Do you need to invest a huge amount of money to reduce your carbon footprint? It is well known that heat pumps, solar panels and electric cars reduce our carbon footprint. They are great long -term investments which can be used to permanently reduce energy bills, but they require upfront payment or a loan, which may be an expense we cannot afford.

What is less well understood is that adopting eco-friendly habits can improve your finances without spending any money. Reducing your carbon footprint can be done in a way to reduce your food, energy and transport bills. Some clever changes in your habits can lower the cost of living, transform your finances and reduce your carbon footprint by tonnes each year.

Swapping meat for plants

Up to £560 can be saved per person each year by cutting down on meat in your diet and adopting a plant-based diet. Research by Oxford University shows that switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet can save up to 33% on food bills. Being a flexitarian will save you about 14% on your food budget. However, their research suggests pescatarians end up spending more on a slightly more expensive diet, being about 2% more expensive than the average diet. The less meat you eat, the lower your food bill will be.

Switching off the light

Switching off the lights when you leave a room and changing all your bulbs to LED bulbs in your home can save you £65 a year on your electricity bill.  We are most likely to leave the light on in the bathroom and when we go out, so be aware of how much time you spend in different rooms.

Change how you wash your clothes

You can save £24 a year by lowering the temperature of washing your clothes to 30 degrees (this can be applied to dishwashers too). Also line drying clothes instead of tumble drying them will save another £55. Clothes can be dried inside the home using a heated drying rack. Even though a heating rack requires electricity, it uses a lot less than a tumble dryer.

Use kitchen utensils in a more energy efficient way

Air fryers are a great way to cut down the energy of cooking compared to using the oven or the kitchen hob. Food is cooked faster in an air fryer and often with no need for cooking oil, making it a healthier alternative to cooking meals on the kitchen hob. What you use to reheat your food also has an impact on how much energy you use in the kitchen. The oven uses much more energy than a microwave to heat something, so if you are heating something for yourself or two people, use the microwave instead of the oven. An oven is only more energy efficient for batch cooking.

Carrying a reusable bottle

In the UK, individuals spend £338 a year on bottled water! This adds to the problem of plastic pollution as well as adding to greenhouse gas emissions. Water is something we can have for free if we carry a reusable bottle in our bags. All food outlets in the UK are obliged by law to provide tap water for free and cities around the world are also being redesigned to have more water fountains, so it should be easier to refill your bottles when you go out.

Substitute car trips

Substituting a quarter of your car journeys will save money on petrol or diesel. There are a growing number of substitutes for cars such as electric bikes which are very popular. Walking, cycling and taking public transport takes cars off the road. Carpooling and sharing a journey with others are another good way to cut car use if you are meeting friends at social events. This will save hundreds of pounds on fuel annually.

If you are lucky enough to live in an area with really good public transport links and cycling lanes, living car free saves thousands of pounds a year in maintenance, insurance, car payments, parking, repairs and other hidden costs.  If you live in the USA, it is estimated you will save over $10,000 a year depending on where you live. In New York, the savings of being car free is $18,000. In Dallas and Atlanta, the savings are closer to $11,000 a year. If you live in UK, it is estimated you will save around £4000 a year.