What small thing did you do today to reduce your environmental impact? (2024)

[Poundwise]

I haven't noticed posts in the original thread for over a year, so I'm restarting it as a Throw Down the Gauntlet post in the hopes that we get more participation! 

As @HappierAtHome said in the original thread,

I'm looking for ideas, inspiration and positive reinforcement as I work to reduce my impact on the environment and use of finite resources.

Of course, BIG things you've done to reduce your environmental impact will be welcome too :-)

If you would prefer to debate the merits of reducing your impact and lowering your use of finite resources, please start your own thread on that. This one is about sharing ideas and successes!

[Poundwise]

I'll start it off:

Yesterday I walked (4 blocks) to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, then while I was waiting for it to be filled, I went to a nearby grocery store. I walked home with my groceries then realized I forgot my prescription! So, although I really wanted to jump in the car, I walked a second time.

Today I hung my sheets to dry instead of putting them in the dryer. It is so hot outside that they will dry quickly!

[tygertygertyger]

I dug up yet more invasive plants this morning (by the root as best I could). An ongoing project.

We had a huge load of mulch dropped on our driveway. My partner is using the cardboard and mulch smother method to convert larger portions of our front yard from lawn to natives.
 

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Thanks, great idea to restart!

I rode my ebike to work even though it is 100 degrees. It is also an Ozone Action Day. I'm asthmatic, so huffing and puffing on a regular bike* would have been inadvisable, but the ebike lets me have my cake and eat it too- 0 transportation emissions but I don't have to get sweaty or endanger my lungs.

[Dollar Slice]

I haven't been in a vehicle that isn't public transit for a month.

It's been really hot, so I have been sleeping in the living room so I can just run one air conditioner.

[crocheted_stache]

Today:
Worked from home and cooled my home by opening and closing windows. DH biked to work today, as usual, but he got off to a choppy and late start and drove Monday, so the car only spent four weekdays going nowhere this week.

I'm also waiting one more day to do laundry until I can have the windows open at the time of day when I want the load to dry on a rack indoors.

This week:
Had a plumber by to fix a leaking shower. Water is chronically short in California, of course. As we found out during the last shortage, collectively conserving water also conserves a tremendous amount of energy that would otherwise be used to process, pump, and clean it in the process of delivery.

Mended an old pair of socks and put them back into circulation, instead of tossing them. (Oh, darn!)

Things I did this week in an effort to make a bigger difference:
I prodded the city about a place where there's recurring litter. There's a specific commercial source that probably can't prevent it outright but could certainly do a better job of cleaning it up before it gets into nearby drains and waterways.

I also prodded the city about a large invasive plant that they've cut back many times before. It is going to need different or at least more frequent treatment if they are to eradicate it. One of these years, I may take matters into my own hands, and just make a point to walk or bike that way with garden pruners every week or two. (It's about a mile from home in public space that's not landscaped.) Like many such opportunistic plants, it's the kind of thing that stores a lot of energy in its root, but no plant can grow forever if every stem gets chopped off at the ground every week or two. They say they'll be cutting it soon, so I'll let them do the heavy work and haul it away, and then hope that my hand pruners will do the job if I can catch the stems while they're small.

I took a few of the next steps to support and promote a local candidate who I think will be much more (and more effectively) pro-environment than her opponent.

[crocheted_stache]

Replaced a toilet flapper after I caught the toilet float valve turning on and off and on again when nobody had flushed. It's a $5, 5-minute job (provided the supply valve at the wall still functions, which mine does). Maybe it's the hard water here, but they crud up and get leaky maybe every 5-7 years. I should check the other fixtures and also go look at the small wheel on my water meter, in case there's anything else I don't know about.

I used up a handful of ripe bananas to make banana pancakes for a late breakfast. (If you like mellow folk-rock and haven't heard it, look up the Jack Johnson song called banana pancakes.) Lunch-dinner was tacos with bell peppers and zucchini from the garden and some mushrooms that weren't getting fresher in the fridge.

I washed a dishwasher load and a laundry load and air dried both.

[nereo]

I dug up yet more invasive plants this morning (by the root as best I could). An ongoing project.

We had a huge load of mulch dropped on our driveway. My partner is using the cardboard and mulch smother method to convert larger portions of our front yard from lawn to natives.
 

Awesome!
We had two large conifers come down in an April storm next to the road, leaving a sun drenched patch roughly 500 ft2. After they learned several utilities (power, gas AND sewer) were direct,y underneath, they left the stumps cut at ground level and planting trees is a no go.

So I’ve been prepping it for a native wildflower garden. Raked and pulled all the weeds on Friday and sowed a half pound of seeds. Should be interesting and fun to see what it looks like in the spring. Most of the seeds are perennials.

