Climate change has altered and intensified weather patterns around the globe. As a result, many people are looking for ways to green up their normal routines.  If you are trying to be more eco-friendly, summer offers many opportunities to lower your carbon footprint and conserve resources. Consider adopting some of these tips for a greener lifestyle. 

1. Plant a Garden

Gardening is a great way to pass the time, but it can also be a super eco-friendly way to get back in touch with nature and the food cycle. You can grow your own food almost anywhere, even if you are limited to a windowsill in an apartment. Try lettuces or microgreens for an easy first crop and then expand from there. Tomatoes, zucchini and beans are relatively easy to grow and they can produce copious amounts of food in a small space. For an added boost, compost food scraps and yard waste to provide natural soil conditioner and fertilizer for your plants. 

2. Switch to Solar Power 

If you are serious about lowering your carbon footprint, you might want to consider adding solar power to your home. When you install solar panels, you are investing in clean, renewable energy. You can choose to remain attached to the grid, or you can add a battery backup system and have reliable power at any time of the day or night. You might be surprised at how affordable it can be to buy solar panels with tax rebates and incentives. 

3. Adjust the Thermostat

Power use can skyrocket during summer months, and one of the easiest ways to curb that is by adjusting your thermostat. Raising the temperature by 10 degrees for eight hours a day can lower your total utility usage by about 10%. Considering that heating and cooling account for about half of most households' energy use, that could add up to substantial savings of both money and carbon output. The Department of Energy has some great tips for keeping your house comfortable in an efficient way. You can try:

• Running fans to circulate air

• Using window coverings to limit sunlight inside

• Increase natural ventilation by opening windows 

• Giving your air conditioning system a tune-up to help it run more efficiently

• Adding insulation to help keep cool air in and hot air out

4. Leave the Car at Home

Rethink your transportation options when you have short trips to make.  Riding a bike or walking can be a great way to lower your emissions while you are also getting in some exercise. Not only that, but you are also spending time in nature, which has tremendous benefits for your physical and emotional wellbeing. 

5. Use a Rain Barrel

Water is a crucial natural resource, yet the summer months can mean a lot more water usage. Fortunately, you can collect a surprising amount of water to care for plants or rinse off tools with a rain barrel system. You can input your roof dimensions into a rainwater harvesting calculator to see how much you could collect. With an efficient rain collection system, you might be able to collect as much as 300 gallons of rainwater from a modest rainfall. 

6. Carry a Reusable Water Bottle

Not all plastic that you put in the recycle bin ends up getting recycled. The best way to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills is to eliminate single-use plastic bottles altogether. A reusable water bottle is both eco-friendly and cost-effective. As an added bonus, it can help ensure that you stay hydrated throughout the hot summer months. 

7. Rethink Chemical Sunscreens

Sunscreen is a key piece to staying healthy and avoiding sun damage to your skin. However, some chemical sunscreens can be very damaging to the environment. They take a lot of resources to manufacture and can contaminate water sources. It is best to choose a mineral sunscreen that uses zinc or titanium oxide instead. 

From choosing sunscreen wisely to planting a garden or installing solar panels, there are many ways you can be more environmentally friendly in the summer.