Author Topic: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?  (Read 568626 times)

RetiredAt63

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #900 on: August 16, 2018, 10:53:48 AM »

My dad used to tell us to just shake off our hands or wipe them on our pants rather than using a paper towel or dryer and I think I need to start doing that more often.  There's no real NEED for either paper towel or a dryer for me personally in most instances.

Aah, yes, the old "Be modern, drip dry" approach.   ;-)

dashuk

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #901 on: August 16, 2018, 12:11:41 PM »
There is life cycle analysis of this, the hand dryers appear to win: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969715001424.  From the abstract, it looks like the major impact of the hand dryer is the power it uses.  If your office building is powered by renewables, I imagine that might help to make the dryer even more attractive.

My dad used to tell us to just shake off our hands or wipe them on our pants rather than using a paper towel or dryer and I think I need to start doing that more often.  There's no real NEED for either paper towel or a dryer for me personally in most instances.

Interesting, thanks @cats! Would be even more interesting to see the working, but I must admit, my devotion to the subject doesn't extend to buying access to paywalled journals. ;-)

Child #1 has a bit of a thing about the noise of hand dryers, so we do a fair amount of drying hands on clothes when we're out and about.


cats

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #902 on: August 17, 2018, 03:27:32 PM »
I have resolved to be less lazy and fully power down my workstation at the office before leaving each evening, resulting in less power use overnight.  Have done it every day this week so far.  I am actually finding it's good for me in another way--knowing I will have to shut everything down seems to also be nudging me to take 5-10 minutes to figure out where I am with all my tasks and what I need to prioritize doing the next day, rather than just leaving stuff open as a "reminder" to work on it.

Discovered that my city is proposing adding a 25 cent charge to all disposable food containers at restaurants (due to China turning away more US plastics).  Wrote my councilperson saying I thought this was a great idea.  Then wrote my state legislature representative and asked that they consider introducing similar legislation at the state level.  I am actually quite enjoying my new ongoing project of contacting elected officials as it is causing me to research a bit more about what rules/legislation are already being proposed.  For example, I discovered that not one, but two carbon taxes have actually been introduced in the US house, although neither of them are expected to pass or really even get out of committee.  However, I did write to my US representative and asked her to consider adding her support or co-sponsorship to the carbon tax that legislation that has been endorsed by the NRDC (the other one is not expected to result in as large a reduction in emissions and would pretty much gut the Clean Air Act).
« Last Edit: August 17, 2018, 03:31:19 PM by cats »

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #903 on: August 17, 2018, 04:29:49 PM »
Hand dryers: ewww. Am I the only one who read that article about them spreading fecal bacteria? I prefer to wipe my hands on my gym towel or my pants.

I had too many flyers printed for a library program. I just cut up a bunch of them to use as scratch paper. (We use a lot of little pieces of paper for writing Dewey numbers on, tagging items for transit, etc.).


chaskavitch

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #904 on: August 19, 2018, 09:21:56 AM »
Sad news: Sprouts will no longer let you use reusable bags for bulk items :( 

The cashier told me yesterday when I was checking out.  I'm assuming it is a liability thing, where they want to make sure that you don't get sick because your bags are filthy and then blame it on the store.  I'm so bummed.  I try to not even buy bulk items unless I have my bags with me, I hate using the stupid plastic bags.  Even if you reuse them, they don't last nearly as long as mesh bags.

cats

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #905 on: August 19, 2018, 09:28:43 AM »
How are they going to enforce that? Refuse to ring you up? Station people in the bulk section to put your items in plastic?

chaskavitch

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #906 on: August 19, 2018, 09:39:09 AM »
How are they going to enforce that? Refuse to ring you up? Station people in the bulk section to put your items in plastic?

I have no idea, that's a good question.  If it really is a liability issue, it's not like they can put the bulk food back once it's in your reusable bags, and it would just get ridiculous making people transfer their goods from a reusable bag to a plastic one.

cats

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #907 on: August 19, 2018, 12:34:21 PM »
Honestly, I would wait for them to actually post in writing that it’s not allowed.  It seems like something rather out of sync with the image they try to project.

