What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?

[Sugaree]

Found two new pairs of jeans at the thrift store.  At least one of them will replace a pair that I've patched and repatched and have reached their lifespan for use as work clothes.  I'll probably keep the patched pair, but move it into the only-wear-at-home drawer to wear when I'm working in the yard. 

[stoaX]

For the last 2 weeks I have taken cold showers instead of warm. That's about 7 showers.  It's still shocking and I am still not used to it.  But I think I will keep on trying.

[trashtalk]

Rather than driving, took transit to a doctor’s appointment.

[Chaplin]

We had our once-per-month take-out meal yesterday. I brought back the plastic containers they served the food in last time and they reused them for us.
They even seemed reasonably happy about it. I imagine that those containers, especially since the cheapest Styrofoam ones are no longer allowed, represent a noticeable expense for them. To deliver the containers I went and placed my order in person and enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood while I waited for the food. I don't think there would be a way to do this with a phone or online order, although for regular customers they could have two sets of take-out containers and just swap back-and-forth. There are coffee cup schemes like that in a few places although I haven't tried one (and would rather make my own anyway).

[Frugal Lizard]

I have been putting away the harvest using my dehydrator a lot more.  I love eating dried fruit and it is expensive bought at a store and has lots of packaging.  It is a lot less work than canning and a lot less GHG if I buy local or grow my own.  And being shelf stable, means I am not paying for freezer capacity.  Win win.

Dehydrated watermelon is my most favourite thing ever.

[Raenia]

Went to a farm that does pick-your-own and also has a market, and bought a 1/2 bushel of seconds peaches.  Canned two batches of peach butter, with enough left over for a batch of raw-pack peach halves.  It's such a good feeling to turn bruised and "ugly" fruit into something delicious, and bring that much more of our eating, especially our winter eating, closer to home.  As a bonus, the whole box only cost $18.  Even after pitting, peeling, and discarding bruised sections, that's still 1$/lb of usable fruit.  Even counting a few bucks of gas and tolls, that's way better than we could get at a local farmer's market or our CSA box.

I plan to go back and do the same for apples in the fall.  Nothing beats homemade applesauce!

Went back to the orchard on Saturday for a half-bushel box of #2 pears!  Made ginger-pear marmalade, spiced pear butter, and some "pear sauce" (applesauce texture).  Still have enough pears left for a week of fresh eating, and maybe a pear tatin tart or a crisp or something.  Also picked up some locally produced apple cider.  Fall is here!

[Jenny Wren]

I have been putting away the harvest using my dehydrator a lot more.  I love eating dried fruit and it is expensive bought at a store and has lots of packaging.  It is a lot less work than canning and a lot less GHG if I buy local or grow my own.  And being shelf stable, means I am not paying for freezer capacity.  Win win.

Dehydrated watermelon is my most favourite thing ever.

I love this. We're trying to dehydrate more of our gleaned and foraged fruit this year. I used to can a lot, but between a smaller place and a canning lid shortage, other options were needed. I'm really digging dehydrated cinnamon apple rings. Great for snacking, but they rehydrate quickly for use in baked goods or even apple sauce.

I'm intrigued and am going to try that watermelon. I've always enjoyed watermelon rind pickles, but never tried to dehydrate watermelon. Any advice on dehydrating?

[Frugal Lizard]

Based on my experience with four trays of watermelon and one quick mention during a food storage webinar, I cut the watermelon in a 1 and a half inch slice through the equator.  Then I sliced off the peel.  Then I as evenly as I could in 1/4 inch slices.  I then cut the mushy bits and seeds out.  (my watermelon was getting over ripe, which is why I was dehydrating it in the first place) This resulted in slices that varied in length but were 1/4 thick and 1-1/2" wide.  Put them on lightly oiled silicon perforated mats that came with the dehydrator and it took almost 24 hours at 135.  They shrunk to a fraction of the size (a fifth maybe).  They taste more like good tasting papaya with the intensified waterless flavour. I am going to buy a whole long striped watermelon and do all 8 trays - this is such a tasty treat.

