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Little ways in which you help the environment and/or reduce waste

270 replies

GunpowderGelatine · 04/02/2019 10:19

I thought we could have a thread where we share the small low-effort ways in which we can make changes and reduce waste.

  • we have a good waste digester. Smarter than a regular compost bin as it takes all food waste even bones. Got it at a discount at £30 and I love it, it gives me really lovely compost too and we literally have no food waste going in the black bin
  • I buy as much second hand as possible, if the kids need new clothes I look for bundles on Facebook, I only really buy new shoes or specific clothing like costumes for book day. Most things are like new when given a good clean anyway.
  • I've stopped buying DVDs and subscribed to Netlifx, and if I do get a specific DVD I go to CeX and get it second hand
  • i refuse to buy anything with unnecessary packaging, like fruit and veg (I only buy it loose)
  • use less bath water and limit the number of baths we take
  • I wash everything at 30, if it's stained I'll go to 40 with a bit of Vanish on it and if it's smelly I use a white wine vinegar solution on it before I wash it
  • I only use eco friendly cleaning products (this has helped with our allergies massively too, no more sneezing after wiping the tops down)
OP posts:
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halfwitpicker · 05/02/2019 00:06

God some of these are impressive.

We've started eating less meat.

zzzzz · 05/02/2019 07:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Neverunderfed · 05/02/2019 07:52

We do no tat for kids too. They're 8, 6 and 1.5

They don't know any different. They know that we won't buy them LOL dolls etc, but that what they choose to buy with their money, what they receive from others is up to them

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

MyOtherProfile · 05/02/2019 08:02

My favourites are :
Shampoo bars
Soap bars for hand wash and showers
Beeswax wraps instead of cling film or foil
Eco egg for the washing machine (saves ££££ too)

misstakenone · 05/02/2019 08:03

I've been trying to make one change a month but the ones I think have helped the most are switching to having a milkman and getting fruit and veg from the market. Much better for the local economy too.
Other changes I have made are buying a traditional metal safety razor so only the metal blade will ever need replacing
Also shampoo bars, bar soaps, a reusable washing up scourer and using boxed washing powder.
Will try to investigate cat and dog food in tins next I think as the pouches are a lot of unnecessarily waste but the fussy buggers may not be quite so eco friendly!!

TaimaandRanyasBestFriend · 05/02/2019 08:05

No tat for kids is much easier when they are older because they want stuff that's downloaded/digital - games, films, music, apps, subscriptions.

I don't wash towels every day (bills would be enormous) and they and bedding are the only things that go at 60.

We didn't have a large family.

Cyw2018 · 05/02/2019 08:18

Cloth nappies and wipes, almost all bought second hand. The only thing I bought new for DD was a new mattress, and an every stage car seat (had newborn car seat off next door neighbour and have just passed out on to DB/SIL).

Moon cup

No single use bottled drinks

Bulk buy eco cleaning products (bio d) in 5l containers and reuse smaller bottles that I decant into. Just started using a multi surface cleaner/sanitisers that is a concentrate and gets watered down and comes in 5l container so will be interesting to see how long that lasts.

Electric car as main family car/husband long commute car (we drove bangers for years to save up to buy it out right), I still have a 15 year old car which I'm saving from the scrap yard as long as I can.

Mostly vegetarian (meat one day a week).

bibbitybobbityyhat · 05/02/2019 08:23

Yes, washing powder in large boxes rather than liquid in plastic bottles - the cardboard must have less of an environmental impact surely?

We use refills of stuff wherever we can.

Idonotsetanalarmformyteen · 05/02/2019 08:37

I'm not amazingly eco-friendly. However, I've lived in my current house for 15 years and haven't changed the kitchen. I suspect most people would have done by now.

We have two cars but use them infrequently because I work from home and DH commutes by train (and walks to station) and we live close enough to the shops to walk. We do use the cars, but not as often as we could.

Always take a shopping bag to shops.