BuffaloStache

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #908 on: August 19, 2018, 01:45:21 PM »
Posting mostly to follow, but I haven't yet read all of the great ideas in this thread.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #909 on: August 19, 2018, 03:03:40 PM »
-Biked for our first grocery trip, walked for our second. (2.5 miles each way and 1.5mi each way, respectively).
-At the first store, knew I would use the bell pepper I was buying that day, so I bought one that was softening- seemed likely it'd get thrown out if no one bought it today, and it's being cooked anyway.
-Reusable grocery bags or paneers for the trips.

pancakes

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #910 on: August 19, 2018, 09:24:56 PM »
I purchased rice at the bulk food store. Eye wateringly expensive and I didn’t BYO container so used a paper bag BUT since we are living in a small space we have been buying small quantities of pantry goods at a time which means so much plastic waste.

I have also been doing my BYO coffee cup and walking to my local cafes while we work out how to repair our machine. It has been nice to get out and walk around different areas of the neighbourhood to try different cafes but I am keen to start making my own coffee again soon for the cost factor.

magnet18

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #911 on: August 20, 2018, 09:43:00 AM »
I took a cup of coffee in a travel mug to work, instead of leaving the last of the pot to go cold and drinking the free coffee at work

Mon€yp€nny

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #912 on: August 22, 2018, 11:27:50 AM »
Bought bio cotton shirts where I wouldn't expect it. I read an article about C&A (Dutch chain, referred to by my husband as 'Cheap & Awful'), they sell a cradle to cradle gold certificate jeans. They are the first in Europe or the world I believe. I still have enough jeans but I did need long sleeved shirts.

My 8 yr daughter had seen a TV show where a headband was made from scraps of fabric and metal wire. She asked for fabric so I told her to look in the fabric recycle bag. I found metal wire in my grandfather's old toolbox and my daughter found a blouse with dirty spots. A bit of sewing and sewing lesson and she is thrilled. Ready for school. Grandpa is smiling from.heaven and probably looking slightly smug at my grandma 'see, I told you it was worth saving!'
She also got a new piece of clothing at the thrift store yesterday and is really happy with it.(Nothing in my size that I was looking for unfortunately). Saves new fabric too.
I don't have many clothes but I still found 'double bought items', planning to sell what's still very nice/ new, donate what's still good.
One of those items is a white blouse, I de-stained the short and long sleeved other two I had.
I needed something for an unexpected funeral and just bought something that matched, it was a emotionally and physically draining fortnight. I shopped for a wedding and the funeral in one day for the whole family and shopped for husband and the kids first and myself as last when I was tired. I also had a similar, but too warm, blazer at home. That one is going too.
And I learned to make sure we have something dark and nice in our closets to prevent blind last minute shopping. Something eco preferably

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #913 on: August 23, 2018, 01:15:07 AM »
Walked to work this morning. I need to pick up a car from the repair shop in another town. I will probably get to sit with a colleague who drives in that direction. Or I will take the train.

pancakes

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #914 on: August 25, 2018, 12:44:38 AM »
We decided to sit at a cafe and drink coffee today so left without our reusable cups (except the baby took hers). To our surprise our cafe choice serves all their coffee in takeaway cups even though they have a huge dine-in area. We kept walking and found somewhere using normal cups.

As a bonus the baby ordered a babyccino (we might be those people but I can’t bring myself to actually order it using that word) and we got the 50c reusable cup discount off a $1 drink because she brought her own cup.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #915 on: August 25, 2018, 02:13:02 AM »
Taking the train to the city. Meeting a friend who will cycle. Going to a festival where they encourage you to bring a reusable cup.

Anatidae V

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #916 on: August 25, 2018, 03:26:21 AM »
We walked to the local shops to get our handful of required groceries. I've also been buying most of our meat from the local butcher, and trying to get more from the local greengrocer who stocks locally grown food.

Mon€yp€nny

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #917 on: August 25, 2018, 04:51:10 PM »
Went to the organic farm nearby for our vegetables.

Collected rainwater. I'll be honest, cause I needed rainwater for a recipe to make dark laundry detergent with woodash and hedera.
I also use our rainbarrel for tapwater that I save from the kitchen so I needed fresh rainwater.
 When the new roof is on the shed, we can collect the biggest portion of rainwater from our roofs.