[Jenny Wren]

Based on my experience with four trays of watermelon and one quick mention during a food storage webinar, I cut the watermelon in a 1 and a half inch slice through the equator.  Then I sliced off the peel.  Then I as evenly as I could in 1/4 inch slices.  I then cut the mushy bits and seeds out.  (my watermelon was getting over ripe, which is why I was dehydrating it in the first place) This resulted in slices that varied in length but were 1/4 thick and 1-1/2" wide.  Put them on lightly oiled silicon perforated mats that came with the dehydrator and it took almost 24 hours at 135.  They shrunk to a fraction of the size (a fifth maybe).  They taste more like good tasting papaya with the intensified waterless flavour. I am going to buy a whole long striped watermelon and do all 8 trays - this is such a tasty treat.

Thank you!

[Loretta]

I bought a blue recycling bin to keep in my kitchen for various bottles and boxes, to have a big visual reminder to recycle, reuse, reduce.  So far I’ve filled it up once and thankfully the weight wasn’t too heavy to carry to my building’s recycling bins. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086XLRN7W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought a new kind of hand soap refill that comes in a carton.   

Sunday a friend and I donated about 5 bags of clothes and housewares to the local thrift shop, so that others might enjoy our Stuff more than we did. 

[diapasoun]

We switched from plastic sponges to sisal-fiber scrubbies for our kitchen. The scrubbies last longer, work just as well, AND I can compost them when they're dead.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm embarrassed to say that we just started saving our shower warm up water. But, we did, and we're a family of four (including two teens, who take long showers, if allowed). I'm really surprised by how much water we can collect in a day, and we are now using this to water our plants.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

We switched from plastic sponges to sisal-fiber scrubbies for our kitchen. The scrubbies last longer, work just as well, AND I can compost them when they're dead.

I have been knitting cotton dish cloths and asked my husband to pick up coconut scrubbers at Target. We have actually been using compostable sponges but they are not entirely satisfactory.

Also on the list were lemon-lime soda drops for the SodaStream (for the kids; we have Bubly drops for ourselves). If I ever, you know, take it out of the box, we will save so many cans, if no money.

And I remembered to both bring and use a cloth napkin at work!

[lazycow]

Set washing machine to 30 min daily wash in cold water. It is a beautiful sunny day so hanging eveverything on the clothesline will sanitise and naturally bleach the teatowels and crocheted wash clothes.
And am going to make my own hooded towel poncho for the beach using a bath sheet that is too big.

[Weisass]

Ditched the car today and took the train one way, my bike the other. Was glorious, would do again!

[Poundwise]

I'm embarrassed to say that we just started saving our shower warm up water. But, we did, and we're a family of four (including two teens, who take long showers, if allowed). I'm really surprised by how much water we can collect in a day, and we are now using this to water our plants.

That is great! While water waste does not seem to be an issue where I live, I usually stick my head first into the warm up water to dampen my hair, since for some reason my head does not feel the cold the way the rest of my body does.

We've been using the newly resuscitated laundry line daily.  I also have started shopping for bicycles. We used to be a cycling kind of family but everybody outgrew their bikes, and suddenly bikes became expensive so I kind of put off the bike purchases.

I also signed up to help out at an upcoming Repair Fair that somebody has been organizing.

[Loretta]

I recycled some plastic bags and used the appropriate amount of detergent so that my wash did not require an additional spin and rinse.

[rockeTree]

Did some decluttering over the winter break and instead of just dropping stuff at goodwill that I know might not find a home went to the trouble of next-door/freecycle etc to make sure usable things got to people who could use them. (Giving things away: always more trouble than I expect). This included some fairly large stuff needing repairs beyond my abilities that is not going in the landfill; got picked up this weekend.

Today will be vegan except for the half tablespoon of butter I fried some stale bread in (no food waste at least!)