[KathrinS]

This has been more of a priority for me in the last few weeks. I feel like my finances are on track, so I can now focus on having a positive impact. Here are some things I did in the last few weeks:

- Booked a train trip to Switzerland (from UK) instead of taking the plane. About twice the price, but being on track for FI, these are the kinds of decisions I can now make.
- Wrote to my local Member of Parliament to encourage them to speak up against a proposed Green Belt development and to take action on pesticide use in our area.
- Started a small wildflower garden on my terrace.
- Today: creating a hoverfly lagoon to encourage more pollinators.
- Also today: Signed up to take part in a pollinator study from Sussex University.

[NorCal]

While this individual thing is in some ways small, it's the culmination of a lot of big choices.

I recently submitted the paperwork to my utility to disconnect my natural gas meter.  I'll probably have multiple months of fighting with the utility to make it happen, but it feels like I've reached a major milestone. 

I've almost fully purged hydrocarbons from my life and it feels good. 

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

@NorCal - we have been working on this too! It has been tricky because the forms and so forth are really set up for builders, not homeowners. The process has not caught up yet.

But we got through it, and they're actually coming on Tuesday of next week to dig up the street in front of our house and cap our gas line. Evidently that is what it takes to have your gas meter removed. I'm really looking forward to it because aside from the environmental impact, my husband cannot smell natural gas, so even though we have detectors, it has not felt safe. The good news is, the utility does not charge people to do this.

[NorCal]

@NorCal - we have been working on this too! It has been tricky because the forms and so forth are really set up for builders, not homeowners. The process has not caught up yet.

But we got through it, and they're actually coming on Tuesday of next week to dig up the street in front of our house and cap our gas line. Evidently that is what it takes to have your gas meter removed. I'm really looking forward to it because aside from the environmental impact, my husband cannot smell natural gas, so even though we have detectors, it has not felt safe. The good news is, the utility does not charge people to do this.

I'm glad you're getting it done!  Any tips or tricks on dealing with XCEL?

I thought I had submitted the paperwork a few months ago, and I was ready to call up XCEL and give them an earful about not doing it.  Then I realized the form was sitting in my Drafts folder and hadn't even been sent.  So I get to blame myself on my current delays. 

[crocheted_stache]

Zero car miles today.

We biked a few miles to return an item borrowed from a Buy Nothing neighbor. He uses it only intermittently, so we may borrow it again the next time we have occasion to need it.

We walked a couple miles for exercise, and I took the opportunity to drop off a bike map for someone who wants t get back into biking with their kids. On the loop after that, DH and I collected three glass bottles and three plastic bottles that had been littered, and we brought them home to our recycling bin. As a bicyclist, I am happy to get glass bottles out of circulation while they're still in one piece and not making a puncture risk in the bike lane.

Hearty applause for those removing gas lines! I don't use a whole lot, considering that I heat space, water, and food with gas, but I have a long way to go to get to zero. There are renovations in the offing, in which I hope at least to be ready to electrify; that is, to add the wiring I'll need to convert from gas appliances.

@KathrinS enjoy the scenery and the pace. Europe has some amazing trains.

[Poundwise]

I'm so happy to see what we're all up to! 
- I didn't go out at all today (too hot).
- I didn't cook, just ate leftovers that would have been thrown out.
- I didn't buy a cheap plastic knickknack that I wanted.
Maybe the title should be, What small thing didn't you do today, to reduce your environmental impact?

Actual actions: I hooked up a friend with a used backpack that I found for her through Buy Nothing, and I sent an email to my child's camp to see if I could find another parent to carpool with us.

[Dollar Slice]

Stuck it out and took transit home tonight, even though it started raining and I didn't have an umbrella.

Made a big batch of food at midnight one night when it was a bit cooler so I wouldn't have to cook and create extra heat for the A/C to remove during this awful heat wave. And I always minimize electricity use, but I'm trying to eke out another percent or two when the grid is under stress this week. Putting the laptop to sleep during the hottest part of the day and shutting off all the electronics for a couple hours while I take a nap or a cold shower or clean house or etc.

[crocheted_stache]

Biked my commute plus a side trip on the way home.

Took a box of leftovers for lunch. Used reusable containers and utensils, and carried home my banana peel to compost.

Spot cleaned a small spill so I can re-wear those jeans a few more times before adding them to the laundry.

Took the time to break down the box from an item I received at work and put the cardboard in the recycling.

[Raenia]

Repaired a baby toy where the velcro was starting to peel off - this is the toy we use on the carseat, so avoided needing to find another that will attach to the bar.