Will make dish detergent and start the laundry detergent tomorrow hopefully, from ash from our fireplace and leaves from hedera we have loads of in the garden.
I also have to take cutlings from the hedera and plant those in pots. We want a green privacy fence. Growing our own plants will save some co2 and petrol.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #918 on: August 26, 2018, 10:57:15 AM »
My two-old-old has been on a nice streak of signaling “potty” during the day thanks to lots of messaging from Signing Time’s Potty Time video. She’s even able to wear underwear a few hours at a time. This is a nice part-time upgrade from either disposables or all the laundry of cloth.


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gaja

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #919 on: August 26, 2018, 12:48:15 PM »
I haven't flown privately for years, but business travels are harder to cut. Before the summer, I tested the night train on a journey where it wouldn't be a problem to arrive a bit tired or late, and it worked quite well. So this past week, I got a return ticket with the night train, rather than going by plane. It is a bit more costly for my employer, but since the travel policy does emphazise environmental choices, they can't really protest. I did choose to give up some of my per diem, since the train took so much more time.

Only got 3-4 hour sleep on the trip north, but going home I was used to the starts and stops, and slept through 90% of the night. The extra hours in town was used registering at the local library, so I could use their free wifi and get access to the library outside opening hours.

If this is the inappropriate place for this let me know and I will delete but does anyone have any environmentally friendly ways to store breast milk? Right now we’re using these one time use plastic bags, which are very convenient and easy to store, but I hate one use plastic. We’re trying to be as green as possible with baby, using cloth diapers, hand me down clothes and toys, etc... but this has me stumped
I used multiuse plastic containers, or froze directly in the bottle. I seem to remember that you could get lids that fit the bottles? We got the bottles second hand, and re-sold them afterwards, so it wasn't really a big expense. Glass jars sounds like a good choice for hygiene, but less so for practicality.

Don't know why that would be an inappropriate subject?

greengardens

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #920 on: August 29, 2018, 03:58:11 PM »

If this is the inappropriate place for this let me know and I will delete but does anyone have any environmentally friendly ways to store breast milk? Right now we’re using these one time use plastic bags, which are very convenient and easy to store, but I hate one use plastic. We’re trying to be as green as possible with baby, using cloth diapers, hand me down clothes and toys, etc... but this has me stumped
I used multiuse plastic containers, or froze directly in the bottle. I seem to remember that you could get lids that fit the bottles? We got the bottles second hand, and re-sold them afterwards, so it wasn't really a big expense. Glass jars sounds like a good choice for hygiene, but less so for practicality.

Don't know why that would be an inappropriate subject?

doesn't look like daycare will accept glass jars. They seem to prefer the plastic bags, but will accept bottles so I'll have to find some more. Hopefully I can source them secondhand. I wasn't sure if this thread was strictly "share what you've done to be environmentally friendly" or if an occasional off topic question was allowed. Some threads seem to be more strict than others.

I'm slowly removing plastic from my beauty routine (emphasis on slowly). I've ordered plastic free dental floss, deodorant and facial moisturizer. These products are quite a bit more expensive than my normal products, which hurts the mustachian part of my brain. My goal is to eventually replace the "big offenders" such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, but I'm having a harder time making that jump.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #921 on: August 30, 2018, 01:10:37 AM »
<...>

I'm slowly removing plastic from my beauty routine (emphasis on slowly). I've ordered plastic free dental floss, deodorant and facial moisturizer. These products are quite a bit more expensive than my normal products, which hurts the mustachian part of my brain. My goal is to eventually replace the "big offenders" such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, but I'm having a harder time making that jump.

Buying plastic free toothbrushes cannot be easy and cheap.
For shampoo, I have reduced the number of times I wash my hair. I think I now often go 5 days without a wash, while earlier I washed almost every other day.

Today I walked to work again and will walk back as well.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #922 on: August 30, 2018, 09:30:26 AM »

If this is the inappropriate place for this let me know and I will delete but does anyone have any environmentally friendly ways to store breast milk? Right now we’re using these one time use plastic bags, which are very convenient and easy to store, but I hate one use plastic. We’re trying to be as green as possible with baby, using cloth diapers, hand me down clothes and toys, etc... but this has me stumped
I used multiuse plastic containers, or froze directly in the bottle. I seem to remember that you could get lids that fit the bottles? We got the bottles second hand, and re-sold them afterwards, so it wasn't really a big expense. Glass jars sounds like a good choice for hygiene, but less so for practicality.

