Would anyone be interested in trying to do one small thing each week to tackle climate change?

[riotlady]

I’ve seen a few threads on aibu recently with people panicking about climate change and I often find myself worrying about it too, especially in light of the report published today. Studies show that one of the best ways to combat anxiety is to feel like you’re doing something about the problem, so I’ve decided to challenge myself to do one small thing to reduce my impact on the planet each week. I’m wondering if anyone would like to join me? I’m thinking small actions like walking or cycling a journey when you would normally take the car, swapping shower gel for bar soap, switching to a greener energy supplier, etc. No judgement about what is and isn’t feasible for people- for example I have ME and am very fatigued, so often use my tumble drier instead of hanging things out as I just don’t have the energy. There’s no point guilting myself over that, so I might as well focus on the things that I CAN change.

I’ve just sent an email to my MP so that’s my start to this week :)

oh and we arent big showerers, I usually shower every 2nd day 🤭

in the winter we put jumpers on before we put on the heating, so house temp is usually 17 degrees.

we don't use weedkillers or pesticides in the garden.

we recently installed a water irrigation system in the garden to save water and we have 2 water butt's with 2 more to install.

we are also upgrading our loft insulation at the moment. we will also install an air source heat pump if we can

when we eventually move, we'd like to get a little bit of land to grow more food and rewild the rest

@midgemagneto

Typically half the uk population don't fly in any year

But 1% take 20% of flights

Yep! My colleague, pre-Covid, went long haul at least once a year and goes to Spain 6 or 7 times for long weekends, plus a European city break somewhere else for his wife's birthday every year, plus flies for business around the UK as it's quicker.

I haven't flown since 2016, all our holidays since then have been in the UK and I have lots of friends who don't fly ever/often, in fact. Out of DH and my closest friends, the only person who's been abroad by plane in the last 2 years was someone whose family live in Australia.

So the people saying "Bet you've all got flights booked though haven't you" - no. Not everyone flies abroad every year. In fact it's not the norm for a huge number of people...

@midgemagneto

Yes some people don't care and won't care

Covid was the same
And like covid , We just need enough people to care, not everyone

Glad to see so many people do care

Can I mention turn down the heating again please ?

Yes we just need enough people to care. All 1.5 billion people in China and US to care. A small number of insignificant carers in on a tiny island in the North Atlantic makes no difference. Unfortunately.

Per head I suspect each and everyone of us is worse than any Chinese person

And china's footprint would be reduced. If we didn't rely on them to make all our stuff

And the effect of the uk over the last 200 years I suspect exceeds that of China over that time

Don't push the blame around

Every one needs to do their share

I believe it’s now possible to salary sacrifice to have an electric lease car. The benefit in kind tax is extremely low (I think 1% now - last year it was zero). It’s a cost effective way to do it.

I agree that we made political change. As the op mentioned that in the first post there is no need to use it as a gotcha. Politicians are more likely to implement change if they see that people will buy into it or that they will be punished politically if they don’t take action.

Some people are determined to be negative. We need to move away from that. No one is going to kill their pets (or their children) but if everyone did sad something it would actually add up. When I was a child the hole in the ozone layer was a big problem, that is now reversing.

I have grown some veg with the DC. I think it is more of an educational activity for them than actually having an impact on our food.

What are washable face wipes... A flannel?*

@Iusedtobesoooomuchfun Not really, more like washable cotton wool pads for if you're using cleanser or toner etc.

For example www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/product-reviews/beauty-reviews/g33277031/best-reusable-makeup-pads/

We make a difference

Every drop helps

Yes you can't single handed solve it

But you can play you part and the more people who realise that the quicker we get to net zero and the less the damage to our lives and the lives of our children

@midgemagneto

I am not so worried about China - they know they need to reduce

India and USA are the problem countries

Knowing you need to and doing it are two different things. They don't care.

But they will care

India cares about reputation and trade deals ...

@riotlady

My local zero waste shop is 2 towns over so I fill up whenever I'm there for other shops anyway, but I can get most things plastic free elsewhere. Cleaning and toiletries we use splosh refills. Fruit & veg box weekly and a local meat van weekly (not completely cut out meat yet, just drastically reduced). Rice I buy in bulk from local Asian supermarket. Rice comes in a 10kg thick paper bag (almost cardboard). Pasta I can mostly get in cardboard from supermarkets now, although have had to buy plastic in emergencies like I said. Flour in big sacks.