Switched prescriptions to a place I can and will walk to from I place I sort of could walk to but usually don't

Picked up a full bag of recyclable litter on my way to and from said pharmacy

[Poundwise]

It's not something we've done yet, but I did some research into replacing our aging asphalt driveway with permeable grid-style pavers that can be planted over. https://www.carbibles.com/best-driveway-pavers/

[jnw]

It was the other day, but I ordered a 1.5gpm shower head and a shut off valve to go behind it.  Also recently switched from distilling water to berkey filtration.. saving 20 cents of electricity per gallon made, and reducing cost to 2.5 cents per gallon for the filtering with Berkey.

[LightTripper]

War has a way of really focusing our minds on our gas consumption (being in the UK where 5% of our gas comes from Russia, and where in any case prices are going to really squeeze lots of household budgets in the coming years).  It feels like this may be the bit of history where a bunch of other pressures help push behind the environmental pressures - thought it's sad we needed that.

Anyway, a lot of blether to say we turned our thermostat down from 19.5c to 17c and actually it's been fine.  Should have done it years ago. 

[jnw]

Wow I just read that America consumes 19.6 million barrels of oil per day.  That's 7.2 billion barrels of oil per year.   7,154 million barrels of oil per year divided by about 350 million people is 20 barrels of oil per year per each person.  1.7 barrels of oil per month per person.  Or 1.7 x 55 = 93.5 gallons of oil per month per person (including infants).   1 barrel of oil weighs about 425 pounds.  1.7 barrels x 425 = 722 lbs of oil per month per person.  Or about 5 times of the weight of 150 pound person each month in oil.

[tygertygertyger]

It's not something we've done yet, but I did some research into replacing our aging asphalt driveway with permeable grid-style pavers that can be planted over. https://www.carbibles.com/best-driveway-pavers/

I actually have bids out right now to have this done.  Our paved driveway is pitched wrong, shedding water directly towards the house.  Since I need to tear the asphalt up anyways to regrade, I figured why not.

Neat!

My current projects:

(Planning) - replace as much front lawn as possible with native perennials.
(Mid-project) - cut up old sheets to turn into handkerchiefs. (sheets were not in good shape for mending)
(Mid-project) - patching more of Partner's jeans. Always the same mend.

[Poundwise]

It's not something we've done yet, but I did some research into replacing our aging asphalt driveway with permeable grid-style pavers that can be planted over. https://www.carbibles.com/best-driveway-pavers/

I actually have bids out right now to have this done.  Our paved driveway is pitched wrong, shedding water directly towards the house.  Since I need to tear the asphalt up anyways to regrade, I figured why not.

In your bids, how does the cost compare to asphalt? I'm hoping that I can show my spouse that it's cheaper to install (he cares for the environment but in practice he is nervous of innovation especially if it costs more.)

[Poundwise]

It's not something we've done yet, but I did some research into replacing our aging asphalt driveway with permeable grid-style pavers that can be planted over. https://www.carbibles.com/best-driveway-pavers/

I actually have bids out right now to have this done.  Our paved driveway is pitched wrong, shedding water directly towards the house.  Since I need to tear the asphalt up anyways to regrade, I figured why not.

In your bids, how does the cost compare to asphalt? I'm hoping that I can show my spouse that it's cheaper to install (he cares for the environment but in practice he is nervous of innovation especially if it costs more.)

I won’t know until the contractors get back to me and being in an area where it seems everyone is renovating right now it might be a while before I find out.

Thanks, keep us posted!  It seems to me that it ought to be a lot easier and require less equipment to lay down interlocking tiles than to pour hot asphalt.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

It's not something we've done yet, but I did some research into replacing our aging asphalt driveway with permeable grid-style pavers that can be planted over. https://www.carbibles.com/best-driveway-pavers/

I actually have bids out right now to have this done.  Our paved driveway is pitched wrong, shedding water directly towards the house.  Since I need to tear the asphalt up anyways to regrade, I figured why not.

In your bids, how does the cost compare to asphalt? I'm hoping that I can show my spouse that it's cheaper to install (he cares for the environment but in practice he is nervous of innovation especially if it costs more.)

I won’t know until the contractors get back to me and being in an area where it seems everyone is renovating right now it might be a while before I find out.

