How eco-friendly are you?

nuffingman

Claireack wrote:

I do as much as I can, money and time allowing.

Recycle what I can
Energy saving bulbs/turn off lights not in use
Use a dryer as little as possible
Have 2 flush settings on the loo
Turn down the heating and wear a jumper/blanket

This is probably about our level. We do what we can. We always make sure all the recyclables go in the blue bin. We're always surprised that the kids are the worst, leaving lights and TVs/stereos on in their rooms when they are downstairs and generally being wasteful.

I read recently it was discovered that some councils due to the cost of recycling were sending their rubbish to other countries to go in land fills. WTF!

I look forward to the day when companies are fined for producing over elaborate packaging and car manufacturers are banned from building cars over a certain cc. What's the point of being told to be eco-friendly when people are driving around in 5 litre gas guzzlers?

urbanhippie

Claireack wrote:

How do you feel about dishwashers? I've never had one, but an awful lot of people I know do, even the ones that I've always though of a lot more eco than me.

I do use a dishwasher occasionally. You can get eco-friendly detergents to use that are no different from the detergent in the eco-friendly washing up liquids. If you have a fairly new one (ours is our landlady's, I wouldn't buy one) and it has an eco-program and you switch the dryer off, it can actually use less water than washing up. Especially as I have to wash up after 6 people everyday, if you change the water a couple of times when hand-washing you can use up considerably more than you think. You can also re-cycle the grey water from the dishwaser if you use the right detergents in the first place.

Sian-of-the-dead

nuffingman wrote:

Claireack wrote:

I do as much as I can, money and time allowing.

Recycle what I can
Energy saving bulbs/turn off lights not in use
Use a dryer as little as possible
Have 2 flush settings on the loo
Turn down the heating and wear a jumper/blanket

This is probably about our level. We do what we can. We always make sure all the recyclables go in the blue bin. We're always surprised that the kids are the worst, leaving lights and TVs/stereos on in their rooms when they are downstairs and generally being wasteful.

I read recently it was discovered that some councils due to the cost of recycling were sending their rubbish to other countries to go in land fills. WTF!

I look forward to the day when companies are fined for producing over elaborate packaging and car manufacturers are banned from building cars over a certain cc. What's the point of being told to be eco-friendly when people are driving around in 5 litre gas guzzlers?

Kids can be the worst! I was terrible when I was a kid, constantly being told "We don't live in Blackpool illuminations y'know! turn the lights OFF!"

I too look forward to that day. Elaborate packaging is a problem, as are 5 litre gas guzzlers. I actually got annoyed yesterday because Land Rover's new radio ad campaign is "Why drive a car when you can drive... A LAND ROVER"
What a crock of shit! Why buy a car?! Because cars nowadays are far more eco-friendly! Cars do the necessary job of getting you from A to bloody B! Cars don't EAT fuel and damage the enviroment in order to make little people behind the wheel feel better by driving around Coventry city centre in a vehicle that was designed for FARM USE!!! :x

/rant

Most people don't need the huge cars they have. They're just status symbols... and it bugs the shit outta me.

... if you hadn't noticed :oops:

Sian-of-the-dead

JD Sal wrote:

Here's my list:

- I own 2 hybrids
- I recycle plastic, bottles, cans, paper
- Started a green program at work (recylcing, turn off company computers at night, online versions of documents instead of printing on paper which will save over 1,100 trees just this year alone)
- Buy energy saver appliances
- Use natural lighting during the day, turn off lights when leaving a room, conserve power
- Only wash full loads of clothes, and air dry my clothes after washing them
- Carpool / walk whenever possible
- Donate unwanted furniture, clothing, food to local charitable organizations

One thing I don't do is use fluorescent light bulbs. I have my reasons, but I'm not a fan at all.
Oh, I don't shower with my wife. Although I'm going to tell her this weekend that we need to start so we can save water

I just spotted this post... kudos to you!

How did you find starting the green program at work? I encourage everyone to recycle paper in my office but that's about as far as they will go most days :roll:

(Definately shower with your wife... it's gotta be the funniest way to help the environment )

mca47

While I certainly contribute to a large amount of carbon emission (I travel via plane a lot for work...usually at least 1-2x per week + rental cars), I try to make up for it while at home.
My car gets 35+ mpg, I recycle, try to use natural products, and try to purchase products/produce locally...which can be tough living in the desert.

Sian-of-the-dead

urbanhippie wrote:

Claireack wrote:

How do you feel about dishwashers? I've never had one, but an awful lot of people I know do, even the ones that I've always though of a lot more eco than me.

I do use a dishwasher occasionally. You can get eco-friendly detergents to use that are no different from the detergent in the eco-friendly washing up liquids. If you have a fairly new one (ours is our landlady's, I wouldn't buy one) and it has an eco-program and you switch the dryer off, it can actually use less water than washing up. Especially as I have to wash up after 6 people everyday, if you change the water a couple of times when hand-washing you can use up considerably more than you think. You can also re-cycle the grey water from the dishwaser if you use the right detergents in the first place.

