7 Things You Can Do to Reduce Fossil Fuel Use

Here’s a list of seven things you can do to reduce fossil fuel use:

1. Bicycle Riding. There are numerous benefits to riding a bicycle. Among them is the reduction in demand for fossil-fuel.
2. Buy Local. When we buy local, we avert a domino effect of unnecessary waste. There are a lot of products that we ‘buy local’ that aren’t entirely local. Just because something is sold locally, doesn’t mean the labor and materials were sourced locally. Instead, seek out products that are made with local materials by local labor in stores that are locally owned. Encourage the shift to this kind of local economy. This helps reduce the use of fossil fuel.
3. Plant-Based Materials. Using plant-based fabrics and other materials as an alternative to plastic can help. Bamboo, hemp, and other plants grow quickly with few resources used to cultivate and harvest.
4. Public Transit. Riding the bus, taking a train, riding the subway, or using other forms of shared transit are ways to reduce our demand for fuel.
5. Recycle. There’ve been numerous lists of “101 things you can do to save the planet” and they all say we should recycle. Even so, recycling is still a problem and will be for some time. Trash cans are filled with cans and plastics that should be recycled but go to landfill instead. Every new generation needs to be informed about recycling and encouraged to do it. We need ‘institutionalized recycling’ as part of our culture so that recycling is easier and more prevalent.
6. Walkable Communities. Everyone can support the development of communities that are pedestrian and bicycle friendly. There are many ways that existing communities can be shifted toward greater walkability. Urban infill and mixed urban use spaces creates areas where people can have their home, work, social life, and shopping all in one area. Even if only a person’s work and home are in close proximity but shopping, socializing, parks/nature, and entertainment are elsewhere, that still has a huge impact. The more we can bring all of these things into a central nearby hub, the less we need vehicles.
7. Vegetarianism. Reducing meat consumption or eliminating it all together can help reduce demand for fossil fuel. There are some areas of the country where meat production is not a dense local industry, so meat will come from many miles away. Much less fossil fuel is required to plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables locally.