Author Topic: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?  (Read 568555 times)

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #950 on: October 19, 2018, 05:04:03 AM »
I pieced together a dozen eggs from a few cartons that had broken ones. It helped avoid making a trip to a different store for eggs, and it also helped keep a carton of eggs out of the landfill.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #951 on: October 23, 2018, 03:18:28 PM »
I’ve made an effort to refuse paper receipts whenever possible. It’s easiest at ATMs and gas stations but some stores now allow it as well.

I used my own reusable metal chopsticks and washable cloth napkin today at lunch rather than single-use disposables.

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #952 on: October 23, 2018, 03:39:43 PM »
I’ve made an effort to refuse paper receipts whenever possible. It’s easiest at ATMs and gas stations but some stores now allow it as well.

I got a receipt at the drugstore the other day (from a sub-$5 single item purchase) that was, no exaggeration, over five feet long. It was within a couple of inches of my height when I held it up. So wasteful!

hegemony

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #953 on: October 23, 2018, 03:44:23 PM »
I had to travel to another (close-by) city for work anyway, so I combined a bunch of errands that had to be done anyway.  It made for a long day, but I think it was worth it.

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #954 on: October 23, 2018, 03:47:23 PM »
I’ve made an effort to refuse paper receipts whenever possible. It’s easiest at ATMs and gas stations but some stores now allow it as well.

I got a receipt at the drugstore the other day (from a sub-$5 single item purchase) that was, no exaggeration, over five feet long. It was within a couple of inches of my height when I held it up. So wasteful!

Was it a CVS?  The CVS near me does the same thing. It's usually coupons, but I don't think I have ever used one. Sears does the same thing.

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #955 on: October 23, 2018, 03:51:33 PM »
Was it a CVS?  The CVS near me does the same thing. It's usually coupons, but I don't think I have ever used one. Sears does the same thing.

Yep. I think there are other chains that do the coupon thing, but this was the longest one I've ever seen.

Fresh Bread

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #956 on: October 23, 2018, 04:12:15 PM »
I’ve made an effort to refuse paper receipts whenever possible. It’s easiest at ATMs and gas stations but some stores now allow it as well.

I got a receipt at the drugstore the other day (from a sub-$5 single item purchase) that was, no exaggeration, over five feet long. It was within a couple of inches of my height when I held it up. So wasteful!

That's crazy. I believe receipts aren't recyclable either due to the special paper? There needs to be a no coupons button on the till!

Here in Australia in most places the cashier will ask if you'd like a receipt. On some older machines it seems to automatically spit them out and they throw it in the bin but for the most part it does save waste. At one supermarket self service checkout it asks you if you want a receipt if the total is less than $30 (don't qualify for the fuel coupon) but above that it spits it out. Whereas the other supermarket puts the fuel coupon on your loyalty card, so is paperless. Some places email you a receipt (Officeworks, my local co-op) but for the most part if I'm buying a product that might need returning or might break, I still need to take the receipt. Hopefully that will change. It's the little things!

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #957 on: October 23, 2018, 04:22:10 PM »
That's crazy. I believe receipts aren't recyclable either due to the special paper?

Oh no, I didn't know that! I've been recycling them all this time :-(  That makes it so much worse if they're not even recyclable...

Fresh Bread

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #958 on: October 23, 2018, 04:29:29 PM »
That's crazy. I believe receipts aren't recyclable either due to the special paper?

Oh no, I didn't know that! I've been recycling them all this time :-(  That makes it so much worse if they're not even recyclable...

Well I'm not 100%, it's just something I saw on a zero waste group. It's still a pointless use of resources either way!

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #959 on: October 23, 2018, 05:42:34 PM »
That's crazy. I believe receipts aren't recyclable either due to the special paper?

Oh no, I didn't know that! I've been recycling them all this time :-(  That makes it so much worse if they're not even recyclable...

At the library where I work, we were told that our receipts are recyclable.

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #960 on: October 23, 2018, 05:50:38 PM »
I looked it up. Where I live you can recycle them and they (the local paper recycling plant) make an effort to filter out the chemicals that are in that paper. So I guess I'm ok. But other places may have different processes that would make it better to throw it away and keep the chemical out of the water supply. (And some receipts are printed with ink on plain paper and those would be ok everywhere.)

Thanks for bringing it to my attention, though! Better off knowing the full impact of our actions.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #961 on: October 23, 2018, 08:09:19 PM »
My understanding (from one of the anti-plastic documentaries on Netflix) is that the shiny thermal paper likely contains BPA and when it's recycled it contaminates the paper recycling stream.

Pro tip re CVS: If you have the CVS app installed on your phone, you can select "digital receipt" as one of your settings and permanently avoid paper receipts from them.