But surely it uses energy?

I understand it could help for 6 people but when there's only two of us, it's pointless.

Get_Right

-only one car (albeit one that could be better on gas)
-walk to the train station-commute to the city
-energy saving bulbs and appliances
-terlits that use the least amount of water possible
-energy star water heater, heater and AC
-no dryer in our house
-eco-friendly cleansers and recycled paper napkins and paper towels (sorry but Im strictly a northern man when it comes to TP)
-dishwasher-only on weekends
-of course recycle-isnt that required in most places these days?
but I probably negate all that with the diapers my daughter uses-sorry cant do cloth or au natural as some do-working on it though!!!

Sian-of-the-dead

mca47 wrote:

While I certainly contribute to a large amount of carbon emission (I travel via plane a lot for work...usually at least 1-2x per week + rental cars), I try to make up for it while at home.
My car gets 35+ mpg, I recycle, try to use natural products, and try to purchase products/produce locally...which can be tough living in the desert.

But at least you're trying to help. I'm sure some people would't even do that and would find living in the desert as an excuse :?

chime

Sian-of-the-dead wrote:

I encourage everyone to recycle paper in my office but that's about as far as they will go most days :roll:

In my office every desk has two bins ... one is a box for paper recycling, the other is a bin for all other recyclables. In the kitchen there are 3 bins. One for recyclables, one for food waste for composting (mainly tea bags ) and the final one is for anything that can't go in any other bin so if we have anything that can't be recycled we have to make the effort to walk to the kitchen to put it in this bin.

We also have charts on a pin board in all the kitchens that monitors our recyling levels.

peacegirl

I try to do as much as I can

-recycle everything possible
-use engery savings lightbulbs/turn lights off when not in the room
-any new appliances I buy I make sure they are energystar
-use the dryer as little as possible/use outside clothesline to dry
-keep small appliances I don't use all the time unplugged (toaster, cell phone charger, etc.)
-take my own cloth bags shopping
-use cloth napkins & limit my use of papertowels
-I set up recyling at work for newspapers, cans, bottles, etc.
-shop second hand at thrift stores, flea markets

I wish I could drive less but that's not easy to do where I live..no public transportation & even though I live in town limits I still have to drive to get anywhere...but at least I don't have a gas guzzling car

urbanhippie

Sian-of-the-dead wrote:

urbanhippie wrote:

Claireack wrote:

How do you feel about dishwashers? I've never had one, but an awful lot of people I know do, even the ones that I've always though of a lot more eco than me.

I do use a dishwasher occasionally. You can get eco-friendly detergents to use that are no different from the detergent in the eco-friendly washing up liquids. If you have a fairly new one (ours is our landlady's, I wouldn't buy one) and it has an eco-program and you switch the dryer off, it can actually use less water than washing up. Especially as I have to wash up after 6 people everyday, if you change the water a couple of times when hand-washing you can use up considerably more than you think. You can also re-cycle the grey water from the dishwaser if you use the right detergents in the first place.

But surely it uses energy?

I understand it could help for 6 people but when there's only two of us, it's pointless.

Well, of course it does, but then so does heating water for hand-washing. The boiler here isn't that up-to-date and you have to put the water on for an hour to get it hot enough to wash up. If it was my house, I'd invest in a new one, but it's not. I can set the temp on the dishwasher, turn the dryer off and open the door to let the dishes air dry or wipe them and put them away.
It wouldn't be efficient for two people unless you only run it full every few days and no one wants stinky dishes around for that long. Washing up after a home cooked meal for 6 people might need three sinks full of hot water depending on what I've cooked, or I can run the dishwasher through once and it's all done in one wash.

stargirl69

Sian-of-the-dead wrote:

shower together when we can to save water

Sian this is the best excuse for showering together I have ever heard .... I will now take your reasoning and use it as my own when we shower together

Recycle boxes,bottles,etc.
Regularly tidy out old clothes,books etc and take to charity shops
Use energy saving lightbulbs
Only wash when have a full load
Air dry clothes
Walk or use the bus .... don't have a car
Use eco-friendly cleaning products
Use essential oils,water and candles in an oil burner to fragrance the house
Re-use envelopes,paper etc,use full page of paper,both sides
Shower together under candle light
Drink water from the TAP .... not from bought bottles
Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it
Only buy enough food as needed and try to use local produce
Have fresh flowers and plants in the house
Wooden furniture is well made,that has been ethically sourced and an investment
Do not buy/eat drink from McDonalds,Starbucks etc
Do not shop in Primark,Matalan etc

nuffingman

Sian-of-the-dead wrote:

I too look forward to that day. Elaborate packaging is a problem, as are 5 litre gas guzzlers. I actually got annoyed yesterday because Land Rover's new radio ad campaign is "Why drive a car when you can drive... A LAND ROVER"
What a crock of shit! Why buy a car?! Because cars nowadays are far more eco-friendly! Cars do the necessary job of getting you from A to bloody B! Cars don't EAT fuel and damage the enviroment in order to make little people behind the wheel feel better by driving around Coventry city centre in a vehicle that was designed for FARM USE!!! :x

/rant

Most people don't need the huge cars they have. They're just status symbols... and it bugs the shit outta me.

