What are your Eco sins?

Fly a lot
Drive a diesel.
Don’t use food waste bags. We can put ours in the green bin.

Recycle everything possible , don’t use tumble dryer. Donate lots to charity shops.
Don’t waste water, only one child.

I use Amazon and Nespresso type pods.

Oh and I do eat fish, dairy and eggs, but not meat since I was 6. Now coeliac so I can't see myself cutting more food groups tbh.

Ah yes, also bring a reusable coffee mug and a glass box out with me so no need for disposable ones.

Don't leave lights on or things plugged in unnecessarily.

I filled two pouffes with old unwanted clothes (especially anything with damage, stains etc) to avoid it going to landfill / a beach in Ghana/Cambodia.

Thats really bad. It messes up the garden waste for everyone else.
If you can't recycle it then chuck it in the actual bin.

My heating is on 24/7 over winter. In my defence I walk almost everywhere carry shopping etc.

I would like 3 DC (have one and very early pregnancy with my second).

I waste food - under assessment for ADHD. I forget what's in the fridge/cupboard if it's not visible and also end up buying duplicate ingredients.

We use the dishwasher quite a bit.

Drive almost everywhere but in my defence...

... We have an EV

• We live rurally, most places are not walkable and the bus service is shocking (only accessible by walking 20+ mins through some remote fields which I'm not confident doing alone with my toddler, especially in the darker months).
• grow fruit and veg
• volunteer with a climate action charity
• have only bought secondhand clothes for myself and toddler for many years
• don't own a tumble drier and try to wash as economically as we can
• recycle very strictly, collect soft plastics to drop at the supermarket and even bring them home from work which has crap recycling facilities
• have a water butt to save water for the garden
• don't put the heating on in winter unless it feels absolutely necessary
• avoiding flights, we did an overnight trip to Norfolk this year and that was lovely. If we go abroad again I'd like it to be by train
• avoid banks with dodgy finance

We use the very cheap bags on a roll to cover food instead of cling film and technically you can recycle plastic now

I have had a whole range of silicon lids and they always pop off. I've had the trays with silicon lids that compress meats etc and broke on first go

You a flytipper too?

You don't need a hosepipe for a plastic lawn.

Reading other comments reminded me of a couple more pluses which hopefully help to make up for the flying and single use plastic:

I wash towels and bedding on 40° but turn it down to 30° for everything else.

Used reusable nappies when dd was young
.
Donate to charity shops rather than throwing away usable things to go to landfill

I fly.
I've cut down a lot (used to fly every school holiday) but still fly long haul twice a year which I know is really bad for the climate.

My other bad thing is single use plastic. We eat a lot of fruit and the supermarket only sells fruit like grapes and berries in plastic punnets rather than being able to buy them loose.
I wish they would at least move to card punnets like they have for mushrooms.

On the plus side (don't know if it's enough to make up for the flying):

I don't have a car
No tumble drier
Don't wash clothes that have only been worn once (unless actually dirty or sweaty)
Don't leave lights on
Rarely switch the heating on
Most of my clothes are 2nd hand
Only have one dc
Recycle
Vegan so any food waste (very little - mainly teabags and peelings) goes on the compost heap
Water bills say our water usage is below average (we shower daily so I guess that's down to use of the washing machine)
Don't buy bottled water
Use a reusable coffee mug for takeaway coffee

Eat meat, fish or eggs every other day.
Have 2 DC.
Drive.

OTOH:
Don't fly.
Buy 95% of everything we own second hand -technology, clothing, homeware, appliances, furniture, tools etc.
Take the whole recycle, reduce, reuse etc pretty seriously.
Water the garden with saved grey-water.
Grow a lot of our own food.

I don't get the "...and I'm not even sorry!" comments. If I do something which I know is an eco-dick move, I really do feel regret and try to promise myself not to do whatever it is again.

I use kitchen wipes.
I run the dishwasher twice a day
I use the tumble dryer all year round
I water my garden with a hose (though only on my veggies)

I never fly
I have solar panels
I recycle everything and get excited by a “good box” that I can reuse
Don’t use AI
Never use Temu/Shein
I grow my own veg and make my own compost
Careful about purchases and use everything until it’s worn out

I water my garden with a hosepipe in full view of all neighbours. Apart from that, I am doing ok.