Did a big food shop today and the only bit of plastic was milk and crisps for the kids and places are starting to terrecycle those now too. Not zero waste, but still better.

Average carbon footprint in China is 10 tonnes- below the average uk footprint at 12.7 tonnes. Carbon footprint in India is 1.8 tonnes and much of Africa is less than 1 tonne.

Apart from covid, the other 2 hot topics are working from home and climate change.

Millions of people working from home and not driving to and from the office has a massive effect on climate change, yet employers are forcing people into the office......

Obviously everyone switching to shampoo bars doesn't roll back climate change. But- what it does do is build consensus and show through demand that the public thinks it's really important. If everyone switches to a green energy provider it sends a pretty strong message to a government that their voters aren't interested in coal investment (for example).

So crack on- just be aware that you don't have to buy a load of new stuff- the greenest thing is the one you already have.

@FinallyDecided

I'm already not having kids - anything else I could possibly do will be a drop in the ocean compared to that.

I quite agree.

I'll do my bit, but it's the breeders who need reigning in more than anything.

@therocinante and @midgemagneto re air I remembered this article from last year that 1% of people cause half of global aviation emissions www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/17/people-cause-global-aviation-emissions-study-covid-19

I'm currently researching investing in an ethical pensions, happy to share what I find once I have done my research!

Also, switching to an ethical bank is a great change to make. The top 3 are Triodos, Co op and Starling. Nationwide is also good.

We have gone to Starling, super easy to switch and a very handy app.

@midgemagneto

Per head I suspect each and everyone of us is worse than any Chinese person

And china's footprint would be reduced. If we didn't rely on them to make all our stuff

And the effect of the uk over the last 200 years I suspect exceeds that of China over that time

Don't push the blame around

Every one needs to do their share

Incorrect assumptions. China has higher per capita emissions that the UK. The UK is so far down the list, you will get tired scrolling. And just to add, we have a tiny populations. Our carbon emissions are irrelevant, they really are. US for instance has 3x emissions per capita than the UK, and they have 5x our populations. Honestly, the math just doesn’t add up to be so graciously accepting of blame. It may make you feel good but it makes no difference to reversing climate change at all.

Unfortunately in most cases paper packaging is worse in climate change terms than plastic. Plastic has other issues of course but the imminent disaster scenarios are due to climate change

@DolphinFC

Nobody will admit it but people who have posted ideas on this thread will have foreign holidays booked for next year and they will be going by air.

We did go in 2019 and went by train to France. We have a flight booked this year but plan to do 2 years by train afterwards. It's a definite improvement on what we used to do.

I am ditching all my shower gels and soap dispensers for soap bars.
Also trying to find some decent shampoo bars.
We go through so many plastic bottles it's frankly ridiculous.
Will be looking through the thread to see what other changes we can make.

@midgemagneto

But they will care

India cares about reputation and trade deals ...

But they care more about their own development, they are developing countries without the money or education to do this. We won't threaten them with trade deals if they don't abide by these targets. At the end of the day money talks and too many rich and powerful people and companies don't care as they put profit first. Governments won't make huge regulation changes to push these companies to do better as it will effect them and money, they don't want to make them.

I've just ordered reusable wipes, no excuse for me as he's 3 so rarely use them for poo/wee mess anyway! Will definitely be cutting down on meat my toddler rarely eats it and it's hit and miss for me. Any recommendations please on where to get some nice (not super pricey!) shampoo bars please? I have quite long dry hair x

One small thing once a week isn't enough.

We all need to make small changes a daily part of live. For example walk or cycle short distances instead of jumping in the car.
Buy used items not new.
Take less flights.
Reuse bottles, jars, tubs instead of recycling.
Give away or sell usable items instead of sending to landfill.
Spend time outdoors instead of sitting at home with TV on, lights on, plugs on (use less electric)
Change cleaning products to chemical free products.
Car share with a colleague instead of taking 2 cars to work.
Plant flowers, trees and vegetables.
Reduce your carbon foot print

Government will make the changes if they see the population going that way