... if you hadn't noticed :oops:

Yes I just love seeing the little darlings being dropped off to school in 4x4 with bull bars on the front.

polaris_x

this is what bugs the shit out of me - i need a new set of headphones ... so, i goto best buy and they're like $20 and she wants to sell me insurance for like $10 saying if they break - you can get a new pair for "free" ... she then goes on to tell me that it's a really good deal as she does it and she keeps replacing her ear phones ...

i'm like - so, you are basically telling me this product sux and that it will break ... then she backtracks and says no ...

anyhoo - it bugs me people build things to intentionally break or at the very least have a real short life ...

urbanhippie

stargirl69 wrote:

Drink water from the TAP .... not from bought bottles

We have a filter system fitted to the cold tap in the kitchen. Our tap water is great!

stargirl69 wrote:

Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it

That's all kinds of awesome! I have dreams of owning my own chickens, ducks, a goat or two and some bees. Maybe when all the kiddies have left home and I have more time and space....

JD Sal

Sian-of-the-dead wrote:

JD Sal wrote:

Here's my list:

- I own 2 hybrids
- I recycle plastic, bottles, cans, paper
- Started a green program at work (recylcing, turn off company computers at night, online versions of documents instead of printing on paper which will save over 1,100 trees just this year alone)
- Buy energy saver appliances
- Use natural lighting during the day, turn off lights when leaving a room, conserve power
- Only wash full loads of clothes, and air dry my clothes after washing them
- Carpool / walk whenever possible
- Donate unwanted furniture, clothing, food to local charitable organizations

One thing I don't do is use fluorescent light bulbs. I have my reasons, but I'm not a fan at all.
Oh, I don't shower with my wife. Although I'm going to tell her this weekend that we need to start so we can save water

I just spotted this post... kudos to you!

How did you find starting the green program at work? I encourage everyone to recycle paper in my office but that's about as far as they will go most days :roll:

(Definately shower with your wife... it's gotta be the funniest way to help the environment )

Well, at first I pointed out that we had printed approximately 9,500,000 pages for our mailpacks in 2008 and if each piece of paper was put end-to-end, it would stretch almost 20,000 miles ( stretching almost 80% around the world), blah, blah, blah. But because the bottom line to those that have deciding power is cost savings and not eco-friendliness, I did a business review of the hundreds of thousands of dollars the company could save by avoiding the expenses to ship all these documents, paying for the paper, toner cartridges and the labor to copy, sort, and stuff. The conservation of energy for turning off company computers at night was nice and all, but again it came down to the amount of money we could save by adopting these new policies and procedures.

If you're interested in starting a similar program at your work, just research the potential financial benefits and that should get the right people listening.

stargirl69

urbanhippie wrote:

stargirl69 wrote:

Drink water from the TAP .... not from bought bottles

We have a filter system fitted to the cold tap in the kitchen. Our tap water is great!

stargirl69 wrote:

Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it

That's all kinds of awesome! I have dreams of owning my own chickens, ducks, a goat or two and some bees. Maybe when all the kiddies have left home and I have more time and space....

Yep have a water filter too ... water is amazingly fresh,clean,sparkles ... also have plans to have a few chickens soon and have spoke about getting a goat .... ulitmately would love a wee self sufficient small holding

81

i like to drive my fume belching v12

Claireack

Forgot to say. We ran my husbands last van on vegetable oil. Have bought an older style diesel engined car so hopefully at some point we can convert that (I say that but I probably won't be doing the actual work). It was quite easy to convert the van, just smelt a little like a chip shop at times.

TravisTheSky

I've gone car-free! I live 2 blocks from the subway.

I help myself the the 5 cent and 10 cent refunds I can get by cashing in the recylables my neighbours leave in the basement's recycle bins. I learned enough about recycling to know that the benefit is negligible- the key is to not consume in the first place. So I never buy single-serve packages of anything (can't afford it anyway.) I never consume fast food or restaurant food. I never buy prepared beverages. I drink only water, tea, and coffee.

I use baking soda to brush my teeth. It works much better than every commercial, natural, cheap, expensive brand-name toothpaste I've tried. A one-pound box costs 43 cents and lasts months.

I rarely buy clothes. I own one pair of all-purpose shoes.

I shut off the power strip to my Computer/TV monitor when not in use so that no electricity is used to keep them in 'standby' mode. I only plug in the coffee maker, toaster, etc. for the few minutes that I need them.

With the exception of a small table lamp, all of the lightbulbs in my flat are modern compact fluorescents. They are great for not using energy, but they contain mercury in gaseous form. Here in earthquake country, that can lead to nasty poisoning.