What are *you*doing to save the planet?

a reply to: Nyiah That's really cool. Especially the car free lifestyle. Was it hard to get everyone on board with the water usage?

a reply to: donktheclown
Absolutely beautiful. Changes the whole "paradise lost" mentality to something more creative.

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

www.monarchwatch.org...

You will enjoy this site.

feedabee.com...

And finally...

feedabee.com... (Free Seeds)

I have a conundrum of ways that I consider saving the planet.
Mostly, being single (widowed) now, I primary use paper plates and paper cups. I do not use plastic utensils.
Now, some would say that this is wasteful, and produces a lot of paper waste, but I counter that with the fact that I use my dishwasher about 1/3 of what I used to, and that is a saving of energy in electricity and gas to heat the hot water.
Additionally, most of the paper plates and cups that I use are made mostly of recycled papers, and that process continues as the waste is processed in the recycling processes of the town I live in. Not perfect, but it is something.

a reply to: Spiramirabilis Thanks for the article. It will be my bedtime reading.

a reply to: antar Rad! The tag recovery program is super cool. And I'd never seen feedabee before. Thank you!

a reply to: diggindirt You are my new hero. Sounds like your little patch is well taken care of.

Did you get much pushback (or worse, apathy) when working on your projects? Or us your county open to eco planning?

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

The biggest thing I likely do is recycle aluminum (or aluminium outside North America). That sounds kind of dumb, but here's the thing - roughly 5% of the energy used by the United States is devoted to refining aluminum. That is a lot and the reason it is a lot has to do with how we produce aluminum.

The process of extracting aluminum from ores (ex. bauxite) is extremely energy intensive. However, recycling aluminum takes roughly 5% of the energy it takes to refine the same amount of material. Any impact on that is huge.

a reply to: charlyv It is something! We're on a well, and have wood heat, so the idea of burning paper plates instead of newspaper, etc, appeals to me. I'll look into if the water saved makes it worthwhile for us in the cold months.

a reply to: Greven
Interesting! I didn't know the difference in energy usage was that huge.

You reminded me of how the Wall Street Ogres Got Sued For Hoarding Aluminum. Recycling it would take some of the power out of their hands. Unless they just buy the scrap sent for recycling.

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart
a reply to: charlyv It is something! We're on a well, and have wood heat, so the idea of burning paper plates instead of newspaper, etc, appeals to me. I'll look into if the water saved makes it worthwhile for us in the cold months.

Cool. And, all that advertising paper and junk mail I get (mostly for new credit cards), that all goes in the fireplace, where it belongs, and provides free heat. ( But I would mostly just like them to send me the postage they paid for this garbage instead!)

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

How about (and these are all done by my 'city' family:

composting
no lawn/dead lawn
vege garden and fruit trees
recycle all plastic and paper, aluminum, glass
deva cups for the ladies
rags not paper towels
buy in bulk and repackage in glass
use appliances until they die (including cell phones and computers)
plant trees
no chemical cleaners, pestisides, herbicides, detergent, or soaps (Dr. Bronner Sal sudes works for most everything)
no costmetics
make own cleaners and personal products.

Repair, reuse and recycle.

a reply to: FyreByrd It's an eco wishlist!

I need to get way better about composting.

When you buy bulk, do you take the glass containers with you? Does the store accept your tare?

a reply to: FyreByrd

Thought of some more:

Cloth diapers (pampers are the worst) with diaper service that filters and reuses water.
Short showers (this is hard, I will admit) and during winter only wash the important bits daily.
Make own pet food from good ingredients (much cheaper and better)
Never (or as Gilbert and Sullivan would say - well, hardly ever) wash cars or pavement. Insides not Outsides.
Local (fairly - CA local - LOL) organice produce, fruits and nuts. Organic and raw dairy (also CA local sorced). Rarely eat out.
Most clothing from the Thrifts - recycle baby. As is most furniture and house hold goodies. And gifts - if not home made.
Mending, mending (I darn a mean home made sock - my thang) and 'upcycle' clothing as possible - see 'boro stitch' (really hip this days) and other embroidery. Do some clothing from scratch - more my daughters thing - I'm the knitter.

It's just always part of our thought process. For me it has been since I was young - both parents grew up poor in the depression.

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart
a reply to: FyreByrd It's an eco wishlist!

I need to get way better about composting.

When you buy bulk, do you take the glass containers with you? Does the store accept your tare?

No - but - some food in bulk bins you can bring your own bags (I use these green things that help preserve stuff) but you do pay by weight so - flour sack bags would cost you to fill.

Though their are a few places cropping up that do allow you to bring in your own containers to fill - but mostly for crap I don't buy like detergents, lotions, soap, etc. It's better but there are so many receipes for making your own.

Recycle

Keep up on car maintenance i.e. proper air pressure, K&N air filter(washable) and full synthetic motor oil that is good for 30K.

LED light bulbs which have noticeably dropped my electric bill.

I don't waste water or electric.

All those things aside from recycling benefit me directly through monetary savings.


Last but not least.

I eat less beans that cuts down on methane.

Global synchronised suicide would save this planet.

While us humans inhabit this planet it cannot be mended, imo.

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

Not have kids......

i don't buy anything made from whale, and use products made only from seals.


Save the whales.

Thank you.

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart