect, passionate and advocate on environment and sustainability. Please visit http://www.aboutsustainability.net to find out more interesting topic about green building design, and for those who are interested to post articles on my website please email jovi7b@yahoo.com.ph.