Save the planet!!! What small steps have you taken today?

[Mrscog]

Following on from a thread where we were all discussing how we wanted to reduce our impact on the earth I thought I would start this thread for us to share ideas/motivation etc.

This is a non-judgmental thread and is about whatever steps you want to take to reduce consumption. None of us are perfect and we've all got to start somewhere.

My small steps today -

1. Morning school run incorporated as part of DH's commute.
2. Afternoon school run due to be done on foot.
3. Didn't bother going to Aldi as to be honest I have enough food in to cobble some stuff together.
4. Just used microfibre cloth with water to wipe down kitchen rather than dousing with chemicals (hadn't chopped any raw meat etc so no need to be too clean).

definitely better to use up than chuck away.

Ginger, thanks for the tips!

Newts, I never let the DC do lots of cards, just one for the whole class.

we all really want a wormery but not till we have a house and garden!! I have a horrible feeling we'd just be weirdly fascinated and want to look at it for hours....!

That’s what I thought newts but I’m just not clear on the impact of stuff going down the drain vs. bin. My assumption is that by the time it’s in my house the damage is done so I should use up.

It's a tricky one Nosey as, like you say, once you have something in the house then it's generally better to use it up rather than throw it away. With microbeads, however, it seems to be considered more environmentally friendly to bin the product so that the beads end up in landfill rather than rivers or the sea. But it's obviously not an ideal solution either.

I've come across a few other solutions, not all of which are very practical (returning products to the manufacturer, sending them to an organization in the USA - can't remember the name now but I think there are a few who will take them, straining the product using a coffee filter and then disposing of or returning the beads) but the most important thing seems to be to stop them going down the drain.

I know Christmas crackers are very non eco, but the kids wouldn't speak to me if I refused to buy some. So I got some fill your own ones so at least I can avoid the cheap plastic novelties.

My rationale is that the product now exists and so if you chuck it away you are buying more of something else to replace it and in the process potentially doing further damage eg another plastic tube created, more production resources used etc. Therefore you might as well use it up.

It is no doubt a complex equation though as many of these environmental things are. We heat the house with logs for example. I get paid to do so via the biomass tariff. It seems to ignore the fact that my furnace uses electric to run and so that's another extremely large appliance I have switched on 24/7.

Nyx1 - they are both in very small classes. We really don't buy many cards and we don't post any which is the worst situation.

My cheeky wipes sanpro and make up remover pads came today. They look to be good quality.

Can anyone recommend a cleanser that's good for acne prone skin? I currently use la Roche posay which i know is wrong on so many levels. It keeps my skin under control though (just )

I was tempted by the Dr organic tea tree soap but it had a plastic wrapper

They do some other tea tree soap Biffy

www.hollandandbarrett.com/search?query=tea+tree+soap&isSearch=true

Christmas crackers- I got some from Aldi with a guess who game in made out of card, so no plastic tat.

We moved from normal disposable nappies to Naty ones recently, then I bought disposable breast pads after that. And today I ordered a poo tube. No seriously.

It's a more eco friendly plastic liner for the sangenic nappy bin. You have to insert the liner into the plastic holder yourself though to it might be a disaster.

I was interested in doing cloth nappies but we have a slight damp problem in our flat as it is, and there are no nappy collection/wash/return companies anywhere near us.

I am carefully folding all his outgrown clothes to donate them to charity as well.

What to do with synthetic fleece clothing? I don’t want to keep wearing as that means keep washing and each wash is putting plastic fibers into the environment but landfill seems crummy too - ah maybe cutting it up for cushion stuffing? Anybody got any good sources of non-plastic warm, ethical clothes? Wool makes me itch 🙁

Really? Fleece is such good stuff for our climate. Wear more underneath and wash it less?

We used some little lamb microfibre. I realise now that might not have been brilliant, but they did dry very quickly.

@specialsubject sadly it’s one of the big plastic in waterways problems www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/20/microfibers-plastic-pollution-oceans-patagonia-synthetic-clothes-microbeads

Made yoghurt at home..
Spoke to the sister on the unit to not buy what we use to cannulate patients - instead of a venfon, gauze and steristrip I was given a pack with three sheets and something else which is not needed or used.. they are not going to order it anymore

Think I will go for the cushion stuffing route or use it to insulate something - not likely to be washed that way. Things I have done:

1. Switched to bulb for electricity
2. Gave away/sold all of dds outgrown clothes and bought next size up second hand
3. Cut up any stained cotton clothes to use as rags for cleaning
4. Bought contigo insulated mugs for me and dh so less cup waste
5. Switched too loose tea and ground coffe
6. Using up all cleaning products to then get refills/ use vinegar and bicarbonate (need to speak to lovely cleaner about this - scared she will think I’ve gone mad)
7. Off to lush this week to buy solid soap, shampoo and deodorant
8. Started shopping at local butcher and greengrocer - much less packaging, I’m spending less and there is less food waste

Still to do - switch to Naty nappies - I can’t face reusables - I know I should but I’m trying to do what I think I can manage rather than get scared off how big the issue is and run off! Will research poo tube! (Tho now worries all my googling about eco issues is harming the environment- what aminefield! )

@biffy have you tried lush ultrabland it’s really nice, very chemical free so gives skin a break, I use that and then a salasylic acid from “the ordinary” which isn’t that green but it’s a glass bottle and not animal tested at least

We've found the naty nappies really good @Splodgeinc. Less leaks than with Pampers or Tesco. We tried Kit&Kin first but he was soaked through twice in one night with them (and it had only been 4 hours between changes.)

They are quite expensive but I decided that they are worth it to do ease my guilt about the impact having a baby has on the environment. (Amazon do a subscribe and save though...)

put teabag in recycling

Food recycling lyn? Don't put it into the normal recycling, it will contaminate the load and in some areas they then dump the load.

So many things I need to do and will be doing. Going to get a refillable bottle and switch to vinegar for example. I already recycle loads and refuse to buy shrink wrapped fruit and veg.
Other little things include making fat balls for the birds and using up food scraps in them - very Blue Peter!
I reuse envelopes for writing shopping lists on, keep bread bags to use for other things, and wash clothes as infequently as possible.Unless underwear or actually soiled all clothes are reworn and towels re-used.

I'm going to struggle to get DD off plastic. She has sensory issues and will not tolerate metal. Won't touch it, won't have it close enough to smell. I wonder if there is any alternative for when her current plastic water bottle needs replacing. She won't have clothes with metal buttons, poppers or zips.

Or maybe she'll grow out of it!

For people going to lush (just in case you didn't know) if you wash and keep 5 on the black plastic pots - any size, the conditioner tubs right down to the face mask tubs - and take them back you get a free fresh face mask ( and that comes in a plastic pot that you can save towards the next free mask!)

@splodgeinc no, I haven't heard if that. I will definitely give it a try. Thank you