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 :)

GoldenOmber Mon 09-Aug-21 21:43:55
Anyone have any good experience of switching to a green energy supplier/tariff?

Renewable energy is a positive, but it exists, and is used, whether or not you 'switch' to it.
'Switching' to it, doesn't of itself increase the amount of renewable energy generated.

Have you all seen the Count Us In website? It has lots of ideas for small changes with links etc for info

You can sign up for the changes ahead of the big climate change conference in November.

Includes things like eat more plants, switch energy provider and talk about climate issues at work. Well worth looking at the Count Us In site.

@plantastic

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.

Agreed but there is only so much we can do as a country. If other people in other countries don't do the same, which many aren't because they don't care/can't/won't, then it doesn't matter. It's one of those things that everyone has to do to make any difference. That's what makes it so scary and so frustrating.

Switching encourages energy companies to invest in life because people want it and will pay slightly more for it

Do not buy products containing Palm oil, and boycott companies like Nestle.. its all very well doing our individual bit, but its these monsters that need to stop doing what they're doing and fast.

Another is discouraging our DC to need the constant upgrades on things like mobile phones, its such a disposable society we live in, get things repaired not thrown away for the latest version.

Someone mentioned not buying cotton because it uses so much water to wash, however your acrylics/ polyesters break down everytime you wash them into tiny micro beads, so i'd disagree with the avoiding cotton proposal.

Observe what goes on around you if you live rurally. Notify Natural resource Wales/ England if hedgerows and verges are cut outside of the appropriate times (i.e too early in the season for nesting birds or wildflowers to self seed).. as well as reporting any silage spreading in a way that it can work its way into natural water courses.

Invest in it (although life was an appropriate typo)

I also recently signed up to Klima to help offset our carbon emissions.

Great thread. Thanks for starting this.
I think that small changes are important because they set a good example, and they can lead to bigger changes.

My children and husband eat meat and fish. I've been vegetarian for several decades. That's their choice. But what I do, is that I never cook meat or fish. If I'm cooking, then the food is always vegetarian, frequently vegan. If my husband cooks for them, they almost always eat meat or fish.

I buy only second hand clothes or very good quality new which I know I will love and hopefully keep for a very long time. I have a small amount of clothing and try to wear all of it even if I don't like it anymore.

Transport is the weak point for me. I fly once a year on average. I live near to the city centre and I walk everywhere I can. Sadly my office is out of town, and I need to drive there. Buses take hours and I'm not fit enough to cycle that far. My parents live in another city and I drive to visit them. I drive a tiny car, but I know that I could do better.

I try to buy as little "crap" as I can. If I buy something I try to understand that I should own it until it runs out/wears out.

Someone mentioned not buying cotton because it uses so much water to wash, however your acrylics/ polyesters break down everytime you wash them into tiny micro beads, so i'd disagree with the avoiding cotton proposal.

They’re different issues. Micro plastics are not good but cotton is dreadful in terms of carbon impact and climate change.

@tanguero

GoldenOmber Mon 09-Aug-21 21:43:55 Anyone have any good experience of switching to a green energy supplier/tariff?

Renewable energy is a positive, but it exists, and is used, whether or not you 'switch' to it.
'Switching' to it, doesn't of itself increase the amount of renewable energy generated.

I'll definitely take your annoyance with the word 'switch' on board, thanks so much!

@Indiaplain

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.

I'd be interested to hear your research. I'm already with Nationwide and downloaded the Klima app last night to offset my carbon footprint. I use Plum for saving and have already switched to investment in green energy.

@sst1234 Uk per capita is low because almost all manufacturing has gone, most of it to Asia.

Reducing the amount of crap we buy, especially for kids would help.

Also, has anyone converted to an electric vehicle? I see a lot of negativity in Mumsnet but we have switched in 2020 and I would never go back now. Before anyone says it's too expensive, you can get really reasonable monthly fees, the same as for a petrol car. We pay less than we would for the equivalent petrol small family hatchback. The electricity is free at charging points with our provider. If we chose to charge at home overnight it would cost about £2 for a full charge which gives us 290 miles. We actually live in a flat so we can't charge at home and we manage on public chargers no problem.

Recommend looking into this for those using hire purchase for their petrol cars cars. EV's are also amazing to drive! Would be happy to share the company we are with if anyone interested.

@cleocleo16 agree, but again the domestic consensus building can help with the international pressure via trade, treaties etc. It's obviously not as simple as that but I'd disagree that domestic action makes no difference to international action. Pressure on having NDCs sorted out before COP is an example of that.

I think there's benefit in people taking action as well. Climate change communication experts say one of the big challenges is that it all seems so intractable it's easy for people to turn off and not take any action at all. If your entry point is beeswax wraps, great. Next stop might be standing for elected office.

