AIBU to ask you to change your life in 5 ways to help the environment

[Deadbudgie]

The world is messed up. We are killing our life support systems. What 5 ways, big or small, are you willing to change your life to help the environment? Mine are:

Walk anywhere less than 2 miles
Stop buying “stuff” where I could make do and mend with what I have and where I can’t I’ll think about it for at least a week if I really need it! Especially round Christmas/Easter etc
Buy British/local wherever possible
Buy stuff that will last made out of natural materials rather than cheap plastic covered crap.
Cut back to one foreign holiday every 2 years at most.

What’s yours?

Forgein trip at least once a year is essential for us unfortunately but we eat very little meat DH vegetarian, Mr mostly vegetarian, kids are little hence eat little.

Oh yes straws - I bought the stainless steel ones for the DC , wash and re-use .
Also , take an insulated cup for water at work

Are those stainless steel straws any good? My DC keep moaning about no straws and the paper ones just go soggy.

We also mainly eat lentils. But then we're skint so it's cheaper

Actually a lot of what we do that is eco, is also good for the pocket - saving up for resumable / Washable stuff was hard but now it's so much cheaper. And most of our nappies are on their third child for example.... Washable wipes instead of baby wipes.

The only thing I feel I really should do and can't/won't is give up dairy.

I've recently switched to bar soap in the shower and am exploring bar shampoo. Have long used a refillable hand soap dispenser.

Yes, reusable sanpro is something I need to sort out. Never been able to face cloth nappies tbh

Starting with a veg box (they already deliver to our neighbours so no extra journeys) to cut down on supermarket plastic wrappings.

Already vegetarian and already train it to UK (from Germany) rather than flying. Do have a car but also do a lot of trains and cycling. Guess we could try and always avoid driving the car into cities.

Need to cut down on use of wipes and kitchen roll.

It's great to stop using straws and not send Christmas cards, but it's not really going to save the earth, is it?

I know I sound like Thanos, but we have too many people, and in the developed west we overconsume such a vastly disproportionate amount of the world's resources that smugging on about reusable nappies and cycling more is borderline offensive. Sure, make yourself feel better by not using plastic bags and eating less meat, but don't delude yourself that if everyone could just be like you then we'd avert ecological crisis.

Changes I have made recently:

Shampoo bars
Splosh refillable cleaning products - been using for a while but recently started using tin of washing powder which comes in compostible package
Big vat of hand wash that I am watering down and using in glass bottles for downstairs loo and kitchen
Bar soap for bathrooms
Paper straws

Things I have been doing for ages
Recycle recycle recycle
Food waste bin
No foreign holidays
Reusable water bottles
Working from home where possible

Plans to
Walk more school runs
Use brown paper and natural products for Christmas presents
Buy local and non plastic for Christmas where possible

We're not in the UK so I don't know if a comparable service exists for you lot, but we had a guy round recently to do an 'eco audit' of our energy use. He concluded we weren't doing badly for a family of 4, but gave us a list of renewable electricity suppliers (we chose Greenpeace Energy in the end, which is great because any profits are ploughing into their campaigning) and recommended swapping gradually to LED lightbulbs because they're more efficient than the 'old' low energy ones.

Apart from that:

I work from home so no commuting, and DH goes by bike and train. We have a single car which gets used about twice a week for shopping etc.

I've long had a mooncup, but will now be combining it with period pants and washable pads.

We compost and recycle to the extent that we have our weekly rubbish down to 60 litres. Our aim is tickt food waste to zero, and we're not far off that.

I've started sewing and love repurposing old clothing and fabric, eg currently making a rag rug from strips of old clothes.

Everyone has a weak point, and for us it's flights. We live in a different country to our families, and DD1 is somewhere else again, so flying to visit people is way more than a frivolous holiday. Even so, it's not more than 6 times a year or so, mostly short haul.

In the Long Term we need to get our roof redone, which will reduce our heating bills hugely.

1. have largely stopped buying any drinks in plastic bottles, especially on the go.
2. have at least three meat free dinners a week
3. stopped buying magazines for the kids with plastic gifts on the front
4. party bags are now a book and a slice of cake not plastic tat
5. cut down on use of cling film and use Tupperwares instead

@SendintheArdwolves overpopulation of humans is definitely a problem but the biggest overpopulation issue is the 56 billion animals we introduce to the planet (and kill) every year.