Don't know why that would be an inappropriate subject?

doesn't look like daycare will accept glass jars. They seem to prefer the plastic bags, but will accept bottles so I'll have to find some more. Hopefully I can source them secondhand. I wasn't sure if this thread was strictly "share what you've done to be environmentally friendly" or if an occasional off topic question was allowed. Some threads seem to be more strict than others.

I'm slowly removing plastic from my beauty routine (emphasis on slowly). I've ordered plastic free dental floss, deodorant and facial moisturizer. These products are quite a bit more expensive than my normal products, which hurts the mustachian part of my brain. My goal is to eventually replace the "big offenders" such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, but I'm having a harder time making that jump.

Have you tried shampoo bars? I haven't yet (I use very small amounts of product and only wash my hair twice a week at most, so shampoo/conditioner routine has been a lower priority to address than other items), but I know a friend who really likes it. You can get it in the paper soap wrappers.

greengardens

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #923 on: August 30, 2018, 10:59:39 AM »

Have you tried shampoo bars? I haven't yet (I use very small amounts of product and only wash my hair twice a week at most, so shampoo/conditioner routine has been a lower priority to address than other items), but I know a friend who really likes it. You can get it in the paper soap wrappers.

I’ve thought about it but am leery to try them. It’s taken me years to find a product that works well with my hair but if I want to realize my plastic free beauty routine I will have to get over my misgivings

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #924 on: August 30, 2018, 11:12:36 AM »

Have you tried shampoo bars? I haven't yet (I use very small amounts of product and only wash my hair twice a week at most, so shampoo/conditioner routine has been a lower priority to address than other items), but I know a friend who really likes it. You can get it in the paper soap wrappers.

I’ve thought about it but am leery to try them. It’s taken me years to find a product that works well with my hair but if I want to realize my plastic free beauty routine I will have to get over my misgivings

I definitely relate to this! I just try to give myself permission to go slow, and not try and change everything at once, so that I don't get frustrated and give up. Every change helps, even if you aren't being "perfect". Some changes that last forever have a much bigger impact than ALL the changes that only last a short time.

jengod

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What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #925 on: September 07, 2018, 07:52:04 PM »
* Cargo biked to groceries yesterday and cargo biked the school run today

* Line dried a load of clothes

* Lots of composting of fall leaves and vacuum-cleaner guts and the unrecoverable leftover bits from school lunches
« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 11:13:24 AM by jengod »

chaskavitch

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #926 on: September 09, 2018, 06:37:09 AM »

Have you tried shampoo bars? I haven't yet (I use very small amounts of product and only wash my hair twice a week at most, so shampoo/conditioner routine has been a lower priority to address than other items), but I know a friend who really likes it. You can get it in the paper soap wrappers.

I’ve thought about it but am leery to try them. It’s taken me years to find a product that works well with my hair but if I want to realize my plastic free beauty routine I will have to get over my misgivings

I definitely relate to this! I just try to give myself permission to go slow, and not try and change everything at once, so that I don't get frustrated and give up. Every change helps, even if you aren't being "perfect". Some changes that last forever have a much bigger impact than ALL the changes that only last a short time.

I switched to using a shampoo bar a few months ago, and what's really made all the difference is using an apple cider vinegar rinse after I rinse my shampoo out with water. 

I haven't been using conditioner, and tbh I only wash my hair every 4 days or so, but I was getting a ton of build-up of what I assume was soap.  It felt super gross, even if it wasn't all that visible if you weren't running your hands through my hair.  I use a rinse of ~ 2 Tbs of apple cider vinegar in 1.5 - 2 cups water (it's a jam jar I repurposed, I'm not sure of the exact volume) every time I wash, and it's made my hair SO MUCH BETTER.  My hair is pretty thick and long enough to reach past my bra strap, so you may need more or less depending on how much hair you have. 

