If you are taking actions to reduce climate change - thread to share ideas

[HappyWinter]

Inspired by several threads on climate change this weekend and the IPCC report released yesterday, I'm starting this thread so anyone who is interested can share what they are doing and any ideas.

I'm definitely not perfect and have a very long way to go! I know individually we can't do much, we have to start somewhere. It isn't all or nothing, for example flying less rather than giving it up completely is better than nothing.

So far:
Green electricity tariff
Trying not to drive as much
Eating less meat and dairy - reducing rather than becoming vegan
Fly less in the future - once every 3/4 years rather than every year
Buying less stuff
Insulating the house
More plants into the garden

I'm going to pick two or three things to focus on each month, this months are reducing food waste and buying less carbon intensive food by reducing meat (especially red meat) and dairy, and thinking about lobbying my MP etc.

How many times do you wear your clothes before you washing them. If they were not ‘dirty'

I don't count, and would keep wearing until they are dirty. Which onviouslt varies by type of garment and what's been done whilst wearing it

If clothes aren't dirty, then I'd keep wearing them until they are

Unlike what I read in some MN threads, I don't expect each person in the household to do their own laundry (presumably running lots of loads) instead amalgamating into fewer full ones

You know that pop song that goes “I’ve had the same jeans on for four days now?” DP has a friend who gets outraged by it: “Four days? That’s NOTHING! Try four months, try a year! These bad boys are glued to me til they smell like a hamster cage!”

I’m not quite that gross but I’ll wear jeans til the crotch goes whiffy, dresses til I drop something down then, and cardigans basically forever – sometimes I drop them on the wool wash pile, never get around to doing a wool wash, then put them back in the drawer and consider them fresh from their “airing” on the floor.

Also have some alpaca wool socks that allegedly are naturally antibacterial so can be washed less frequently. I adhere to this suggestion with wild abandon.

@RancidOldHag I never understood that either. I do everyone’s all together. Imagine washing a load at half capacity just so they do their own laundry. Our house doesn’t seem to wear a lot of whites. If they were doing their own they would be washing a few items on their own. Madness.

Clothes get dirty very quickly in my house with small children! So much washing. I do make sure to always do full loads and I don't tumble dry (it's not one of the big hitters, it saves about 0.2t of carbon annually) partly due to environment and partly as I never get round to doing both on the same day without disturbing sleeping children with the noise.

@burritofan I'd like solar panels and a heat pump too, I wish they weren't so expensive and out of reach.

I'm rethinking replacing house items sooner rather than later and wondering how long I can get the kid's rug to last.

1. No longer have a car. Walk/cycle/public transport - and generally just move around less than we used to.

1. Pretty much only buy what we can carry home (see 1!) Nothing like this to make me think about whether or not I need something. If I stuck to this rigidly, then we would cut our waste enormously. For eg I'd never ever buy sparkling water (occasional treat) as it just weighs too much to lug.

1. I'm doing the Wool& 100 day challenge right now: wear the same dress for 100 days. I already have a very simple wardrobe, but this is another step along. I seem to need/want to wash the dress about every 10 days, so my own laundry pile is down to underwear.

1. Only ever line dry, even in winter. I bought some sock/knicker hangers to reduce re-pegging time.

1. I have really failed on milk-reduction, though I guess 8 pints/week for a family of 5 isn't all that excessive. Our boys still eat meat (eldest was vegan for a bit but got sooo pale and tired); rest of us are either completely or mainly veggie.

1. Very active in local travel/sustainability/education/other local things. My whole life is very local indeed.

If I have to buy someone a gift, I'll buy eco gifts, like reusable water bottles or tote shopping bags.

Planting flowers and plants in my garden to attract insects (plus make my garden look pretty),

I've also bought a bird feeder, which I keep topped up. It only really attracts wood pigeons, as they've bullied away other birds.

Some supermarkets like Sainsburys and Co-op are recycling soft plastics bread bags, pet food pouches and biscuit wrappers. So I've been putting mine aside to drop off.

I have switched to reusable daily pantyliners, period knickers and cotton face pads.

Sign petitions- there are loads on the gov petitions website calling on the government to do more to tackle the climate crisis. Many of them are woefully under signed too. We need to work together to put pressure on the gov to make the big changes we need.

Switch your internet search engine from google to Ecosia - they use the money they make from searches to plant trees all around the world including in the uk. It’s really easy to use (works exactly the same as google) and has a little tally so you can see how many trees you’ve planted.

Delete old emails! This might sound odd but all those old emails have to be hosted by a server which is using huge amounts of electricity. Less emails less server space needed. Plus it feels good to have a clear inbox!

Talk to me about period knickers, please, @purpledagger! Which would you recommend?

Another one I thought of as well as banks/pensions (pension is apparently 21x as effective as anything else at cutting your carbon footprint) is checking your insurance (buildings, contents, car, life, etc) and making sure the insurer is one that has a policy to stop underwriting coal, oil and gas projects – without insurance those projects can’t go ahead so it’s a direct way of stopping fossil fuel investment.