Have a compost bin

Have a water butt (though need a new one) and never water my lawn in the summer (I do think hose pipe bans should be put in place as standard in summer)

Not had a period for quite a few weeks now so may well be on the cusp of menopause (I am nearly 47 and deffo not pregnant) so that will remove the washable sanitary towel dilemma.

One of the worst for plastics over use is the free kids toys in burger king and mcdonalds. Can't wait to see the back of that trash

Yes, how are Kinder eggs still going? Given it's a German brand and the Germans are so eco-conscious compared with the British, it amazes me they are still around.

MacarenaFerreiro · 05/02/2019 08:39

We aren't hardcore - I wouldn't sit shivering in my house wearing gloves and a hat but on the other hand we have the thermostat set at 20, not 25 plus.

Solid soap instead of shower gel is one of the easiest ones.

Reduction of plastic tat - not all plastic is bad. We are awash with Lego in this house but it lasts forever and holds its value. For birthdays and Christmas, we ask for "experiences" for the kids - recently they all got vouchers for a day out at one of those climbing centre places.

We don't use bleach, wipes or other excessive cleaning products. We use refillable products from Splosh which are very good.

We don't have a tumble dryer and nothing gets washed over 40c.

Huge fan of charity shops for clothes and accessories. Not a "fast fashion" fan at all.

Oh and I don't use sanpro at all - had a hysterectomy although not for eco reasons it's a positive side effect!!

whiteonesugar · 05/02/2019 09:50

I use soap instead of shower gel - in fact we both do. The only one who uses something in a bottle is DS who is 4 as soap would dry him out.

Am currently pregnant and plan to use washable wipes with new baby.

Stopped buying bottles of water and got a Brita jug.

Switched to Method products as the bottles are recyclable and the formulas less toxic

Got into good recycling habits - we used to live in a flat with no recycling options, we had a massive bin for everything. Now in a house and we have 2 bins. - one for waste and one for recycling and a food caddy.

Try to buy things second hand - DS’s converse are always off eBay, as have been a lot of my maternity stuff. Anything we dont need gets donated, not thrown away.

We have a long way to go, but we’re conscious of it now whereas we weren’t before.

drspouse · 05/02/2019 09:58

DH doesn't really want to use soap instead of shower gel so I got him a Faith in Nature bottle of shower gel (other brands are available) and as he likes it I'll get a 5l refill container.
It's a bit pricey but he took 6 months to use one bottle in the first place!

anonymousbird · 05/02/2019 10:07

Use bars of soap to wash, even shampoo ones are excellent.

Don't use any wipes here, lots of cloths/e-cloths that get hot washed and reused.

Keep any plastic bags we do receive or have things sent in, always reuse unless broken. If not reused, recycled in shopping bag recycling.

If a loaf of bread comes in a plastic bag, I keep and reuse as a food bag.

Biodegradable dog waste bags

Choose unwrapped fruit/produce whenever possible.

Always use reusable coffee and tea cups for out and about or getting from the coffee shop, all the family now have water bottles to refill.

anonymousbird · 05/02/2019 10:09

Oh, and we buy and sell on ebay, kids incentivised as they get a bit of money for their items, always do hand me downs wherever possible for what we don't or can't sell and last resort, using clothing and shoe banks. Never put clothing or textiles in the bin for land fill.

Our black bin is usually no more than half full every fortnight, two bin bags from the kitchen bin per fortnight.

BiddyPop · 05/02/2019 11:01

Reduce food wastage. Use up leftovers in other ways, freeze extra portions for meals another day, etc.

When peeling veg, wash thoroughly beforehand and then things like carrot peels and onion skins/roots can go into the stock pot.

Heels of bread get made into breadcrumbs and frozen, to use later in stuffings/coating goujons etc.

We only put out the bins when they are full (fortnightly collection on each - recycling goes out approx. 3 out of 4 collections, but black bin only about 1 in every 5/6 collections, brown bin roughly once a quarter).

We send clothes, toys, books and equipment on to younger DCousins all the time to get reused. Lots goes to charity shops or clothing bins to get reused if we can't do that within the family/friends.