It was a little bit of a learning curve to figure out how to work the shampoo through my hair well enough, but I honestly feel like my hair is as good or better than it was when I was using normal shampoo and conditioner, and I feel infinitely better about the lack of plastic in my routine.  I switched to bar soap for my body, too, and it's just such a easy/sustainable change once you actually make it.  You're just like "Well, this is my soap, it's gonna last for another...6 months?  I guess I'll keep using it!" 

gatortator

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #927 on: September 11, 2018, 02:08:14 PM »

Have you tried shampoo bars? I haven't yet (I use very small amounts of product and only wash my hair twice a week at most, so shampoo/conditioner routine has been a lower priority to address than other items), but I know a friend who really likes it. You can get it in the paper soap wrappers.

I’ve thought about it but am leery to try them. It’s taken me years to find a product that works well with my hair but if I want to realize my plastic free beauty routine I will have to get over my misgivings

I definitely relate to this! I just try to give myself permission to go slow, and not try and change everything at once, so that I don't get frustrated and give up. Every change helps, even if you aren't being "perfect". Some changes that last forever have a much bigger impact than ALL the changes that only last a short time.

I switched to using a shampoo bar a few months ago, and what's really made all the difference is using an apple cider vinegar rinse after I rinse my shampoo out with water. 


I have been using a locally made bar shampoo for 2-3 years now.  I love it.  I have fine hair, medium length (but a lot of them) and really like the results with the bar.  I use the same bar as a body wash as well.  One bar last me 6-8 weeks.  cleaning the shower is easier as is packing my toiletries for travel-- only have to move/pack 1 thing.

here is the one I use.

https://www.mountainmadnesssoap.com/products/everything-bar-natural-vegan-gourmet-soap


Sanne

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #928 on: September 17, 2018, 02:30:38 AM »
I'm impressed by people here!

I started reading (the Dutch) book 'The Hidden Impact'. It's about the impacts for Dutch people but I think it can be replaced by any Western country.

It talks about the hidden impact of everything, buying and owning stuff, transport, housing, food. What's the impact and what is it that you can do about it. I like that it shows not only the impact by using but the complete impact, manufacturing, transporting, land use and deforestation, water etc. I really like the graphics as well as I'm a very visual person.

https://medium.com/inside-vbat/this-book-might-change-your-life-3229060f3226




okisok

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #929 on: September 18, 2018, 11:44:58 AM »
I cut a jarful of going-to-seed herbs and wildflowers from the community garden instead of buying fresh flowers. I did drive to get there, but combined it with other errands. Including recycling aluminum cans :)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #930 on: September 18, 2018, 11:54:11 AM »
Husband and I are selling and moving. We're heavily leaning moving into a modern eco apartment rather than a home. Smaller space to heat and cool, more walkable, greywater recycling and other building amenities, etc. New apartments around here are LEED gold at least, and substantially increasing the density of the city.

If we do this, I think it'll be a BIG change to our environmental impact.

bacchi

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #931 on: September 18, 2018, 12:21:55 PM »
I'm impressed by people here!

I started reading (the Dutch) book 'The Hidden Impact'. It's about the impacts for Dutch people but I think it can be replaced by any Western country.

It talks about the hidden impact of everything, buying and owning stuff, transport, housing, food. What's the impact and what is it that you can do about it. I like that it shows not only the impact by using but the complete impact, manufacturing, transporting, land use and deforestation, water etc. I really like the graphics as well as I'm a very visual person.

https://medium.com/inside-vbat/this-book-might-change-your-life-3229060f3226



Great graphic!

1) Buy less shit
2) Become vegetarian.
3) Live in a smaller house and make it more energy efficient.


For US comparison's sake, the average (new) Dutch house is 1248 ft^2 for ~2 people and it's 2185 ft^2 in the US, which means that the US equivalent graphic might have housing equal to meat eating (though I bet Americans eat more meat than the Dutch, too).

OtherJen

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #932 on: September 20, 2018, 08:23:41 AM »
I turned a few pounds of mealy and slightly bruised apples (they looked good in the bag) into applesauce rather than tossing them. Bonus: free kitchen aromatherapy.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #933 on: September 22, 2018, 12:51:49 PM »
I'm impressed by people here!

I started reading (the Dutch) book 'The Hidden Impact'. It's about the impacts for Dutch people but I think it can be replaced by any Western country.