Other eco things today:

* Line dried one load of laundry
* Cargo biked two trips for about 6 m (9 km) total.
* Bought only previously owned/used household goods thanks to my friends at Goodwill.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #962 on: October 24, 2018, 01:53:30 AM »
That's crazy. I believe receipts aren't recyclable either due to the special paper?

Oh no, I didn't know that! I've been recycling them all this time :-(  That makes it so much worse if they're not even recyclable...

I had no idea either...
In the shops where you scan your own goods without a cashing person, you often need a receipt to scan at the porch to slip out.

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #963 on: October 25, 2018, 08:45:03 AM »
- Had a vegan lunch today of stale bread that was toasted in the oven, vegan pesto, tomato and vegan mozzarella. Will have a vegetarian dinner: mashed potatoes and kale and vegetarian meatballs. Mashed potatoes and vegetables (stamppot) are a traditional Dutch food that we eat almost every week during the winter. It's cheap, filling and vegan and also easy to prepare and to freeze. Plus there are many modern variations possible.
- Bought a single loose tomato for lunch, no packaging
- Put on an extra sweater in the morning when it was a bit cold instead of turning on the heat

GuitarStv

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #964 on: October 25, 2018, 09:39:49 AM »
- Bought a single loose tomato for lunch, no packaging

22 calories (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes][url]https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes[/url]) for lunch sounds kinda short.  :(

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #965 on: October 26, 2018, 01:45:43 AM »
Today I am going on a hike. No driving, but walking from my home.

jengod

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What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #966 on: October 29, 2018, 01:17:17 PM »
* Vacuumed the house today and added all the dust bunnies and goldfish crackers to the compost when I was done.

* Dried chicken bones in a low oven and then smashed them and added to the garden beds for calcium.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 01:49:51 PM by jengod »

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #967 on: October 29, 2018, 03:00:04 PM »
- Bought a single loose tomato for lunch, no packaging

22 calories ([url]https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes]https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes][url]https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes[/url]) for lunch sounds kinda short.  :(

Obviously the tomato was part of this :)

-  Had a vegan lunch today of stale bread that was toasted in the oven, vegan pesto, tomato and vegan mozzarella.

adventurestache

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #968 on: October 29, 2018, 05:47:51 PM »
The tap water in my apartment can take quite a while to heat up, but when doing dishes I suck it up and wash with cold / lukewarm water. Definitely a small impact, but I imagine that the water I save adds up quite a bit over time and that makes me happy!

Tom Bri

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #969 on: October 31, 2018, 10:39:42 AM »
Deep-dug my garden and added layers of leaves and grass clippings. Little by little the dirt is getting better. My neighbors burn leaves. In years past, when I had better neighbors, they would give me their leaves too. Recent neighbors can't take the trouble.

Fresh Bread

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #970 on: October 31, 2018, 08:13:21 PM »
When going down a rabbit hole on the web one day, I stumbled across the idea that peeing before a flight saves fuel! Well I'm about to board a flight (it's rare for me but it's happening twice this year and I paid for the carbon offset your honour) so here goes :)

https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/airline-asks-passengers-empty-bladders-boarding-flights/story?id=8775226

Abe

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #971 on: October 31, 2018, 10:36:00 PM »
That's crazy. I believe receipts aren't recyclable either due to the special paper?

Oh no, I didn't know that! I've been recycling them all this time :-(  That makes it so much worse if they're not even recyclable...

I had no idea either...
In the shops where you scan your own goods without a cashing person, you often need a receipt to scan at the porch to slip out.

Receipt recycling varies from city to city. It is theoretically recyclable but some of the paper brands contain certain ink contaminants that degrade the value of the paper. Thus, some cities will not recycle them while others take the hit (which is probably quite small since receipt paper is a small fraction of all paper products).

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #972 on: October 31, 2018, 10:51:03 PM »
Biked to visit a pet-adoption space with a friend and then to lunch. No parking cost either!

Anatidae V

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #973 on: October 31, 2018, 10:58:52 PM »
We're hoping to get into the new daycare being built near our house. Currently drive all 3 of us into the city and pay for parking. This will let us walk to daycare and then take the bus in or ride our bikes!

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #974 on: November 01, 2018, 06:34:05 AM »
My prescription changed so I needed new lenses for my sunglasses. I still love my current 5-year old pair and it's still in perfect condition so I kept the frame and only replaced the lenses.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #975 on: November 01, 2018, 06:36:46 AM »
Walked to and from the pharmacy.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #976 on: November 03, 2018, 07:38:45 AM »
Went on a hike in the local forest, walking from home, instead of driving to a place further away. Collected a little garbage on the way.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #977 on: November 11, 2018, 06:51:34 PM »
Recommitting to reducing my food waste, which has been out of control for the past couple of months. Plus making an effort to get back to eating at least five serves of veges a day, which typically pushes my diet further towards plant-based meals.