We've increased the insulation in the house over the years. We have also had temperature regulators on the heating for years, and keep the amount the heating is on to a minimum yet still comfortable - so it comes on for 30 minutes before we are due to get up, and kicks back in 30 minutes before we are due to get home, but we keep it low during the day (but if the outside is very cold, it will kick in to keep the house from getting TOO cold and harder to heat). It will also turn off if we've heated the house up by using the oven or having the stove going.

We changed the open fire to a closed, wood-burning stove a few years back - the same amount of fuel makes a heck of a difference to the heat in the room now compared with the open fire! It also means that less heat is lost up the chimney when the vents are closed if the stove is not lit - we used to have a chimney balloon up there all summer and during the week in winter as we generally only lit the fire at weekends, balloon did make a difference especially in windy weather where heat was just sucked up and out.

Also, wear enough clothes - layer up, wear proper clothing for the conditions, and don't strip to just shorts/tshirts in the depths of winter but wearing jumpers or thermal layers, keeping on socks, wearing slippers if shoeless indoors etc, all help to not feel cold and not need heating on so much.

Energy efficient lighting - LED spots upstairs are good and bright but use lots less energy, and turning out lights as we leave rooms. Solar lights with motion sensors in the garden, for path to the shed etc.

Rainwater collected in a butt off the gutters at the back, which is used mostly for watering the garden (combination of flowers and vegetables) but also for washing the car and washing salt off sailing gear. Has been useful to supplement mains water when pipes burst in bad snow a few years back - we had buckets of water for flushing downstairs toilet.

Cycling and walking rather than driving locally, where possible. Doing all the "jobs" in a planned route on 1 trip rather than separate trips or doubling back on yourself to get the shopping, dry cleaning, chemist, butchers......all sorted. Try to do "big" grocery shop once a week, or even less, rather than lots of small runs for a few things.

Use public transport from commute to work.

Wash at 30 degrees. Use white vinegar and some tea tree oil instead of conditioner in the washing. Line dry the clothes when the weather is suitable. Dry clothes on a rack indoors if possible, and keep tumble dryer use to a minimum.

Bulk buy things like washing "powder" capsules, and refill tubs. Same for soap (carex now do large refill bags), shower gel (L'Occitane same), and also food stuffs (I have glass containers for flour, pasta, rice, sugar etc and refill those from larger bags where those are better value - sometimes though the smaller ones are cheaper per unit so always check!).

PurpleCrazyHorse · 05/02/2019 11:05

Looked up on Terracyle the items I wanted to recycle under their Free Programmes, then you can search for people near you who have this recycling point. I found a lady close to me who recycles loads via Terracycle, so I save it all here and then drive to her occasionally to drop it all off.

Washable nappies (kids now in pants so must sell them on!), washable wipes, washable pantyliners. Knitted my own dishcloths in some cheap cotton yarn.

We switched to soap bars instead of liquid soap as I can't easily recycle the pump bit. When finances allow, I buy my bars from a lady who wraps them in brown paper which can be recycled.

Realising that lots of stretchy plastic says it can go in the carrier bag recycling points at the supermarket. Never noticed that until this week.

Not using those little plastic bags when getting loose fruit/veg. I just put them together on the conveyor belt so the checkout operator can weigh them loose.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 05/02/2019 11:07

Changed all our lightbulbs to LED too. Training the children to turn off lights when they leave the room.

Butteredghost · 05/02/2019 11:13

I always wash on cold and have never done otherwise.

Walk to work.

I'm not totally convinced on the soft plastic recycling. Seems like some of it just goes to landfill. The rest gets mixed with virgin plastic and turned in to ugly furniture like benches that no one is buying. But happy to be convinced otherwise.

BiddyPop · 05/02/2019 11:43

Actually, I just remembered we did the cloth nappies too. Creche wouldn't accept them, so we needed disposables there, and we had disposables some of the time otherwise, but I used my cloth ones as much as possible and they were great.

