Earth’s population is always growing, and simultaneously, natural resources are diminishing. The impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources is called your ecological footprint according to Oxford English Dictionary. This means that the products that we use every day, how much we travel, and what we are consuming are all factoring into this concept called an ecological footprint. Now why is it important to understand this concept of natural resource management? While you might think that you are only one person on this planet that is nearing 7.6 billion people, and your footprint is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, imagine is only 25% of the earth’s population thinks with the same mindset. That is still almost 2 million people. It adds up faster than you think.
There are many ways to reduce your ecological footprint, some are much simpler than others. For most people, the energy that your home needs accounts for up to 20% of your ecological footprint, travel is the bulk at 35%, and food comes in at 10%.
For those that enjoy camping and the outdoors, you are already choosing activities in your spare time to reduce your ecological footprint…if you are doing them correctly. Camping is a family fun activity and a great way to unplug from the real world. Here are a few tips to ensure that your camping trip is a positive experience for both you and the world around you.
- 1.Do not use single use items: Single use items like plastic forks, soda cans, wrappers from food, etc., all must be discarded. Look into using recyclable items like refillable water bottles, or utensils made for camping to help reduce waste.
- 2.Pack out what you pack in: This means that whatever you bring into the area that you are camping in; you take it back out when you leave.
- 3.Use native firewood: Do not bring your own firewood when camping. Bringing in foreign firewood also brings in the tiny species and bacteria that live on the wood
- 4.Walk or bike to reduce carbon emissions: Travel is the highest contributing factor to an individual’s ecological footprint. By biking or walking rather that using cars, buses, or public transportation you are drastically reducing that contribution to your ecological footprint.
It is becoming more and more common for people to choose the off-grid lifestyle and trade their traditional house for a tiny home. Making the transition to a tiny home is a big lifestyle change but can drastically reduce your ecological footprint.
In a tiny home, do not expect extra storage space for that random toaster your auntie gave you for your birthday, hence the name TINY house. An average tiny home typically never exceeds 500 square feet (46 m2). This also helps tony homeowners to maximize their resources. For example, rather than owning a full china set for dining like one might in a traditional sized home, tiny homeowners might own one plate, fork, spoon, etc. per person. There is very little room for luxuries found in a traditional house like a bathtub, dishwasher, or giant flat screen TV’s. This lack of space will significantly reduce the amount of electricity, water, and overall energy that is needed to power your tiny home.
Portable tankless water heaters offer a great solution for tiny homeowners, RV’s, campers, or anyone choosing to make the transition to an off-grid lifestyle. Rather than having a large tank to heat your hot water, the portable tankless water heater provides on demand hot water, with no excess or waste, and increased energy efficiency. Portable tanks move when you move and can be powered with a 20 lb. propane tank. Attach a hose and your instant hot water is wherever you need it!
If you are thinking about making the transition to an off-grid lifestyle, or simply just looking to reduce your ecological footprint in your everyday life, check out the current products on our website here: https://eu.eccotemp.com/.