I want to do more so will look into these. Despite my previous posts I do think we all need to do our bit and make changes that are small, send a message which can lead to big changes. However, the system needs to change too, I get so frustrated by the level of packaging products come in, how much plastic can't be recycled. How much more expensive alternative and greener products and energy are. How inconvenient, expensive and inefficient public transport is. How it's hard in a supermarket to select products that aren't covered in plastic. These massive changes need to happen.

However, the changes we have made are:
Don't use or buy cling film anymore
Don't use mini plastic bags and use paper instead
Switched to the local greengrocers.
Try to buy second hand and borrow more.
Reuse delivery bags when returning items.
Use a green energy supplier.
Give items to others for free, charity shops rather than landfill.
Don't buy beef
Trying to eat less meat.
Select products in cardboard or loose than in plastic.

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

Companies will also make more effort to improve if it makes a difference to them - e.g. if they can't win work because they don't do so well as their competitors in terms of sustainability, if they start to find it more difficult to recruit people who can be more discerning of the type of company they want to work for, or remain working for, etc. Using company suggestion schemes or similar to raise environmental concerns or suggest improvements is also an influencing opportunity especially if more and more people do it.

[quote plantastic]@cleocleo16 agree, but again the domestic consensus building can help with the international pressure via trade, treaties etc. It's obviously not as simple as that but I'd disagree that domestic action makes no difference to international action. Pressure on having NDCs sorted out before COP is an example of that.

I think there's benefit in people taking action as well. Climate change communication experts say one of the big challenges is that it all seems so intractable it's easy for people to turn off and not take any action at all. If your entry point is beeswax wraps, great. Next stop might be standing for elected office.[/quote]
Let's hope so. I feel guilty for what I don't do and sometimes feel there is no alternative choice. I am sure many others do.

@holidayfeverz

Also, has anyone converted to an electric vehicle? I see a lot of negativity in Mumsnet but we have switched in 2020 and I would never go back now. Before anyone says it's too expensive, you can get really reasonable monthly fees, the same as for a petrol car. We pay less than we would for the equivalent petrol small family hatchback. The electricity is free at charging points with our provider. If we chose to charge at home overnight it would cost about £2 for a full charge which gives us 290 miles. We actually live in a flat so we can't charge at home and we manage on public chargers no problem.

Recommend looking into this for those using hire purchase for their petrol cars cars. EV's are also amazing to drive! Would be happy to share the company we are with if anyone interested.

What car did you get? I really want to make the switch to electric .

@Newgirls

Have you all seen the Count Us In website? It has lots of ideas for small changes with links etc for info

You can sign up for the changes ahead of the big climate change conference in November.

Includes things like eat more plants, switch energy provider and talk about climate issues at work. Well worth looking at the Count Us In site.

Going to have a look at this, thanks for the recommendation!

If you're interested in recycling, reducing plastic waste, check out the work by Prof Mark Miodownik. He has a podcast on BBC Sounds called Plastic Fantastic which is on my 'to listen to' list.

I saw a talk of his a few years back and was surprised to find it's a bit more nuanced than 'reduce plastic'. He spoke about increases in food waste due to reducing packaging which is actually more environmentally harmful given the energy used for production and transport. Coloured plastic can't be recycled easily (think for example, a black Tresemme shampoo bottle) but clear bottles can. So choosing recycleable packaging to keep food fresher for longer and making smarter choices in terms of the packaging products we use is helpful and means we don't need to get rid of everything in plastic where it serves a purpose. He was an entertaining speaker and I learned alot of what I thought about reducing plastic use was actually not that good, or even harmful. So if you want to target your plastic useage efforts, look him up :)

Agree re the cost prohibition too @AlternativePerspective
I'd love an electric car and green heating for my house but no way I could afford to buy them.

Just watched a depressing piece on the news about abandoned oil wells in the US which have been leaking methane into the atmosphere for decades. Methane is one of the worst gases for climate change.
There are over 3 million of these old wells that need capping. 3 MILLION!!!!
I completely admire individual’s actions and desires to do their bit but seriously, we are all pissing in the wind. This is what we are up against. Sorry, this can only be tackled at governmental level.

@TheKeatingFive

We’re far worse for the environment than cats and dogs.

Is anyone suggesting we put ourselves down?

I think Mother Nature has that on her to do list.....

Good thread @riotlady!

@holidayfeverz

Also, has anyone converted to an electric vehicle? I see a lot of negativity in Mumsnet but we have switched in 2020 and I would never go back now. Before anyone says it's too expensive, you can get really reasonable monthly fees, the same as for a petrol car. We pay less than we would for the equivalent petrol small family hatchback. The electricity is free at charging points with our provider. If we chose to charge at home overnight it would cost about £2 for a full charge which gives us 290 miles. We actually live in a flat so we can't charge at home and we manage on public chargers no problem.

Recommend looking into this for those using hire purchase for their petrol cars cars. EV's are also amazing to drive! Would be happy to share the company we are with if anyone interested.

Also interested to hear more about what vehicle you went for, and how do you manage to charge it just using public chargers?