For a while I was doing well at avoiding dairy, but fell off the wagon when life turned to crap (the TL;DR is that my Dad was diagnosed with a brain tumour and died following surgery, all within six weeks). It's time to recommit to that too.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #978 on: November 11, 2018, 07:35:53 PM »
Forgot an important one - using cloth pads today. I love that I don't have to worry about buying pads or tampons, making sure I have them on hand before my period arrives, all of that crap.

I made sure I mentioned how much I love cloth pads to a friend who I know is interested in alternatives to plastic pads and tampons. You never know when a comment to the right person will help them make a positive change.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #979 on: November 11, 2018, 08:09:40 PM »
After brunch with friends, I walked to a good local bike shop to get a new bike. I currently have a cruiser but I'm trying to bike "commute" more and for the longer distances I need real brakes and gears. I rode home on the new bike, about 4 miles (6 km).

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #980 on: November 12, 2018, 01:21:47 AM »
Walked to work (in the dark) and will walk back again this afternoon (in the dark).

smalllife

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #981 on: November 12, 2018, 07:47:06 AM »
Forgot an important one - using cloth pads today. I love that I don't have to worry about buying pads or tampons, making sure I have them on hand before my period arrives, all of that crap.

I made sure I mentioned how much I love cloth pads to a friend who I know is interested in alternatives to plastic pads and tampons. You never know when a comment to the right person will help them make a positive change.

Menstrual cups are fantastic for those who don't like pads. Ridiculous savings and they last YEARS.  I've spread the word as much as I tastefully can (every time someone asks for a tampon).


Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #982 on: November 12, 2018, 07:48:16 AM »
^oops, I guess we posted same thing at the same time!

Forgot an important one - using cloth pads today. I love that I don't have to worry about buying pads or tampons, making sure I have them on hand before my period arrives, all of that crap.

I made sure I mentioned how much I love cloth pads to a friend who I know is interested in alternatives to plastic pads and tampons. You never know when a comment to the right person will help them make a positive change.
Did you mention menstrual cups? The Diva cup is really great and has saved me much money (and waste) over a decade.  https://divacup.com/


Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #983 on: November 12, 2018, 07:57:06 AM »
Mulched the leaves into the lawn. Saved us time in raking, the town won't have to waste energy transporting, and hopefully will work like fertilizer!  I was concerned that all the acorns and nuts on our lawn would be a problem, but they didn't seem  to interfere with the mulching mower at all.

chaskavitch

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #984 on: November 12, 2018, 10:19:49 AM »
^oops, I guess we posted same thing at the same time!

Forgot an important one - using cloth pads today. I love that I don't have to worry about buying pads or tampons, making sure I have them on hand before my period arrives, all of that crap.

I made sure I mentioned how much I love cloth pads to a friend who I know is interested in alternatives to plastic pads and tampons. You never know when a comment to the right person will help them make a positive change.
Did you mention menstrual cups? The Diva cup is really great and has saved me much money (and waste) over a decade.  https://divacup.com/

Yay, Diva cup!  Wash it well and it lasts forever.  I also try to mention it discreetly if the topic comes up :)

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #985 on: November 12, 2018, 06:12:25 PM »
Yes - I'm a big advocate for menstrual cups. But this friend is much more interested in cloth pads :-)

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #986 on: November 12, 2018, 06:14:28 PM »
Walked the toddler to a park this morning instead of driving anywhere (we really needed to get out of the house!).

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #987 on: November 13, 2018, 03:27:21 PM »
I'm combining errands today so I can do a bulky Buy Nothing pickup *and* return bulky borrowed items to friends, but only take the car out once.

I've opted out of my work secret santa. Whatever I receive usually ends up donated / passed on via Buy Nothing, and there's a real risk that whatever I give will end up in landfill. It's completely unnecessary consumption, so I'm just not doing it anymore.

Need to talk with Mr Happier about Christmas presents for his extended family, and how we can keep that obligation as low impact as possible.

smalllife

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #988 on: November 13, 2018, 04:09:07 PM »
Walked to work and brought my lunch.

One side of the family may be opting out of adult to adult presents at the holidays (yay!). We will find out next week for sure.


HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #989 on: November 13, 2018, 04:19:33 PM »
One side of the family may be opting out of adult to adult presents at the holidays (yay!). We will find out next week for sure.

Oh, that's brilliant! My family no longer does gifts for adults; still does gifts for the kids (and there's seven kids including mine) but I have told my siblings that from now on I'm only buying books for their kids. The kids love books and I figure they have to be better for the environment than another piece of plastic crap.

The in-laws, particularly extended family, are slower to come around to fewer or no gifts. Possibly because there are very few kids on that side.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #990 on: November 13, 2018, 05:59:20 PM »
I took a bunch of excess flyers, cut them up and punched holes in them, and put them in my planner instead of buying new pages!

