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The first step in learning your impact on the natural environment is measuring your carbon footprint. Understanding the impact that you have will allow you to make decisions and lifestyle changes that have a far more positive impact on environmental change. At Wilcox Energy, our overarching goal is to help every client start moving towards heating solutions that are carbon neutral.
This article will share the following:
- A calculator for determining your carbon footprint
- An in-depth definition of what a carbon footprint is
- Tips for working with Wilcox Energy to reduce your carbon footprint
- and more…
Carbon Footprint Calculator
When measuring your carbon footprint, you’re taking an important step towards understanding how much you’re contributing to global warming. With this information, you can quickly begin making changes to reduce your impact.
Although you might be making an effort to make your lifestyle more environmentally friendly, such as by eating foods that are grown locally or composting much of your waste, there is definitely more that you can do to streamline and improve your overall efforts in this area.
Bellow, you’ll find a carbon footprint calculator that will help you improve your efforts to reduce global warming and other negative forms of climate change. Many homeowners also own businesses and most are incredibly surprised by the results they receive.
What Is A Carbon Footprint?
Your carbon footprint is basically a measurement of the greenhouse gases that your everyday activities produce, including your travel and your consumption. Greenhouse gases typically include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and fluorinated gases. The problem with these gases is that they trap heat within the atmosphere of the earth to create a condition called The Greenhouse Effect.
The greenhouse effect is actually a naturally occurring phenomenon. It serves to keep both the atmosphere and the planet’s surface warm so that both animals and plants can thrive. Unfortunately, however, significant increases in the number of greenhouse gases existing within the atmosphere also cause temperatures on the planet to rise. Recent increases have already had a considerable impact on temperatures around the globe – and the effects of this are being felt in a number of critical areas.
Why Your Carbon Footprint Matters
Knowing your carbon footprint allows you to take steps towards a sustainable and planet-friendly lifestyle. The lower that your carbon footprint is; the better this will be for the natural environment. This calculation is far more than a number – it is also an indicator of the number of carbon emissions that you produce according to your choices and actions in relation to your demand on the planet according to your needs. This demand encompasses a variety of things including our demand for fibers, timber, water, food, land, and many other resources. In simple terms, your carbon footprint contributes to the decreasing availability of the resources that humans rely on.
In the United States, the carbon footprint of the average individual is about 16 tons. Throughout the entire world, the average person’s carbon footprint is far lower, at approximately four tons.1 As a nation, we have to do all that we can to lower our carbon footprints. As an organization, we’re committed to helping our clients limit their carbon footprints by providing a liquid renewable fuel: Bioheat® Heating Oil.
Tips For Lowering Your Carbon Footprint
Lowering your carbon footprint on any significant scale is a daunting effort indeed. However, a number of small steps will be easier to implement and manage, and they can also yield impressive results.2 By making conscious changes to your habits and actions, you can do big things for the natural environment. There are even several steps that you can take starting right now including:
- Using a home heating oil that’s environmentally friendly. BONUS TIP: Bioheat® heating oil can be delivered directly to your home by Wilcox Energy at no extra cost to you!
- Start using more energy-efficient appliances and lighting options both in the workplace and at home.
- Limit your reliance on the power grid.
- Lower how reliant you are on vehicles for day-to-day travels.
- Use electric vehicles, bicycles, or carpooling instead
- Keep your vehicle efficient with routine maintenance
- Limit your use of airplanes and other forms of public transportation.
- Modify your diet so that you are eating meatless one day per week
- Eat foods that have been sourced and produced locally to limit logistical demand relating to the transport of raw materials and goods
- Change how you shop by purchasing accessories, clothing, and other items from companies with sustainable practices
Above are just a few simple steps that you can start taking right now to lower your carbon footprint. You can see that none of the listed items are expensive or incredibly challenging. You can begin by making small, gradual changes until these become ingrained habits. For instance, if you’re already using home heating oil, switch to Bioheat® heating oil for a liquid, renewable fuel that can be delivered to your home by Wilcox Energy at no extra cost to you. Get in touch with Wilcox Energy for more information today.
How Using Bioheat® Heating Oil Can Lower Your Carbon Footprint
Bioheat® home heating oil is a sustainable, blending heated oil that represents a combination of ultra-low sulfur oil and bio-diesel. It’s the perfect alternative to convention heating oil given that it’s clean-burning.
Moreover, Bioheat® heating oil is an environmentally friendly home heating oil. As stated before, this fuel is blended with biodiesel which is comprised of fatty acids that have been sourced from readily available and organic materials including animal fats, vegetables, soy, and corn. Bio-diesel can even be sourced from the oils that restaurants recycle. Given the nature of its sources, bio-diesel is considered a renewable source of energy.
Bioheat® fuel is typically named according to its blend which can range from just two percent to 20 percent. When this oil represents a five percent blend, it’s titled B5, and if it’s a 20 percent blend, it’s named B20. At Wilcox Energy, we are currently offering our customers a B20 blend but are also working on providing a B50 blend sometime very soon.
The Benefits Gained By Using Bioheat® Heating Oil
Wilcox Energy offers the very highest bio-diesel blend of B20 in our Bioheat® heating oil. This ensures that you’re getting the best possible heating oil for your home while additionally lowering your carbon footprint as much as possible. Since 2016, Wilcox Energy has helped reduce carbon in the environment by as much as 3,511,500 pounds by providing greener heating oil products. Available at no extra cost to you, our Bioheat® fuel is both efficient and clean-burning.
We also understand that some consumers may be worried that Bioheat® heating oil isn’t compatible with their current heating systems. The good news is that there’s absolutely no problem here. There is no need to upgrade or retrofit your current heating equipment in order to use Bioheat® Heating Oil. Once you start using Bioheat® fuel oil, your boiler or furnace will emit fewer carbon gases right away.
Are you ready to lower your carbon footprint? Get in touch with Wilcox Energy now for recommendations or answers to your questions.
Why Should You Choose Wilcox Energy’s Bioheat® Heating Oil?
Bioheat® heating oil packs all the benefits of a premium heating oil in one. Homeowners and business owners can use it with traditional oil heating systems without any adjustments, cutting the costs of modifications and converting to other heat sources.
As a biodiesel and ULSHO (ultra-low sulfur heating oil) blend, your heater runs more efficiently and cleaner while preserving its condition.
Bioheat® heating oil uses 100% biodiesel to create a blend with lower carbon emissions, making it a safer option to use in the home and a safer choice for the environment.
Call Wilcox Energy today to learn more about Bioheat® fuel and join us in reducing carbon emissions today!
For more information about our Bioheat® heating oil deliveries or our HVAC services, be sure to contact Wilcox Energy. You can click here to contact us, or you can call us at (860) 399-6218 to find out more. We offer a full line of home comfort services, all customizable to meet your needs. Call now!
1. The Nature Conservancy: Calculate Your Carbon Footprint ↩
2. The New York Times: How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint ↩