Not me, but my mom modified a cute long-sleeved onesie into a short sleeve. By the time we want long sleeves again, he'll have grown out of it. She's offered to do this for any other long-sleeved ones we have in his current size. We received a lot of used baby clothes for free when he was born, so this will let us get more use out of them.

[crocheted_stache]

Just me: tried to take a little shorter shower. Biked to work. Took leftovers for lunch with reusable container, utensils.

For everybody: reported some illegal dumping so the city can remove it before anything gets blown around or washed into drains.

[tygertygertyger]

I've taken up picking up plastic water bottles on the ground while walking my dog. Many of them are super close to the storm drains. I drop them in the nearest recycling bin (though I'm aware they're unlikely to get recycled in a meaningful way... there's no winning!)

Yesterday I picked up four. At least I'm keeping them out of the river.

[crocheted_stache]

I made a short bike loop today in lieu of my morning commute. I collected a Buy Nothing item to reuse instead of buying something.

On the way, I spotted a loose chunk of that plastic strapping used to secure stuff to pallets and removed it from the roadway before any wheels or wildlife get tangled up. It's now in the trash bin in a nearby park.

[Glenstache]

I just got permits signed off as completion of replacing our 80% efficient gas furnace with a high efficiency heat pump so we won't be burning gas for heat next winter.

This is a slow one, but I've also been seeding clover in my lawn and mowing around the blooms to make sure the clover goes to seed to transition from normal lawn to clover. The end result will be a mixed grass/clover area. The clover is more drough resistant, great for pollinators and is a nitrogen fixer for the soil. It is amazing how much insect life (and bunny munching) occurs in the clover patches relative to the grass only areas.

@nereo, post some pictures of your wildflower garden next spring!

[Poundwise]

I put out 7 more loads of laundry to dry outside this week. It takes a little more time than putting things in the dryer, but it's less wear and tear on the clothes. It has been so warm that I can do 2-3 loads a day.  Also, instead of taking the time to hang up small things like socks to dry, I just throw them on our patio chairs, which are made of metal mesh, and they dry easily that way too.

I have a question about planting native.  Isn't it better, in terms of sequestering carbon, to let as much material grow as possible, rather than tearing out existing vines, trees, etc. even they are invasive, to plant new natives? I mean, getting rid of a lawn and putting in shrubs and trees makes sense to me, because you are filling in vertical space with plants. But a lot of invasives seem grow well where nothing else does.

[the lorax]

@Poundwise I wouldn't keep invasives as they could do damage to local ecosystems. Non-native mature trees (over 10 years) that aren't invasive will be sequestering carbon so digging them up to replace with natives would be release carbon in the short term yes

We've dropped using plastic liners in our bins so a small win there. Also dropped a load of stuff to charity shops yesterday and bought some kitchen goods there rather than buying new, thanks @mspym for the inspiration there ;)

[crocheted_stache]

Biked the regular grocery run. We occasionally end up there with a car for various reasons, but the bike trip is so much less hassle. It's now been most of two weeks since the car moved.

[SAfAmBrit]

I am on a 2 year contract in Australia and will be returning to the US at the end of it. I need a place BUT I am not willing to invest much into it as it is temporary and only me. So I have been scouring the opportunity shops and Facebook marketplace, asking people at work for items they do not want, and doing well at buying nothing new (and grabbing freebies).

I am trying to reduce my footprint by minimizing my use of electricity, planning any trip I need to make (groceries, laundry, etc,) so the car only goes out twice a week, focusing on being as 0 waste as possible, and foraging or producing anything I can on my own.

My house is fully furnished including a new mattress for $600
Herbs are planted and flourishing (Brisbane) so no need to buy most herbs now
Found a laundromat nearby so use their machine 1ce a week and then air dry instead of buying.
Have not bought a heater - dress warmly and have a blanket if needed (winter here)
The worm farm is up and running - vegan - so plenty of scraps for them reducing my trash to almost 0
In Brisbane you are paid 10c for all recyclables so pick up any bottles/cans I find and take them to the recycling center. The money is deposited straight into my account.

Today - Found a bay leaf tree so dried some bay leaves.

[Poundwise]

Thanks for the inspirational actions! @SAfAmBrit it is great how intentionally you have been setting up your life while in Australia. 

@Poundwise I wouldn't keep invasives as they could do damage to local ecosystems. Non-native mature trees (over 10 years) that aren't invasive will be sequestering carbon so digging them up to replace with natives would be release carbon in the short term yes

I was inspired to dig a little and see that there's a danger of ecosystem collapse in monocultures such as happen with invasives. I guess the best policy is be ready to replant with a variety of natives ASAP if removing the invasives.