It talks about the hidden impact of everything, buying and owning stuff, transport, housing, food. What's the impact and what is it that you can do about it. I like that it shows not only the impact by using but the complete impact, manufacturing, transporting, land use and deforestation, water etc. I really like the graphics as well as I'm a very visual person.

https://medium.com/inside-vbat/this-book-might-change-your-life-3229060f3226



Getting children is not on that graph. It also surprises me that flying is some steps lower than car. I thought that even a trip within Europe would have about as much impact as driving in your own country for a whole year. And if you didn't get a child, you could fly and drive as much as you wanted. (Not that I do that).

Hirondelle

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #934 on: September 23, 2018, 05:13:24 AM »
Linda, these are the numbers for the average Dutch person. That's why she recommends putting your own numbers in. The absolute impact of flying is definitely bigger than that of driving a car, but apparently the average Dutchie flies not that much (many people don't fly at all..) while using the car relatively more and this comes out worse for the cars in total average emission. Maybe also because cars get replaced more often and the non-current use part of it is higher? For me as a person the flying is definitely higher and the car at 0 so it's a very personal thing :).

I find the getting children one a tough one - do we count the kid as a full extra person to add to your impact (or half as shared with other parent)? And from what age not anymore? Because in that case you wouldn't have to count the impact of the child itself anymore if it's already counted with the parents.. I think saying you can fly and drive as much as you want when not having a child is bullshit. When I put in a calculator my footprint is already blows up to 2.5x the earth with a childless life (average Dutch person is at 3.6x I think), so adding a child would make it worse but not having the child doesn't make me an environmental saint.

BuffaloStache

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #935 on: September 23, 2018, 02:06:18 PM »
Went grocery shopping today and noticed the person in line ahead of me had a small amount of produce (3 apples) in a plastic bag, that they then put into a double-layer-plastic bag.

Unless it's green beans or other small/loose produce, I never put my apples/oranges/peppers in a bag and bring reusable shopping bags ~90% of the time (I'm not perfect, but I remember them more than not).

OtherJen

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #936 on: September 23, 2018, 02:21:38 PM »
Went grocery shopping today and noticed the person in line ahead of me had a small amount of produce (3 apples) in a plastic bag, that they then put into a double-layer-plastic bag.

Unless it's green beans or other small/loose produce, I never put my apples/oranges/peppers in a bag and bring reusable shopping bags ~90% of the time (I'm not perfect, but I remember them more than not).

I've wondered about reusable mesh produce bags. Have you tried them? I love my reusable shopping bags and wonder if there's any resistance to the produce bags at grocery store checkouts.

bacchi

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #937 on: September 23, 2018, 02:37:17 PM »
Went grocery shopping today and noticed the person in line ahead of me had a small amount of produce (3 apples) in a plastic bag, that they then put into a double-layer-plastic bag.

Unless it's green beans or other small/loose produce, I never put my apples/oranges/peppers in a bag and bring reusable shopping bags ~90% of the time (I'm not perfect, but I remember them more than not).

I've wondered about reusable mesh produce bags. Have you tried them? I love my reusable shopping bags and wonder if there's any resistance to the produce bags at grocery store checkouts.

We use the mesh bags all the time. They need more washing (=soaking in a sink with oxy and soap) than shopping bags but no one has complained.

We use these for dry bulk items like rice and lentils: https://www.amazon.com/Drawstring-Vegetables-Reusable-Household-Organizing/dp/B01IT37BPG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1537734990&sr=8-2&keywords=cloth+reusable+bulk+bags


Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #938 on: September 24, 2018, 02:35:32 AM »
Linda, these are the numbers for the average Dutch person. That's why she recommends putting your own numbers in. The absolute impact of flying is definitely bigger than that of driving a car, but apparently the average Dutchie flies not that much (many people don't fly at all..) while using the car relatively more and this comes out worse for the cars in total average emission. Maybe also because cars get replaced more often and the non-current use part of it is higher? For me as a person the flying is definitely higher and the car at 0 so it's a very personal thing :).

I find the getting children one a tough one - do we count the kid as a full extra person to add to your impact (or half as shared with other parent)? And from what age not anymore? Because in that case you wouldn't have to count the impact of the child itself anymore if it's already counted with the parents.. I think saying you can fly and drive as much as you want when not having a child is bullshit. When I put in a calculator my footprint is already blows up to 2.5x the earth with a childless life (average Dutch person is at 3.6x I think), so adding a child would make it worse but not having the child doesn't make me an environmental saint.

