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).

I haven't used cling film for months now. I bought some reusable sandwich wrap for the DC's lunchboxes, but both declared it too embarrassing to use. So DS's sandwich goes into his lunchbox as it is (it's only really bread and butter most of the time; the DC are home from school in time for lunch) and I put DD's into a paper sandwich bag, which I reuse all week.

I've reserved a book from the library rather than buying from Amazon, in fact I'm trying to wean myself off Amazon altogether.

linzer which ones?

Watching with interest and will come back and make a note of some of these tips (after cleaning the carpet for the 3 time - anyone with tips for an eco-friendly method of getting dog vomit and diarrhoea smell out of a carpet, please send my way! )

Did you mean the sandwich bags, Vulgar? If so, they're ones I bought here in Austria.

I love this thread! Am here with a blanket and hot water bottles with a tiny bit of heating. We do what we can on a low income and mainly that involves buying as little as possible and using ebay etc so is excellent for money saving too. I find paper bags are excellent for storing potatoes and onions and the bag can be reused.

Re cotton production - buying organic cotton is one of the best things you can do to have a big positive environmental impact all over the world. Links and info here www.soilassociation.org/organic-living/fashion-textiles/

It is more expensive but often the quality is better so clothes last a long time :) and the positive impact is so big that it is worth saving for.

Flinkyflonk google using bicarb - it is very effective put down dry as a powder and hoovered up. Best to check the type of carpet you have with the advice though for wool etc, and before using it wet as a paste

We use ecoballs but Ive recently started adding powder as they are no ,longer effective - still 50% full - has anyone else had this problem - nothing I hate more then washing coming out as dirty as it went to - socks particularly

I've been making homemade goodies for the advent calendar, running out of ideas tho! I haven't got the heating on and I'm attempting to dry the clothes outside. Love this thread, thanks for the encouragement and ideas.

Thanks unplugme

I'll give that a go!

Queenie, you can add extra beads into them. I only use one ball, as the dog chewed the other one up, but it's topped up with beads from the broken ball.

I was wondering about using soapnuts. But do the air miles counteract the eco-ness of them? Complicated!

I read that the growing popularity of soapnuts in western societies is impacting on populations where they are native and who have relied on them for centuries. The demand is driving up prices and these people are being priced out of the market.

Soapnuts are a great idea and would be ideal but I think I'd rather leave them to people who can't afford other options.
And at least here we have better infrastructure and technology to treat water.
I just use products that don't contain phosphates which are finite and aren't removed in treatment works and so pass through and pollute rivers.
(Though sewage works are starting to install a process to remove P from the water that passes through the works)

I left as much packaging as could yesterday at Aldi on the packing shelf. Great idea! I thought I might take a picture and tweet it to them.

I use clingfilm for the kids packed lunches, only their wraps. One has grated cheese and one has ham. I make a load up in a weekend and freeze them to save time in the week. I'd love not to have to use clingfilm, so any and all ideas welcome!

Thanks for the soapnut info! A bit like the demand for quinoa. Though I know we are starting to grow that over here now.

Why on earth would I need to sterilise make up remover pads?!? They will go in the wash same as the cloth sanitary towels, flannels etc!!

@ChickenFriedMice you're welcome. I looked into whether I'd be able to grow a soapnut tree in my garden but sadly they're particular buggers and wouldn't grow well in the UK climate

Pigeonpost, make-up remover pads no problem. Eye make-up pads though are more of an infection risk.

I have now finally switched to reusable menstrual product. Did a trial on new brand UK based company. Super comfortable period underwear. Have you switched to reusable menstrual product? what re your experiences? have you tried underwear too?

I've got 2 three bar lights in my kitchen but only use them when I need plenty of light, I just put a lamp on when I'm pottering around or nipping in there.

I've just opened my box of biodegradable nappy sacks, to use with my earth friendly nappies. Both from Kit & Kin. Will degrade in 3-6 years rather than the standard century or whatever it is that regular nappies take. Not cheap though!

We replaced all the spot lights with led bulbs, so I feel less guilty about having the 9 kitchen lights on!

I realise it would be more eco-friendly not to wear makeup at all, but cut my “empty” tube of foundation in half. CANNOT believe how much was left inside that I couldn’t get out when the tube was intact - probably will get another 20 uses out of it.

Ooh, excellent. That makes me feel less guilty...

Great idea from a friend. After your supermarket shop, gather up all the unwanted packaging and mail it back to the supermarket using their freepost address saying you dont want the excess packaging so are returning it.