My latest win has been to wash plastic takeout tubs and sneak them into our church kitchen. People usually take home leftovers from our coffee hours and events in ziplock bags, but since I've started my stealth campaign, they've started using the takeout tubs, which also saves the church a little money. 

Our environmental committee already did a great job of buying a dishwasher and replacing our styrofoam cups with mugs, which are much more pleasant to drink from. I can't take credit for that except that I also stealthily added to the mug collection while decluttering.

[crocheted_stache]

Zero car miles in the past 7 days and no plans to drive this weekend.

Signed up for California/my ZIP code flex alerts. We don't have AC, but we can avoid peak times with major appliances.

Ran my well-loaded dishwasher starting around noon, which should have finished before power grid prime time.

[tygertygertyger]

A silly one, but I’ve been enjoying the fruits of my neighbors’ gardens! (At their insistence…)

Eating food that couldn’t be more local, and making sure it doesn’t go to waste. Yum.

(And when our mushroom crop comes in, we’ll be sharing that around with them.)

[nereo]

My garden is going gangbusters.  Last of a bumper crop of raspberries are in the freezer just as the blackberries continue to ripen. Tomatoes are now ripening nicely and I’m restocking my dried herb supply for winter meals.  I found a couple more apple trees in reclaimed forest so I’ll be picking and jarring/drying those in the weeks to come.

[Poundwise]

I am so envious of you people with functional gardens/plentiful foraging!  My garden, though better than last year, has been a disappointment as usual. Our zucchini and beefsteak tomatoes have terrible bloom end rot though I've been watering faithfully, two out of three pumpkin vines up and died for no discernible reason, and out of four eggplants, I have a single sad fruit 2 inches long.  We got one bunch of grapes out of three grapevines (but it was tasty.)

Since the summer began, we have only dried two loads of laundry in the dryer.

I gave away a lot of scrap lumber and gardening items on Craigslist instead of hoarding them. I also recruited a person to help fix items at an upcoming Repair Cafe. The less consumption, the better!

[tygertygertyger]

A house up the street is for sale (possibly an estate sale?) and they are putting lots of good stuff on the curb for free. A full couch with chaise lounge, neat trunks, paintings, etc. I'm happy that most of it is being picked up by other folks and not tossed.

My partner grabbed a fishing tackle box from the 50s and I got an all-metal sewing machine from the 50s-60s.

Yay for keeping things out of the landfill!   

[NorCal]

I bought some small mesh bags for use in the grocery store instead of disposable plastic bags for fruits and veggies.  I spent a couple dollars on them to fill out an Amazon order to qualify for free shipping.

I haven’t done any scientific tests, but my veggies seem to keep longer in the fridge when using them.

So not only am I avoiding the single use plastics, I’m also preventing some level of food waste.

[nereo]

I bought some small mesh bags for use in the grocery store instead of disposable plastic bags for fruits and veggies.  I spent a couple dollars on them to fill out an Amazon order to qualify for free shipping.

I haven’t done any scientific tests, but my veggies seem to keep longer in the fridge when using them.

So not only am I avoiding the single use plastics, I’m also preventing some level of food waste.

We’ve found this as well.. our mesh bags (a very fine mesh with a simple drawstring) cost us less than a buck each and are still in continuous use 8years later. So much better than plastic store bags which trap moisture and ethylene gas.

[Dollar Slice]

I bought some small mesh bags for use in the grocery store instead of disposable plastic bags for fruits and veggies.

I've been using mine at the farmers market for years - they are really great!

[crocheted_stache]

Yesterday: 15 bike miles, zero car miles. Leftovers and one garden cucumber from home for lunch, to reduce trash. Peels and cores came home in the empty containers and are in the backyard compost.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

In my professional capacity, I hosted a toddler art program. We uesd to cover the tables with disposable plastic but now we have canvas drop cloths that we use as tablecloths. Bonus- they are much faster to put out beause the plastic had to be taped down.

[Loretta]

I'm donating some food and beverage items.  At work I took a couple fancy tea tins off a shelf and asked if anyone was going to use them.  They were a Christmas 2023 gift from a fancy tea purveyor in the UK.  The Free Little Pantry down the road will receive them when I'm doing other errands this morning. 

I've been trying this summer to only wash laundry when it's relatively cool, so this weekend I have a small mountain of stuff to wash, dry and fold. 

The rain from TS Debby were pretty cleansing here so I may open a window for some fresh air while laundry dries. 

[Runrooster]

At work they have free coffee and free coffee cups with copious signage about how long it takes for a plastic cup to deteriorate.

