As human population continues to grow, we continue to burn dwindling fossil fuel supplies in order to keep up with our increasing power demands, harming our environment with carbon emissions in the process.

Below are few easy ways to cut your household emissions.


1. Cooling

Around 40% of Malaysian households’ electricity consumption goes into keeping homes cool. Setting the air-conditioning temperature no lower than 24 degrees Celsius, restricting the amount of time it is used in a day and using fans instead whenever the heat is more tolerable.

2. Lighting

Cut down on electricity consumption by using fewer light sources, switching off lights that are not in use, relying on sunlight to illuminate rooms in the daytime and switching from incandescent to energy-saving fluorescent bulbs to save in the long term.

3. Electric kettle

This may be a surprise to some, but repeated use of electric kettles to boil water throughout the day can really add up in terms of energy consumption. A better option would be to boil a full kettle once in the morning and keep that water warm in a large vacuum flask or switch back to gas kettles.

4.Water heater

Some people leave their water heaters switched on throughout the day to have ready access to hot water. Consider minimizing its use by only switching it on shortly before you take a shower or do laundry.

 5. Washing machine

Unsurprisingly, washing machines are one of the household appliances that consume the most electricity and water in a single use. This is why many people only do their laundry at full loads, while smaller items can be hand-washed.

6. Ironing

Though deceptively small, irons have a relatively high maximum wattage compared to other household appliances. Similar to washing machines, consider only ironing large batches of clothes; or better yet, wear more clothes that do not require ironing.

7.Waste management

Be it through landfills or incineration, waste disposal is a major source of carbon emissions all over the world. We can help to reduce this by separating recyclable materials such as plastic, glass and aluminium from other types of rubbish.