I will be interested to hear more about this! We need a new driveway. You know, eventually. We live in a drought area and I would love to reduce our impermeable square footage. I am less convinced that you can get actual grass to grow in there as opposed to just weeds!

[Loretta]

I turned off the light in a public bathroom.  I am taking my recycling bin to the basement of my building for collection!  Trying to buy less shite in plastic containers. 

[Fishindude]

Slowed down and swerved to avoid a squirrel.

[KYFIRE]

My boys helped me get the seeds started for the garden. 

Hopefully better luck this year than last!

[Tyson]

Switched from sponges (disposable) to a washrag (washable) in my kitchen.

[jnw]

Installed shower head shut off valve today.  Will turn off water while lathering and shampooing.

[Poundwise]

Slowed down and swerved to avoid a squirrel.

Ha! :D

I broke my foot and now my kids are not expecting me to drive them everywhere. Amazing motivator for carpooling as well!

[nessness]

Slowed down and swerved to avoid a squirrel.

I stopped and waited for a wild turkey to get out of the road this morning. I expressed some mild annoyance with the turkey, who was taking his sweet time, and got a lecture from my 7-year-old about how turkeys have been around way longer than roads and cars. I didn't bother pointing out that wild turkeys are actually an invasive species where we live...

[EchoStache]

Not a small thing, probably a HUGE thing.  My family of five started recycling a couple of weeks ago.  Seems like we are filling two bags of recycle per bag of trash, essentially reducing 3 bags of trash down to 1.  Wish we had started decades ago but really happy we started.

Also, bought an EV.  Did we reduce our environmental impact…maybe…..will probably take a while but over time I think so.  I'd like to go solar by next year so I think that will definitely tip the scales in our favor.

[Tyson]

Not a small thing, probably a HUGE thing.  My family of five started recycling a couple of weeks ago.  Seems like we are filling two bags of recycle per bag of trash, essentially reducing 3 bags of trash down to 1.  Wish we had started decades ago but really happy we started.

Also, bought an EV.  Did we reduce our environmental impact…maybe…..will probably take a while but over time I think so.  I'd like to go solar by next year so I think that will definitely tip the scales in our favor.

When all factors are accounted for, a full EV is 4x less impactful on the environment vs. an ICE car.

[nessness]

I sent a message to a local business complaining about the plastic mailers they sent out. I have no idea if it will make a difference, but it couldn't hurt to try.

[Poundwise]

On my way to Costco, I texted a friend to see if I could pick up something for her. She gladly replied that she needed eggs, so I got her some and dropped them off at her house on the way home.  She often does the same for me and this has saved us many trips!

[Dollar Slice]

I was unexpectedly out of the house from about 6-10 without having eaten since lunch, so I decided to grab some take out... got a veggie burrito bowl to minimize carbon emissions and when she said they didn't have any guacamole (normally included in the price) because they were just about to close, I asked if she could give me a bunch of extra stuff to make up for it. (When she said they were out of guac and I looked disappointed, she first offered to throw away all the food she'd put in the bowl so far "if you don't want it" - AAAAH!) I figured they were just about to throw everything in the burrito bar away when they closed and it would all be wasted. She ended up piling it to the absolute brim for me and I only managed to eat about a third of it for dinner. Two more meals for tomorrow, saved from the landfill :-)

[Josiecat22222]

@Dollar Slice , that is the best win win I've heard in a while! Strong work!!

[Dollar Slice]

@Dollar Slice , that is the best win win I've heard in a while! Strong work!!

Definitely a big win! I had some small flour tortillas hanging around in the fridge, so I used it as taco filling and got three more meals.

[Imma]

I really had to print out something that needed to be signed by hand, scanned and then e-mailed (why?? in the 21st century? Please let me sign digitally). I printed the whole 100 page document on the back of used paper.

We had some veggies that were going to go bad soon but we're invited for dinner at a friend's tomorrow. So we prepared them all and froze 3 meals that we'll eat some time next week.

[stoaX]

I printed the whole 100 page document on the back of used paper.

Impressive!   Sorry you had to use all that ink, and it must have been annoying to go through all that. 