I couldn't figure out where to put in my own numbers, so I used another random calculator: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/carbon/footprint.
My footprint is half of UK average.

My travel is high, because this year I made both a domestic and a European flight and will probably make one more European flight later this year. I also made my commuting car use a bit higher than actual, because we use the car quit a bit on weekends when we travel away. I do try to walk to work once or twice a week, but that is not in my results.

Buying stuff scored quite good this year, because exactly this year we didn't buy any big and electronic stuff. But we did in the previous 3 years. :-( For buying clothes in a typical month I chose 0, because the next step was way higher than those very few items I bought this year.

I guess my home scores quite good, because I checked off for renewable energy, as Norway in general has water powered energy. This clean energy is by the way also sold on paper to Europeans to give them good conscience, the same energy sold twice. I also use wood for warming up, but couldn't register a combination of wood and electricity.

For food, I am making an effort to eat less meat and less red meat. We eat vegetarian maybe once a week on average. But I still eat meat in most meals and had to choose that option. Even though we have been eating quite a bit of self-caught fish this year, it was not enough to make a major impact on our eating footprint. I also answered that I eat quite a bit of non local food, as I am not very aware of that when I buy stuff. And I regularly eat stuff like kiwi's. I think even a lot of wheat used in Norwegian bread comes from Brazil, because we have a dangerous fungus in our wheat.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #939 on: September 24, 2018, 02:46:43 AM »
My 4 year old smartphone wasn't working properly and I started thinking about having to buy a new one. Whatever I did', it was complaining about lack of memory. Deleting files didn't help. Then I found out it was using 4,5 GB in temporary data from apps. I used the button to delete the temporary data. Now it works fine again.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #940 on: September 24, 2018, 03:36:45 AM »
We use mesh bags for fruit and veges, calico bags for dried beans etc. Never had an issue so far, and we just chuck ours in the wash.

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #941 on: September 24, 2018, 05:00:22 AM »
Linda, these are the numbers for the average Dutch person. That's why she recommends putting your own numbers in. The absolute impact of flying is definitely bigger than that of driving a car, but apparently the average Dutchie flies not that much (many people don't fly at all..) while using the car relatively more and this comes out worse for the cars in total average emission. Maybe also because cars get replaced more often and the non-current use part of it is higher? For me as a person the flying is definitely higher and the car at 0 so it's a very personal thing :).

I find the getting children one a tough one - do we count the kid as a full extra person to add to your impact (or half as shared with other parent)? And from what age not anymore? Because in that case you wouldn't have to count the impact of the child itself anymore if it's already counted with the parents.. I think saying you can fly and drive as much as you want when not having a child is bullshit. When I put in a calculator my footprint is already blows up to 2.5x the earth with a childless life (average Dutch person is at 3.6x I think), so adding a child would make it worse but not having the child doesn't make me an environmental saint.

Exactly, these numbers are for an average Dutch person and like the article said, very scalable for flying and car use. But also for house and stuff.

We eat vegan, so the food impact is very low. The book also mentions dairy having a really big impact. The only reason fish doesn't have a impact  on this scale is that Dutch people don't eat a lot, so substituting meat with dairy and/or fish wouldn't help.

For me personally, the flying has a bigger impact than food, house, car.. We eat vegan, don't have a car, don't have a lot appliances (1 tv, no dryer, no clothes dryer, no dishwasher). We do however travel to other cities and countries. We try to limit it to once or twice a year but that shit adds up.

Our footprint is also something like 2 - 2.5 x the earth. Still a lot!!!

BuffaloStache

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #942 on: September 25, 2018, 08:54:40 AM »
Went grocery shopping today and noticed the person in line ahead of me had a small amount of produce (3 apples) in a plastic bag, that they then put into a double-layer-plastic bag.

Unless it's green beans or other small/loose produce, I never put my apples/oranges/peppers in a bag and bring reusable shopping bags ~90% of the time (I'm not perfect, but I remember them more than not).

I've wondered about reusable mesh produce bags. Have you tried them? I love my reusable shopping bags and wonder if there's any resistance to the produce bags at grocery store checkouts.

