To ask what sacrifices you make for the environment

[HarryElephante]

So, do you make any? And I mean actual sacrifices. Not just putting recycling outside your front door or re-using old shopping bags.

And for the sake of this question, I will assume you agree we are harming the planet. If you don't agree that is for another thread!

I make annoyingly few sacrifices but am going to start.

No. I mean I have keep cup, buy second hand, don’t throw things out unless they are completely broken, walk when I can. Things like that. But they’re not really sacrifices. I suppose I eat very little meat though but that’s just as much because I am too lazy to cook it tbh

I'm not sure they are sacrifices. Some are Bourne out of not having enough money but I don't fly, I don't drive, the bus system where I live are those electric ones.
I recycle.
I have reusable cups
I don't eat much red meat at all.

That's it really.

I eat a 95% plant based diet, I don’t have a car, I fly once every couple of years maximum, I grow loads of fruit and veg and I try to not buy too much in plastic packaging but it’s difficult to avoid it completely

I'm vegan-that's my main one.

I try not to use plastic unlass it's unavoidable

I recycle and try to buy secondhand

I try to avoid palm oil

I buy food grown in UK as far as possible if it is more energy efficient

I don't eat avocados or almond milk

Not really sacrifices, just being conscious of impact really. Like buying bar soap not body wash, to avoid the plastic waste. Using reusable panty liners and nappies (which are just as good if not better than their plastic counterparts). Always pick up plastic waste from any beach I visit. That sort of thing. But no real sacrifices. I still holiday overseas for example, and use a car, and buy new electronics from time to time.

Reusable cups. Have started taking tupperware to cafes etc for takeaway lunches. Cheeky wipes and cloths (we do buy kitchen roll but it lasts months here). Cloth sanitary towels for nights and days at home, small stash of sustainable cotton tampons for when out/having a very heavy day. All purchases including baby clothes second hand or charity shop unless impossible/untenable to buy new. Current project is reducing meat and dairy (eg making a point of vegan breakfasts and lunches - taking it slowly as giving up meat and dairy is hard!), and trying to lose weight as I'm currently a non-standard size and it's hard to find decent second hand stuff in it. Food bought loose or in minimal packaging whenever possible. No long haul flights and very few short haul.

Why do they have to be ‘sacrifices’? I’ve made lots of changes but none feel like I’m sacrificing anything, which suggests it’s hard and horrible and I’m doing it without any consideration of myself?

I’ve been thinking about it. That sounds odd but most of the stuff I do is no sacrifice because I WANT to do it IYSWIM. For example I don’t eat meat, don’t have a car: I don’t like meat, I live in the inner city where driving would be impractical anyway and there’s nowhere to park. So those things aren’t sacrifices.

Oh, and buying household cleaners and shampoo in bulk (you can get hand soap and washing up liquid in 15kg boxes and also shampoo, and refill old bottles from them).

Tbh the only one that feels like a sacrifice is dairy. I think I could do meat alone much more easily. But I'm finding that dairy substitutes are miles better than they were a few years ago. I actively like oat milk for example, and Alpro plain "yoghurt" is fine, if not quite as nice as Greek yoghurt.

No more beef and lamb
Green grocers for fruit and veg as it's plastic-free
Bar of soap instead of shower gel, face wash and hand wash
Shampoo bar
No more fabric softener (it's honestly made no difference to our clothes)
I walk the 45 min walk to baby group now instead of driving
Beeswax wraps instead of cling film
Buy glass jars whenever possible e.g mayonnaise
Milk and more milk deliveries
No anti bac wipes
Made my own vinegar and lemon cleaning mixture instead of buying single-use plastic bottle surface sprays

Soon to try:
Reusable wipes
Splosh cleaning

I'm quite green but some of it doesn't feel that sacrificial. So for example I get a lot second hand, but it can often be better value for money so there's something in it for me. We're not very consumer-y but that's kind of the way I am naturally, iyswim? So eg I don't have my own reusable cup because I've never bought coffees out on a regular basis anyway. And I wouldn't fly long haul but also can't afford it so it's a theoretical point.

I walk a lot. Sometimes that's a pain in the arse. My next aim is going to be palm oil reduction as I know that needs to be done but don't really know where to start.