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #991 on: November 14, 2018, 07:12:42 AM »
Signed up for imperfect produce. Got my first box, and I'm quite pleased- I was worried about the level of packaging, but it turns out they just put everything free for all inside the cardboard box.

I haven't taken the car out for several days. We walked for groceries over the weekend (half a mile) and that will be easily sustainable for us. Also walked for a little dinner date yesterday. I'm glad to be back to a walkable area.

We haven't needed to turn the heat on in our apartment a single time. There's a gym below us, so I'm assuming that generates enough heat? Plus the building is concrete construction, so I'm sure that serves as a heat sink. As long as I can suffer through a little morning cold, the huge south facing windows heat the place pretty quickly once the sun comes up. It's nice too, since it'll be so much higher in summer, the sunshine won't shine into the unit as directly for spring/summer, so that will help temper it (plus we have shades).

Now that we have to take the dog out on a leash for every potty trip, the poo bags we have matter far more. Glad I sprung for the best 'eco' option I could find at the time. Anyone want to help with research and make sure I have the most optimal solution though? Obvs when we had a yard, we used a scoop pan periodically and disposed that way.

Fresh Bread

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #992 on: November 14, 2018, 01:18:11 PM »
Now that we have to take the dog out on a leash for every potty trip, the poo bags we have matter far more. Glad I sprung for the best 'eco' option I could find at the time. Anyone want to help with research and make sure I have the most optimal solution though? Obvs when we had a yard, we used a scoop pan periodically and disposed that way.

So, the thing is, every time you put something compostable in landfill it will rot in sealed conditions and create the greenhouse gas methane. So using composting bags and putting them in landfill could be equally as bad as using plastic bags. I think if you need to use a bin and bags, the best thing to do is repurpose bags eg from bread, frozen veg etc.

There are solutions like a worm farm but then you've got to find somewhere to put the output (can't be on edibles plants)!

For people with yards the best thing to do is make an in-ground worm farm (a hole or sunken bottomless bucket with a lid).

smalllife

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #993 on: November 14, 2018, 01:47:09 PM »
Now that we have to take the dog out on a leash for every potty trip, the poo bags we have matter far more. Glad I sprung for the best 'eco' option I could find at the time. Anyone want to help with research and make sure I have the most optimal solution though? Obvs when we had a yard, we used a scoop pan periodically and disposed that way.

Find someone who gets a physical newspaper and become buddies.  The newspaper bags are perfect doggie bags, and are already produced and likely to be thrown away (and recycling that plastic isn't all that effective).   Mine come from two degrees of separation - a coworkers' spouse's coworker.

Pro tip: fold them to save space ;-)

BlueMR2

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #994 on: November 17, 2018, 10:12:31 AM »
Insulated the garage door windows.  Then installed casing and caulked around the garage (wall) window.  Next replaced the old translucent plastic curtain from that window with a tighter fitting light blocking blind. 

Should give us a little better thermal insulation overall and I've already confirmed it *dramatically* reduces our light pollution when I'm working in the garage at night!

Anatidae V

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #995 on: November 20, 2018, 05:49:18 AM »
Now that we have to take the dog out on a leash for every potty trip, the poo bags we have matter far more. Glad I sprung for the best 'eco' option I could find at the time. Anyone want to help with research and make sure I have the most optimal solution though? Obvs when we had a yard, we used a scoop pan periodically and disposed that way.

So, the thing is, every time you put something compostable in landfill it will rot in sealed conditions and create the greenhouse gas methane. So using composting bags and putting them in landfill could be equally as bad as using plastic bags. I think if you need to use a bin and bags, the best thing to do is repurpose bags eg from bread, frozen veg etc.

There are solutions like a worm farm but then you've got to find somewhere to put the output (can't be on edibles plants)!

For people with yards the best thing to do is make an in-ground worm farm (a hole or sunken bottomless bucket with a lid).
Unless your landfill burns off the methane to generate power? That will depend on the landfill, of course.

Anatidae V

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #996 on: November 20, 2018, 05:50:27 AM »
Today we ate a vegan meal for dinner, soy garlic tofu with rice. Started up meal/eating planning again this week to reduce our food waste.

Hirondelle

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #997 on: November 20, 2018, 06:05:54 AM »
Skipped my morning coffee and drank tea instead. Also didn't get take-out coffee when I had a long commute yesterday morning (traveled to a collaborator). Also commuted by train ofcourse :)

Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #998 on: November 24, 2018, 09:56:18 PM »
Got the kids to enjoy some veggie burgers. I've been trying to introduce more meatless dishes into our menus; hard when all the kids are nasty little carnivores but we've been making slow progress.

Anatidae V

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #999 on: November 24, 2018, 10:42:13 PM »
Meal planned for next week. Our food waste this week was far lower than it has been for a while, so I'm hoping next week works well too.