[Loretta]

I took my plastic recycling down to the recycling room of my building this morning. 

I  bought a small Christmas Cactus plant for $3 at my local botanic garden.  I also renewed my membership at the botanic gardens. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I gave away of ton of outgrown kids clothing, games, puzzles, sports equipment, etc on Buy Nothing. I picked up a pantry item someone was giving away (unopened almonds) & walked to pick it up.

[Abe]

Bought a used Tesla to replace our remaining gas car. Prior owner moved to Manhattan so won't be replacing it any time soon, and we would've otherwise bought a new EV at some point. It's moderately reducing our impact.

[jeninco]

Nice score, @Abe !

I drove our Prius Plug-in hybrid almost an hour each way to go visit a friend in hospital. He's at a highly-regarded place for spinal-cord injuries for three months, and I'm trying to get down there to see him about once/week. If I start the trip with a full charge in both batteries, I get about 100 MPGe, which means about a gallon per visit.

[trashtalk]

Took transit to my kid’s doctor’s appointment. We took a route on the way there that minimized walking because 3yos are known to dawdle and I was worried about being late. (We were very early.) We took the train part of the way home, which is eco-friendly AND very entertaining for a small person.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I continue to arrange LOTS of teen carpools. They save us a lot of time, but also extra driving for others. We drive our electric car.

I've also gotten my teens to switch to Nuun vs Gatorade. They play a lot of sports, and in the summer, we allow an electrolyte when they have 2-3+ hours of outdoor sports. Nuun comes in tablets that you can drop into your own water bottle, vs Gatorade's giant plastic tubs. I much prefer Nuun, as it's also better  for them (no sugar). It is quite a bit more expensive, and I don't love that they come in small plastic containers. Maybe I'll inquire why they don't make larger packs, to reduce on plastics. Ideally, I'd make something with electrolytes at home for them. They are lazy & will grab whatever is readily available.

[Aardvark]

I'd like to pose a question to this group. But I am worried that my question will make it sound as though I am opposed to what this thread is about. So - to begin with - I want to make it clear that I am not at all opposed to small actions.

My question is whether the people in this group are also taking big actions like:
-Voting locally and nationally in support of candidates that have social and environmental action on their agenda
-Driving smaller, preferably electric, cars
-Home improvements like insulation, heat pumps and accessing renewable electricity
-Eating less animal products
-Impacting decisions at work to move your company towards more sustainable systems

...Or are the big actions seen as taking things a bit outside of the comfort zone?

[Raenia]

I'd like to pose a question to this group. But I am worried that my question will make it sound as though I am opposed to what this thread is about. So - to begin with - I want to make it clear that I am not at all opposed to small actions.

My question is whether the people in this group are also taking big actions like:
-Voting locally and nationally in support of candidates that have social and environmental action on their agenda
-Driving smaller, preferably electric, cars
-Home improvements like insulation, heat pumps and accessing renewable electricity
-Eating less animal products
-Impacting decisions at work to move your company towards more sustainable systems

...Or are the big actions seen as taking things a bit outside of the comfort zone?

Personally, yes, I vote in every election I'm eligible for (thanks mail-in voting!), I've cut my family's meat consumption down to less than once a week, I buy locally raised poultry and very occasional fish, and I participate in environmental initiatives at my company whenever they are available.  I pay extra to get 100% renewable electricity.  I live in an apartment with nowhere to charge, so no EV yet, but I drive a small sedan and try to drive as little as possible.  Single car household, DH takes the train to work, and we use the train/bus when possible, and I walk most errands under 2 miles.  We've cut way down on flying, down to once every 2-3 years to see family, no vacations.

But those actions are routine, habit, or one-time choices, and don't keep environmental impact front of mind the same way as taking a walk around the neighborhood and picking up trash.

You might also like to check out some of these other threads:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/stopburningstuff-by-2030-or-sooner/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/electric-cars-can-they-finally-become-popular-in-the-united-states/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/heat-pumps-gas-vs-electric-costs/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/one-year-of-solar-panels/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/budget-your-emissions-like-your-finances!/