But, they also have a plastic-lined garbage bag at each person's desk.  I'm in the office 4 days a week and bring my own lunch, so could easily go through a trash bag a day with things like cherry pits or tea bags.  Instead I throw my trash either in a coworker's trash bin or in the kitchen.  I noticed that sometimes they would replace the plastic liner even if it was empty so i removed my trash can completely.

[crocheted_stache]

At work they have free coffee and free coffee cups with copious signage about how long it takes for a plastic cup to deteriorate.

But, they also have a plastic-lined garbage bag at each person's desk.  I'm in the office 4 days a week and bring my own lunch, so could easily go through a trash bag a day with things like cherry pits or tea bags.  Instead I throw my trash either in a coworker's trash bin or in the kitchen.  I noticed that sometimes they would replace the plastic liner even if it was empty so i removed my trash can completely.

I make a point to use reusable items in my office life, including lunches. Current workplace has communal wastebaskets in the hallways, each serving 6–12 people, but previous workplace had one per cube, and I resorted to hiding mine behind a file cabinet so the empty liner didn't get changed. I took anything compostable home again and tossed the rare piece of actual trash in the break room.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Picked up my adolescents at the light rail station instead of one of us driving 30 miles each way! Their dad has a new place in a far suburb so this will save lots of time and gas.

[Poundwise]

Picked up my adolescents at the light rail station instead of one of us driving 30 miles each way! Their dad has a new place in a far suburb so this will save lots of time and gas.

Hey hey, this is a big time and energy savings!

We've been going through one of those phases where everything seems to be breaking. Mr. Poundwise dropped the dehumidifier tank, which exploded into several pieces. He was talking about replacing the dehumidifier but I looked up the manual, then managed to reassemble the tank well enough so it will work again.  I also ordered several small parts and supplies to fix and refurbish some other items about the house.

[crocheted_stache]

I usually run the cold water into a bucket while I wait for the warm water to get to the shower. Then I use the bucket water to flush the toilet or water plants.

The bucket started the day full because DH showered last night, so I cleaned and rinsed one wall of the shower. I used dish soap on a scrub brush. The shower looks much better.

[crocheted_stache]

Took my reusable plates, cups, and utensils to a picnic/barbecue event to prevent using a mess more plastic. My bike, of course. Also stuck around to clean up, including a moderately thorough tour of the picnic area to remove the worst of the wrappers and forks blowing around afterwards in a nature-adjacent place.

I think it's criminal to use that many plastic tablecloths for two hours and just bin them like that, but it's perfectly legal and normal.

I also took reusable boxes, the same kind I carry for lunches, and collected a couple portions of surplus food for later.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Turned my ebike down a notch to save its battery (slightly less electricity used if I don't charge as often) and to get a little more exercise!

(I realize a regular bike would be even MORE exercise, but the ebike fits my needs better for a variety of reasons. Also my kid wrecked my regular bike so I don't even own one right now.)

[crocheted_stache]

Made at least my fifth meal from Saturday's picnic/barbecue leftovers, which we've been extending with the assistance of bread or tortillas and garden-grown veggies.

Biked to where I was going, which was a public meeting about improving bicycle facilities.

[Poundwise]

I ran out of cow's milk for my coffee, so I made oat milk rather than run out to the store.  It was okay and I would consider doing it again.

[NorCal]

I'm getting a new solar system installed with my roof replacement.

My current roof has a small 2.1kW solar system that's about 15 years old.  The path of least resistance for these panels was for the new installers to just throw the panels in the trash.

I tried to donate them to a non-profit that would put them on low income housing.  But the non-profit was non-responsive.

Instead I'm giving them to a friend that I trust will use them on his own house.  It feels good to avoid the landfill, as well as keep that 2.1kW of clean energy on the grid.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Used up a few odds and ends from the fridge making egg cups for grab and go breakfasts.

[tygertygertyger]

My partner and I attended our first meeting of a local org that's pushing our community to become more sustainable. They do native plant giveaways, bug the mayor about various things, table at local events, do composting demos. They're also doing regeneration at a location of the forest preserve that's been overrun by invasives for a long time.

I feel like many young orgs, they are growing a bit awkwardly... but they have some knowledgeable folks who offer good advice. I think it'll be good to get more involved. I made one suggestion that was well-received, so hopefully I'll have something to offer beyond my weeding skills!

[crocheted_stache]

@tygertygertyger do not underestimate the value of showing up and bugging the mayor. A lot can happen at the local level that makes a big difference, and a lot of communities are still operating in terms of building more parking and fewer parks.

My small things are the usual: reusable cup and utensils, bike commute.

I'm also showing up to a few different public meetings this week, by bicycling and for bicycling and the environment.