I don't have the mesh bags, but those do seem good! But I think i still might just not use bags unless I have a lot of produce and/or they are small and numerous items (like green beans)

coldestcat

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #943 on: September 25, 2018, 10:54:37 AM »
started more actively monitoring the local Craigslist>free section along with freecycle.org, and nextdoor.com to see whats going on.
2 weekends ago someone was giving away huge agave plant as long as we dug it (took about an hour), as well as 30 cans of wet cat food, a bag of dry food, and a bunch of snacks (the owner's cat had passed and wanted to get rid of it as it was causing grief).
Also starting to use the library more as it is right next to my wife's job and she can pick up books for us on her lunch break.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #944 on: September 25, 2018, 11:23:21 AM »
Hand Dryers

There were questions about how hygienic hand dryers are compared to paper towels.

https://youtu.be/YKxT1k1cmXc

^here is an explanation of the study that garnered so much media attention.  People love to hear about bacteria and viruses that are literally everywhere.  In my workplace we have many towel dispensers that require you to push a handle to get a towel.  These are much less hygienic than placing your hands under a stream of air run through a hepa filter.

Here are some other facts about paper towels:

Paper towels have a high impact on the environment.
They need constant restocking and disposal, ending
up in landfill. Dyson Airblade™ hand dryers produce
up to 79% less CO2 than some other hand dryers
and up to 76% less than paper towels.

Credit for this stat to General Motors and Dyson.

I didn't know that. I just find that some hand dryers make so much noise that I don't tolerate them. Then I rather shake my hands off and wipe the rest off on my t-shirt.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #945 on: September 26, 2018, 09:15:50 PM »
My 4 year old smartphone wasn't working properly and I started thinking about having to buy a new one. Whatever I did', it was complaining about lack of memory. Deleting files didn't help. Then I found out it was using 4,5 GB in temporary data from apps. I used the button to delete the temporary data. Now it works fine again.

What did you do to delete the temporary app data? I spent over an hour last night trying to back up my iphone, but there wasn't enough space. I deleted a lot of pictures and some unnecessary apps, but I'd like to try what you did.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #946 on: September 27, 2018, 02:29:09 AM »
My 4 year old smartphone wasn't working properly and I started thinking about having to buy a new one. Whatever I did', it was complaining about lack of memory. Deleting files didn't help. Then I found out it was using 4,5 GB in temporary data from apps. I used the button to delete the temporary data. Now it works fine again.

What did you do to delete the temporary app data? I spent over an hour last night trying to back up my iphone, but there wasn't enough space. I deleted a lot of pictures and some unnecessary apps, but I'd like to try what you did.

My phone has norwegian language, so I'll need to take a guess at what the functions are called in English. Try to find a synonym if it isn't there.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
Android
Settings, More, Storage/Memory.
Here I have a overview of use system memory, used storage space, intermediate/temporary data, various files.
I clicked on intermediate/temporary data and got the question whether I wanted to delete them. That did the trick.

coldestcat

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #947 on: September 27, 2018, 10:50:11 AM »
I went to a zero waste class yesterday and my wife was one of the speakers at the event. It was interesting seeing so many people who try to live with reduced waste production all in one place.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #948 on: September 28, 2018, 08:24:15 PM »
My 4 year old smartphone wasn't working properly and I started thinking about having to buy a new one. Whatever I did', it was complaining about lack of memory. Deleting files didn't help. Then I found out it was using 4,5 GB in temporary data from apps. I used the button to delete the temporary data. Now it works fine again.

Thank you! I was able to get some unneeded items off my phone
What did you do to delete the temporary app data? I spent over an hour last night trying to back up my iphone, but there wasn't enough space. I deleted a lot of pictures and some unnecessary apps, but I'd like to try what you did.

My phone has norwegian language, so I'll need to take a guess at what the functions are called in English. Try to find a synonym if it isn't there.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
Android
Settings, More, Storage/Memory.
Here I have a overview of use system memory, used storage space, intermediate/temporary data, various files.
I clicked on intermediate/temporary data and got the question whether I wanted to delete them. That did the trick.

BuildingFrugalHabits

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Re: What small things did you do today to reduce your environmental impact?
« Reply #949 on: September 29, 2018, 03:01:16 PM »

I just find that some hand dryers make so much noise that I don't tolerate them. Then I rather shake my hands off and wipe the rest off on my t-shirt.

Amen! There's a business opportunity for someone to create a sanitary zero waste, silent or low noise dryer!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!