I fly short haul several times a year
In the summer, I water my garden twice a week using a hose and I’m not stingy with it (but not silly with it either)
I still eat meat (albeit not loads)
I shop from amazon a lot for DIY/gardening materials and cat accessories

OTOH
I don’t have children
I don’t drive
I have never used ChatGPT etc and I’ve turned off any AI feature that I am able to
I am extremely careful with water consumption
I don’t consume cow milk
To the best of my knowledge and ability, I recycle everything correctly
I buy second hand and I donate unwanted things
Underconsumption is my middle name

I don’t use my food waste bin, I put leftover food in black bin…..and I work in the waste industry so it’s a cardinal sin

I tumble dry everything except for the few good drying days in summer.
I use chat gpt a lot.
We have 2 cars - 1 petrol and one electric. I'm not convinced electric cars are better overall but it's so much nicer to drive!
Our house is full of plastic tat from the kids that I just want to go round and collect in a bin bag.

We are good at the recycling and have our own compost. Our old house had a water butt that we used for watering the garden. Haven't got round to getting one here.
I used reusable nappies for 1 of my children and use reusable period products.
We eat very little meat.
We don't fly very often, max once a year and no further than Western Europe.

Kitchen roll, despite the fact that I’ve bought kitchen cloths.

I drive a muckle dirty diesel and I need it to tow the horse about. I will never, ever go electric they are the biggest con of all.

And hairspray. I have big, bouncy, blonde Texas style hair a lot of the time and I won’t compromise on it.

To balance:

• Will never have kids
• Have been on two holidays since 2015
• VERY pro field to fork - I know where all my meat comes from, I literally watch most of it growing up in the fields around me. I can also catch, cull & dress some animals for consumption.
• I buy good clothes and buy them to last. I am still wearing stuff I bought in 2007! I avoid fast fashion like the plague.
• I wear natural fabrics. Wools, leather, and shock horror stuff that uses secondary fur / animal pelts.
• I walk places. A lot.
• I’m careful with water / heat / electricity consumption.
• I avoid AI like the plague. Blanket refusal to use it- to the point there’s been some interesting conversations with my leadership as they expect us to rely / utilise it and ethically I will not.
• Do a lot to support / encourage wildlife on my land. But also, I am for proactive wildlife management where appropriate.
• Don’t use the likes of Deliveroo or JustEat.
• Shop locally and avoid supermarkets where possible.

I’m not perfect but you know if the modern world died tomorrow, I reckon I’d survive just fine. As long as there were no zombies 😂

I don't recycle food waste

Tumble dryer and aircon.

Plastic fake lawn

Don’t recycle a lot of tins or plastic as I don’t like wasting water to rinse them out.

BUT i don’t own a hosepipe.

We fly. A lot. My husband has been on 18 flights so far this year. 2 long haul for a holiday and the rest for work. We are going on another long haul holiday in a few weeks.

He’s diligent about recycling but when he’s away, I put no food waste in the food caddy as I can’t be bothered.

We tumble dry all year round.

We have a woodburner and it’s in almost constant use over the winter.

We have 2 cars and could easily manage with one.

Apart from that, I think we’re pretty good.

I don't put all my food waste in the food bin....some things are just too much hassle to be unwrapping and emptying and cleaning out.... I'll recycle cardboard sleeves etc and do it for things that are already opened...but I'm not washing out stuff that's had raw meat that's gone off/out of date etc in my sink, potentially contaminating the whole areas with raw meat juice splashes....it's going in the general waste, I'm afraid 🥴.

?? We can put out recycling stuff in a box or plastic bag and it gets taken. There is no limit on this! We pay for green waste bin so I want to use this for garden stuff that's too woody for a compost bin!

I don't food recycle, I just put it in the bin, i recycle everything else but food .

Oh, loads. I drive. Fly. I have three kids. I have never used a reusable nappy. I buy endless amounts of pre packaged snacks. I don't grow anything or look after any bees and my cats kill mice and birds.

My "on the other hand" list is quite long and boring, but suffice to say I agree with the PP who said that even though I do all the little bits of stuff that you're "supposed" to do, I don't really believe that anything I do or don't do will make any difference.