This is what I do so far:

Don’t eat meat (the single biggest difference an individual can make, IMO)

Eat very little dairy

Eat almost no imported fruit / veg - only buy what’s in season, usually from greengrocer or farmers market rather than supermarket

If buying from supermarket, buy loose rather than in packaging

Stopped using fabric conditioner

Switched to Ecover products

Reduced travel by car except where unavoidable (commute by train)

Massive reduction in food waste by batch cooking

Buy things like pasta in massive bags to reduce multiple plastic packages

Reduced work flights by insisting on train unless totally unavoidable

Growing some of own veg

Reusable cups

Try so hard to avoid single use plastics (don’t use straws / water bottles / plastic bags / cling film anymore)

Hoping this thread will give me more ideas!

No children.
Take eco-bags to the supermarket
Walk or take the train as much as possible, rather than driving.

That's about it. I'm not reducing meat or flights.

I've made small changes trying to reduce our use of plastic (reusable wipes, nappies etc) but I don't count them as a sacrifice as they're still more convenient then what people had to use pre-disposables.

I do find it frustrating though that it's hard to figure out what products etc are actually more environmentally friendly, as it seems all the advice is from companies selling products as opposed to an independent source.

Also I agree with @RussianSpamBot a lot of the changes I've made don't really feel like sacrifices as such to me

I don't fly anymore.

Oh I forgot to add to my list that I don’t have children and won’t be having any in the future. The population is already out of control

None of my family have been on a plane for over ten years, although I'm not claiming that I'll never go on one again. But we're not jetting off three or four times a year like loads of friends do.

I have replaced plastic items with non plastic where I can. Buy things in bulk and try to reduce use of toxic cleaning products (although there are some things that I haven't yet found a 'natural' alternative to).

I'm not really what people would call an eco warrior but I'm secretly a bit smug at having done away with single use plastic straws years and years ago so now when people preach to me about plastic straws I'm truthfully able to say that I haven't used them in years.

But in all honesty, whilst we can all do our small bit, and should, the problems need to be solved by government and industry. Our economy is built on convincing people to buy disposables and buy them over and over. Just look at how many people on Mumsnet recoil in disgust at the thought of things like washable sanitary products, or using anything other than a throwaway wipe to clean a toilet. I've even seen posters say that they throw their knickers away if their tampon leaks, or they bin baby clothes if a nappy leaks because it's 'grim' to out them in the washing machine. It's the advertising industry that have convinced people that hygiene means disposable...

As a family, we have 2 meat free days each week.

Reusable tea cup but that's not really a sacrifice as I dislike the flavour of tea when it's in a paper cup.

I'm vegetarian, but love bacon and steak, so it's a little bit like a small sacrifice to give both up because I know the environmental impact of eating meat.

I try not to buy fruit and veg that's covered in plastics, so shop at our local greengrocers which is much more expensive than the supermarket but is better for the environment.

I also don't have dairy, which is genuinely a sacrifice because I love milk.

I wouldn’t call reasonable behaviour sacrifices.
We don’t do enough and do have some damaging behaviours too but

• No takeout cups we use bamboo refills.
• Plant based main meals three times a week.
• walking
• rail rather than drive for work when possible
• bar shampoos and soap not shower gel
• eco laundry products when possible
• some non flight holidays

Don't drive

I did use nappies and wipes with mine. Years ago but I wish now I had looked into other options.

Don’t fly
Wear charity shop clothes/shoes
Use degradable bin/garden bags
Have 4 water butts for the garden
Don’t waste any food

Don’t see any as a sacrifice though because none of them adversely affect us. Don’t think we make any actual sacrifices.
I would love to have an electric car (have an hybrid but not convinced it’s much better than petrol) but where are all the charging points 😡 any anyway, how is the electricity going to be generated if we’re all to drive them?
Someone needs to bite the bullet and invest properly in nuclear or hydrogen energy.

Forgot

• lots of home grown and neighbour grown organic vegetables and fruit
• organic eggs from neighbours
• organic milk from local farm
• very local (half a mile) or village grown organic meats.
• lots of foraged foods (mushrooms, berries, garlic, herbs, nuts, cockles)
• local fish delivered to the door each fortnight.

It’s much easier to be smug about food sources when you aren’t worrying about where the next meal is coming from and live somewhere that is sufficiently affluent to allow people time and land to do all of above. It is much cheaper to live well if you have more.