Or do we need to stop telling people that being environmentally friendly Is easy?

[Jackfruitburger]

Just to clarify I am not perfect, I am less than halfway on my zero waste journey. I'm on the Facebook groups thinking 'wow that sounds like a good idea' I'm not doing much yet!
The thing that really winds me up is people saying that doing these things are easy. I currently use reusable nappies, I buy loose leaf tea and I've started refilling my own Nespresso capsules. I refill my washing up and laundry liquid. All of it is a complete ball ache. There's not one way which is easier than buying the alternative.
Teabags, much easier and cheaper to Chuck one of those into a mug rather than get my tea out, fill up my filtered teapot, then afterward scoop all the bits into the food waste.
Until we start saying to people 'look this won't be easy but this is what the planet needs' we won't succeed. I feel deceived by everyone saying that all these changes are so 'easy and straight forward' when they're not!

And what do you think happens to the plastic trays you leave behind in the supermarket? Surely if you want loose fruit buy loose fruit not empty out stuff bagged up. If there is no loose fruit in the supermarket go to a greengrocer.

My local greengrocers doesn't have as much packaging and let's me leave the trays behind. They sell a small range of other products too so I get what I can there. With 2 kids under 5 though it definitely is more effort than going to the supermarket so I agree with your comments at the beginning op.

And re reusable nappies, I use them when I'm at home, I want to love them but just don't., They get wet through before I realise, leading to full clothing change and more washing. And I had a poo going round and round the machine glass the other week! I still use them, but definitely in the effort box.

I've got environmental qualifications and work in the sector... Most people I know just won't bother with the effort.

We don't need people to be 'zero waste' though, we can deal with some waste. We just need people to change some of their behaviours to drastically reduce their carbon emissions and waste, and I think the most effective changes are actually very doable for most people. It's the smaller gain changes that are often harder and more expensive, but we don't need those.

The biggest changes individuals can make:

Stop flying
Eat red meat max 2 times per week
Don't buy new stuff you don't need
Avoid unnecessary car journeys
Switch to a renewable energy provider eg bulb, ecotricity
Write to your MP, tell your friends

These changes are doable for most people, and will produce big gains. Changes like avoiding tea bags, bamboo toothbrushes have much smaller gains and we don't need large numbers of people to do this (although if people do that is good).

The people who will be killed first by climate change predominantly live in places where they don't fly for holidays, don't use even half the energy and carbon we do, if we did make all these changes we would still have an easier life than many of these people, so I think it's morally wrong to say you can't possibly make any changes when it's the poor sod facing a drought in subsaharan Africa or their island disappearing who will feel the brunt of it first. Even if it doesn't make a big difference to the outcome, I personally find it grotesque to cheerfully carry on polluting knowing what these people will face in the next 20 years.

I meant to add 'eat seasonal food, and not food flown in by aeroplane' to my list

This. Poo should be scraped off into the loo before washing the nappy. If you do that and still get poo remaining after a wash, you need a new machine.

But surely getting rid of a machine that works, but needs a wipe out occasionally is very environmentally unfriendly?

I agree with you @Haypanky there's a bigger picture that is largely ignored when it comes to long term planning.

YANBU and I see it regularly. Some changes might be easy for some people, but the constant mantra that all these things are so easy and enjoyable for everyone is really unrealistic, especially when all the 'little tips and tricks' are put together eat up quite a bit time.

It's fine for things to be hard and unenjoyable and I agree with previous posters that pressure on producers, prioritizing certain actions, and coming to terms with our limitations as individuals as people so do what works for us while the options are as they currently are is probably the best to prevent burning out trying to do all the things.

I suppose you should look at getting it serviced/fixed first tinty but if that doesn’t work you do need a new machine as the one you have doesn’t do the job of removing the dirt. But trying to get a machine fixed these days...

Stop flying
Eat red meat max 2 times per week
Don't buy new stuff you don't need
Avoid unnecessary car journeys
Switch to a renewable energy provider eg bulb, ecotricity
Write to your MP, tell your friends

This is pretty much what I do. I also cook from scratch, use shops like Aldi which have to be efficient in order to be "budget" and which are also good at sourcing sustainable foods and locally grown veg, buy food loose or in my own tupperware whenever I can. All of my daughter's stuff is second hand and I pass it on as she grows out of or loses interest in it. All of our waste goes in the right bin. None of this is tremendously hard.

Incidentally, not everything works for everyone. I tried the veg box thing but I ended up not using the veg. I didn't do cloth nappies. Sometimes I have to drive even though it's just going to be me. It's OK not to be perfect all the time.

Frankly, OP, you'd find it miles easier if you weren't doing the nappies, but I applaud your dedication (seriously). I don't think people should be told it will be difficult. I think they should be presented with the changes that are relatively easy because once you start making changes and get energised you start wanting to do more.