Another recycling one is contact lenses - everything from the lens itself to the foil and plastic packet is recyclable, you just need to look up a scheme nearby, generally at an opticians. Same with supposedly non-recyclable stuff: terracycle runs schemes nationwide to drop off all kinds of product packaging that the council won’t take. Obviously the ultimate aim is to not buy stuff with that packaging, but while we’re gradually making over our purchasing and consumption and making better food choices, this is a good solution.

Buritofan I have wuka and modibodi. They are quite expensive at £20-£25 a pair. Cheekywipes are another brand that gets good recommendations on here.

I love mine, really comfortable and once DD starts her periods, I'm going to get her some, so it becomes normal for her. Because of the cost, I only have 4 pairs, so I need to keep on top of washing them, but it's only a few days a month, so I don't mind.

As well as cost, the other disadvantage is that they only last a couple years before they need replacing. Mine started to develop holes in them within about a year, but have been slow to further deteriorate, so I'm still using them. I have holes in both the wuka and modibodi, so it's not specific to one brand.

Some great ideas here. I’ve made a start with switching my gas and electric, stopped using the tumble dryer, I use reusable sanitary pads and cotton wool pads, but there’s absolutely loads more I can do. I’m making a challenge out of it. I’m going to overhaul everything in my life and really think about everything I purchase and activity I do and research and work out the most eco friendly way to do it - just been researching batteries. I might make a blog out of it. I mean the overall process, not just the batteries!

I find it really hard not to buy plastic, washing liquid, cooking oil, yogurt etc.

DH like to eat meat too as he trains. So we all eat meat and diary in our family meals.

The rest I can do, full load washing, air dry clothes, less or no travel... anything that doesn't cost extra to do.

Buy less. Buy nicer stuff - quality luxury items that will last longer and are hopefully made of environmentally friendly materials to begin with. No fast fashion.

Vintage clothes are often much better quality, even the clothes from standard shops are much better. I found a Littlewoods angora jumper, it was mostly wool and so well made. Watch out for the sizes being much smaller than today's, a vintage size 14 is more like an 8 or 10 today. It's also hard to buy online as you don't know what you will get, and not straightforward to find vintage shops depending on location and they can be hit and miss and full of 90s shellsuits.

I haven't done anything for a few weeks, my latest target is changing to ethical banking (not companies like Barclays) and considering an ethical insurance company when the policies next renew as these are meant to have a big impact.

Here's a list of ethical insurance companies:
thegoodshoppingguide.com/subject/ethical-insurance/

Positive News article including info about the impact of changing banks and pensions (pension has 27 times the impact of changing to plant based diet according to it)
www.positive.news/environment/what-can-i-do-about-climate-change-how-to-lower-your-carbon-footprint/

Oh this is a good thread. It's hard to raise the conversation with people I find.

For me, easy wins (life is busy) have been:

• all charity donations are to various environmental charities and I have increased these

-drive a tiny car and use it as little as possible

• buy all my clothes etc second hand or (it no second hand option available) from discount sales.
• hand me downs /second hand for children

-minimising amount of stuff bought

• passing on things we won't use again

Just about everything can be bought from Facebook market place. We have recently bought sets of drawers, cutlery, lampshades, chairs a table, curtains and book shelves and have sold a pressure cooker, a hoover, an amplifier and fitness weights. I see no need to buy more or less anything new.

@HappyWinter that's fascinating about pensions. And frustrating, most of my pension is public sector so I don't have choice where it sits. But I do have a small private sector one so I will take a look at that.

I use the cheekywipes period pants /pads and have been really pleased. I started off with just one, and built up gradually. I love them. They are so much more comfortable and pleasant to wear.

Nothing in particular. I'm a sheep farmer. We do have a rewilded field at the bottom of the farm (a rushy bog). My contribution is keeping my fields from being turned into 'executive homes'. We sow clover into our pasture and don't use artificial fertiliser.

Thanks for the ideas! I'm trying to buy less and only get second hand toys etc. Next step is plant more plants for pollinators in the garden. I've read that having less concrete surfaces helps to reduce flooding, I'm not sure if planting more helps as well?

I'm reading this thread on biodiverse gardens from @LemonSwan for ideas on the garden:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4328799-a-thread-about-Biodiversity-Gardens-Landscape-in-the-UK?pg=2

@starpatch

Siulagarde could you share green energy survey company please? Its good to find this thread. Feeling really pessimistic this week to be honest after the IPCC news this week. I was car free for 12 years, but just had to get a car as for work, have an electric car, my big step forward this week was to work out how to use the timer so can charge it overnight! night electricity is more likely to be renewables I think. I am now planning now to stop drinking milk and really cut down on meat, although will still buy some for DS. And I am going to email my MP about climate change.

The company is https://bhesco.co.uk