What do you do to help save the planet?

[RiverMeadow]

Looking for more ways to help so any ideas would be much appreciated!

[MxEWeatherwax]

Find a zero waste shop. Use soap bars. The big one, buy less, make do.

[Craddle64]

To answer your first question, Nothing, we are doomed.

To answer your entirely different question you could, in addition to whats been suggested:
Not have any children or at least not any more
Grow and eat your own food
Try a no spend year
Use less water, gas, electricity
Switch to ethical energy providers
If you must buy, get it second hand.
Obviously dont drive or fly.

[ppeatfruit]

Anything is better than nothing IMO. I try to be optimistic.

I don't fly.
We only buy organic foods, cotton clothes ( ! ask for them for gifts) etc. Use refills and reuse all plastics for as long as poss.

I wash polyester clothes\sheets in cotton pillow cases (tightly closed) to help stop the pollution of the waterways by micro plastics.

Iam mending old clothes, taking in jeans that are too big after weight loss etc. and bedcovers. bathroom mats etc.

We have an organic wild life friendly garden, and keep planting trees (allowing the seedlings to grow not buying from giant garden centres) .Though sometimes I buy from small organic market stalls.

DH is trying but he has a bad memory

[ppeatfruit]

Oh yes I have definitely changed my washing machine use (which never was too much) i wear a pinny when I'm wearing my 'best clothes' . Wear old clothes round the house and garden.

I collect the washing up water in old plastic bottles for watering the garden. We don't have a D.W.

Oh and keep removing plugs from the sockets from computers etc. every night.

[BlueChampagne]

Switch to more ethical bank/building society (Triodos came out top in Ethical Consumer magazine).

[vickibee]

I hang out my washing and not a tumble drier. My neighbour laughs at me for hanging it out in the winter.
Turn appliances off standby
Try to buy fairtrade where possible
use charity shops
cook from scratch and use our local farm shop

[QuentinWinters]

Use a mooncup, washable sanpro, washable nappies etc

Fully compostable corn starch dog poo bags

Walk/cycle as much as poss, drive a car selected for low emissions and fuel efficiency (diesel though, was when diesel was seen as more efficient)

Have a Samsung ecobubble washing machine wash on cold

Use bulb for renewable energy

Eat barely any meat and what i do it is high quality/organic

[MmeSzyszkoBohusz]

Small things that we do - refillable shower gel/shampoo not single-use plastics; switched gas/electricity supplier to one that only uses green/renewable energy sources (we use ecotricity); fairtrade; toilet roll from who gives a crap/other ethical suppliers are available.
Big things - we've just bought an electric car...

[ppeatfruit]

MmeSzy Which car have you bought and how do find it? We live rurally so have to have a car, there are 2 buses here, one at 6am and one at 6pm! We keep ours properly serviced. Try to use only when necessary.

[MmeSzyszkoBohusz]

@ppeatfruit we have a Nissan Leaf with a range of about 120 miles; husband has a 60 mile round trip to work every day so it gets charged most nights (got a grant towards installing a charge point at home).

We really like it - very easy to drive, with the added bonus that you can park in the electric car parking at supermarkets and charge for free (usually) while shopping... 😉 Only downside so far is the cats don’t recognise the sound so I don’t get them lined up at the window watching me park any more!

[dudsville]

Nothing really. I feel helpless thay my individual action will get big business to stop polluting the world. But I do all the recycling behaviours, not buying plastic, etc etc., because it is a part of the cost of membership to my preferred social group.

[ppeatfruit]

dudsville Then you DO do something!!! baby steps etc etc...

On telly I watched Hugh F.W. talking to a terrifyingly enormous plastics company manager, if people stop buying it they'll HAVE to stop making it fgs.

[firstimemamma]

Cloth nappies
Cloth wipes
Never bought a baby food pouch
Refill shop weekly
Green grocers for plastic-free fruit and veg
Rarely buy new clothes
Eco-friendly cleaning & no wipes
Minimal toiletries and cosmetics and the stuff I do have refillable / natural if possible
Generally try to avoid buying much new stuff
Vegetarian
Boycott nestle
Haven't flown anywhere since jan 2017 and would never fly again for the rest of my life
Try to get walk everywhere and don't often drive

Lots more but can't think right now!

[ppeatfruit]

Oh thanks Mme That sounds ok. At least it's not from Chxxa

[Wherehavetheteletubbiesgone]

I don't have children.
Have solar panels.
Have a green energy tarrif
All furniture from charity shops
Buy locally or grow my own food.
Only use low energy lights
Don't fly.
Recycle every but try to avoid glass.
Avoid plastics when possible.
Buy made in the UK products.

[ppeatfruit]

I haven't used the tumble dryer for many years, when the weather is bad I hang the washing on the drier by a radiator, we have one upstairs (if the heatings on ) Or by a slightly opened window. Because we have shutters which are brilliant for keeping the worst of the weather out.

[dudsville]

ppeatfruit, the question was what do we do to save the planet. I don't do it for that reason. Like the comment upthread indicates, all my recycling is putting into the bin the crap the companies are allowed to produce. It's spitting into the wind. (I never spit, that's gross, I just couldn't think of another pointless action to use metaphorically!)

[dudsville]

An example, probably a quarter of my recycling bins crap I don't want that they through as "post".

[PurBal]

We go to a Zero Waste shop when we can but I'll be honest, it's not always convenient. (Not open every day, significantly less hours than the local supermarket)
I use reusable pads and a moon cup.
Use flannels not wet wipes.
I try to buy sustainable materials.
Spend on high quality goods that are better for the planet.
Shop local.

[youdidask]

I used washable nappies and bamboo biodegradable ones.
Washable wipes not wet wipes
Period pants, moon cup and washable sanitary towels for me and the kids.

All food waste, paper, plastics, glass and tin is recycled.

Try to avoid plastic bags, cups etc.

Buy secondhand phones.

Clothes etc go to charity
Towels to the animal shelter

[sanitygirl]

Sold my car and not planning to replace it.

[MinniesAndMickeysNeedCounting]

The usual, nothing ground breaking unfortunately, used cloth nappies and reusable wipes,
Changed to a renewable energy supplier,
Recycle as much plastic, glass, paper etc
Currently transitioning to a plant based diet
Only using soya milk where the soya beans have been ethically sourced not from the Amazon.

[FrangipaniBlue]

Cloth nappies when DS was a baby

Use my own cloth bags for shopping

Don't put loose fruit in plastic bags, straight in the trolley then wipe at home

Eggs direct from local farm

Meat from local butcher

Milk delivered in glass bottles from local farm

WFH as much as I can

Walk or cycle as much as I can

Reusable takeout coffee cups

Biodegradable dog poop bags

Only have one child

Recycle everything

Buy and sell second hand where I can

Shower not bath and not as frequently as most of MN believes I should!

Holiday in the uk, only flown 4 times for holidays in the last 20 year (have flown more for work but I didn't really have a say!)

Wear clothes multiple times to save on frequency of using washing machine

Minimal cleaning products - washing up liquid is about it, everything just gets dusted with a dry cloth or wiped in hot soapy water - no bleach, no toilet or bathroom cleaning products etc

[FrangipaniBlue]

Only use central heating between October and February

[PontiacBandit]

We do a few small things:

• economical with heating and use the woodburner (although is that bad? The smoke?)
• have a hybrid car and don't make unnecessary journeys
• use soap and mooncup. I've tried a few shampoo bars but I prefer bottled.
• buy glass bottled milk from the milkman

On the other (bad) side, I've just got a tumble dryer and I love it, it makes my life so easy. But possibly worst of all DH works for a plastics manufacturer.