None of the DCousin's DPs were interested, so I ended up selling them on afterwards. But they got great use from us and were still in perfect condition for others to use after that.

BiddyPop · 05/02/2019 11:47

J Cloths are washable - we use ours over and over before the holes get so big they need to be dumped.

Keep doors closed when you are out of the house, and at night when in bed - partly to prevent fire spreading but also to keep heat on the rooms. Then when you are home, keep doors closed on any rooms not in use (and keep those unheated or just the radiator barely on), and also close doors on space you are using to keep the heat IN there - we will open the door between the sitting room and kitchen when we get in and are moving lots, but once dinner is over and homework done, we move to the sitting room and close the door so it gets cosy.

Blankets on the back of couches to snuggle under help too.

JammieCodger · 05/02/2019 12:27

I try and channel my parents' wartime rationing mentality and 'make do and mend'. I darn socks and jumpers that are getting thin and am learning how to upholster so I can fix the saggy armchairs. My teenage daughter and I re-vamp old and out-grown clothes to give them a new lease of life. And when they're really beyond saving they either go to the charity shop or get turned into cleaning rags.

I fix household goods if I possibly can. Nothing gets replaced or thrown out until it's completely dead with no chance of revival, be that the car, phones, tv...whatever.Old bikes are canibalised for parts and furniture gets repurposed. I have a set of ikea storeage units that I rescued from a skip that have done duty in a kid's bedroom, the kitchen, the office and are now on their side as a bookcase in my bedroom.

We've cut down a lot on meat eating. We shop locally, on foot, or get it delivered. I buy food that's as local as possible and not out of season and eat very little processed food. Veg that's getting towards the end of it's days gets made into soup, leftovers will be turned into a new meal and chicken bones are turned into stock.

We've always used bar soap, it's only the child with a dust allergy who gets her sheets washed once a week and we wear our clothes (except underwear) several times before they get washed.

Presents for adults tend to be either consumables, experiences or things we need. Some of my favourite presents have been a sailing course, a water butt, and some really beautiful woodwork tools.

The big changes I want to make are not to replace our car when it finally dies and to get solar panels. And based on the thread I'm going to look into getting our milk delivered and I'm going to visit the 'no-packaging' shop that's opened not far from here. (By bike, obviously.)

ClarabellaCTL · 05/02/2019 12:56

I've been working on this at home for the last year...
Bars of soap instead of shower gel and handwash
Shampoo and conditioner bars
Washable make-up remover pads
Washable sanitary pads
Refillable cleaning products like washing up liquid
Bamboo toothbrushes
Milk delivered in glass bottles
Washable kitchen towels instead of paper towels
Using Tupperware for sandwiches instead of clingfilm or foil that gets binned
Making yoghurt (with an easiyo kit)

GiantKitten · 05/02/2019 13:12

Purplecrazyhorse

Terracycle are now taking soap bottle pumps too, via the Garnier link-up.

All of the things shown can be any make, not just Garnier

Little ways in which you help the environment and/or reduce waste
GiantKitten · 05/02/2019 13:18

Terracycle also take all this teeth stuff. It does have to be teeth stuff only, but any brand is ok.

(I took some battery & biro plastic packaging along but that was rejected.)

Little ways in which you help the environment and/or reduce waste
oatmilk4breakfast · 05/02/2019 13:19

I love this. So lovely to find people who care. Whoever said they are doing oatmilk in everything except tea I am so with you! I’m having to try and find eco- friendly coffee as oatmilk tastes good in that but I do love tea. In terms of things that will help with carbon in atmosphere - the thing that contributes most to warming - I’m now turning efforts to things that will prevent loss of rainforest (as a consumer that basically means jettisoning palm oil and soya and as a citizen joining in with greenpeace lobbying). I think the ice is melting so fast that protecting forests is best hope of preserving big carbon ‘sink’. It feels far away but I’ve decided to try and find out how to make it feel like a more local and pressing concern.

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