We can’t do much about overpopulation of humans except not have any children which would have its own issues as we’re a declining population in the U.K. Certsinly we can try and not have more than 2, I.e. replacing ourselves. The key thing in overpopulation of humans is education of women and access to contraception in developing countries, not something we can easily affect. But we can stop contributing to the animal overpopulation issue www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/19/population-crisis-farm-animals-laying-waste-to-planet

kikisparks
Vegan (I was anyway but it’s the single biggest thing an individual can do),
My 15 year old son became Vegan 33 years ago. I was concerned, so read about it, the environmental issues convinced me to become vegan too.
It is one easy way to help the world

I have always done:
No meat.
Don't buy plastic tat.
I used reusable nappies and eco nappies.
Insulate all properties well and keep utility usage low.
Don't buy into fast fashion.
Meal planning and no food waste.
Don't buy anyone a present for any holiday. (I simply do not celebrate anything.)
Don't watch adverts.
Buy 50% second hand furniture.
Bought and sold on eBay, so things get used again by others when I'm done with them.
Give to friends or family or charity instead of landfill.
Use free cycle.
Patch, make, repair and reuse.
Used old clothes as cleaning cloths.

I have started in the last few years:
Given up milk.
Stopped using products with palm oil and micro beads as much as possible.
Changed shower gel to soap.
Stopped using shampoo.
Tried reusable San pro for some days of the month. They move so can't be used fulltime until I find some that have a snug fit for my heavy days.
Stopped eating so much chocolate, lidl does great chocolate without palm oil.
Buy products made from natural sources.
Cut down on cleaning products to windowlene , bleach and zoflora, alongside bicarb and lemon juice. I can't give up windowlene as white Vinegar makes me gag.
Limit clothing buys to a few items per year. However I recently stocked up on items I wear made in Europe as I'm not prepared to pay a Brexit premium. I'm probably set for the next few years. (and if I lose weight then my clothes will hang in the chic French way I have always liked.)

Be more minimalist. (struggling)

I have stopped doing that I used to:
For 6 years I had no car and we walked or rode most places but for the last 2 years I have had a car.

Things I plan to do:
I am going back to using car for essential journeys only.
Never buy another straw.
Choose unpackaged items where possible.

Why bar soap instead of gel?

It still contains palm oil.

@John4703 amazing! 33 years that’s impressive, it must have been very tough back then.

Also stopped using clingfilm.

@SendintheArdwolves that's the argument our work director used when several of us complained that out work canteen uses plastic packaging, plastic cups, plastic forks etc, and has no option for reusable stuff. She said we were only a small part of things and other places were worse. But that doesn't make it right! Everyone can do something to help, surely. No, it's not going to save the world, but if everyone pushes, things start to change. We start with ourselves and our families, move on to the organisations we work in and go to school in and shop with, and put pressure on governments and so on. I can't change China's overpopulation, or America's production of single use plastic, but I can make sure I'm not making things any worse than I have to.

@WTFIsAGleepglorp I believe you can get 100% olive oil soap.

Not not all soap contains palm oil. There are lists online.

I use cloth nappies, eat 90% vegan, house is run on renewable energy (bulb provider), just got bamboo tooth brushes! And try to get wooden toys

@kikisparks, I found a bar of olive oil soap in Holland & Barratt, but it's not generally available.

Coconut derived products are equally as harmful.

Not only are they responsible for deforestation, many farmers rely on monkey slaves. 😢

www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/19/448960760/monkeys-pick-coconuts-in-thailand-are-they-abused-or-working-animals

We are a vegetable farm so work from home and reuse substrates and only buy from sustainable sources. (also no heated polytunnels and our gantry water comes from collected and filtered rainwater).
In the house: we use all vegan and cf toiletries (soap and shampoo bars) and my makeup

Make own cleaning products from vinegar (have in big vats) and essential oils and reuse old containers

I am veggie and minimum dairy as is dd2

All use reusable coffee cups and water bottles

I use a mooncup and have reusable san pads for when Dd1 starts

All Christmas gifts are wrapped in fabric scraps

No plastic disposable cutlery or crockery for parties use normal washable stuff

Reuse any plastic packaging that does come in for something else often multiple times

@kikisparks
It was not as easy as it is now but 33 years ago I cooked at home all the time. Now as a retired 71 year old I love eating out so need to check menus for vegan items.
It gets easier with practice and as I now have a grandson I have to do all I can to leave a decent world for him.

Oh and UK holidays only

No drinks in plastic bottles.
No takeaway coffee cups.
Buying local eggs, milk and bread, and as many local fruit, vegetable and milk as possible.
No non European wines (typically we drink local wines, although we're not big drinkers).
Trains instead of flying, where possible.
We don't own a car.
Cut down on use of cling film and plastic bags, and reuse plastic bags.
Cloth bags for the supermarket.

The biggest single thing you can do is have fewer children.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/12/want-to-fight-climate-change-have-fewer-children