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).

-skipped lunch to avoid buying a packaged sandwich (am home by 2.30 so not as worthy as it sounds

• arranged a car share for one of the DC's activities

I've also emailed Waitrose to suggest only giving free coffee to customers who bring their own cups.

1st home made gift bag! 100% cotton except the ribbon.
I am not a crafty person so feeling rather proud of myself.
I do reuse paper gift bags (if I receive gifts in them). But they are usually thick glossy paper which presumably has some plastic in it.

Yay love this thread (and read and loved the other one too).
I had no idea that the takeaway coffee cups were not recyclable and have since stopped buying takeaway coffees because of this (I used to leave the plastic lid and just take the cup). I've been making packed lunches and taking drinks from home instead of buying out with all the plastic packaging.
I am going to look into ethical cotton buds. Did anyone see the seahorse with the cotton bud picture? So sad.
I haven't used any straws in the last week. Going to get some reusable ones. Also going to write to some local businesses and suggest that they do too.
I'm already vegan so ethical in that sense.
I clean with white vinegar. For real bad things I clean with Milton. I have a huge bottle of (home bargains own) Milton and top up a little into a spray bottle and add water. I've had the same big bottle of Milton for a year now and although it's plastic it's lasted ages.
I'd like to look into making my own soap/shower gel and face cream. My skin is soooo sensitive. The only shower gel I can tolerate is the original source and the only moisturiser is Nivea. I think someone mentioned making their own with aloe Vera in the other thread so will look into that. My friend also uses an aloe Vera stick instead of deodorant.
For Christmas the dc usually ask for loads of plastic tat. I'm not doing it this year and I've explained why. My eldest especially is supportive. Youngest probably a bit too small to understand fully but isn't unhappy about it.

the dress I am wearing today is Merino wool from East. Cost me £35

This is the 9th winter I have worn it and it still looks great. Though I have lost a little weight so I am not sure if I will get a 10th winter out of it. If I lose any more weight I will fashion it into a skirt or something as I love the fabric.

I just wash it with regular clothes at 30 and always with non-bio and a bit of washing soda.

I never tumble dry clothes - I think tumble drying is pretty harsh on clothes.

OMG Merino wool is an ethical nightmare isn't it?

Crap!
Its an amazing fiber though if you can source it ethically.

I tweeted all the major supermarkets to ask them if they'd get rid of plastic bags for loose fruit and veg and bread rolls etc and replace with paper. I also asked them to reduce the amount of plastic packaging on fruit and veg (we dont need bunches of bananas in a plastic bag ffs!)

I use a fountain pen, I've had the same one since the 1990s and I use a refillable ink cartridge from a glass ink bottle. I love my fountain pen, the nibs adjust to your handwriting so mine is so smooth and lovely to write with.

Oh and at Christmas I wrap all my presents in brown paper and tie with christmassy patterned cotton ribbon, it looks so pretty in a rustic kind of way. I've done it that way for years now so all the paper can be recycled and people tend to save the ribbon. You could also use paint to stamp patterns on the brown paper - pinterest is full of ideas

This thread is so inspiring.
I’m trying to cut down plastic use. Ive got a reusable sandwich wrap and try to never buy bottled water. We used to buy lots of sparkling water so got a soda steam (which I’m sure are bad in other ways?). I grow veg or get from a farm shop to avoid packaging...but mushrooms are problematic as can only get these in normal shop and always seem to be in plastic trays. Milk also a problem. Use takeaway dishes or stainless steel bowls with plates for lids for fridge storage.

Just moved to bar soap but will try shampoo soap after reading this thread! Tried splosh - love the washing up liquid but clothes liquid not so much.

Make my own wrapping envelopes or bags from foreign newspapers - a Chinese supermarket near us has free ones.

Fiddlesticks I agree with you that clothes are often not as long-lasting as they used to be. I have some Land's End cotton fleeces that I bought 20 yrs ago and they are still going strong. Their modern equivalents are much more flimsy. And sometimes you can spend money on a much better make and the quality is still very disappointing.

However, I often find that men's clothing is made with better quality material [grrrr] (bit of an extreme solution I know but good for the odd top/jumper/shirt!) and I tend to spend money on good quality coats and shoes that usually last a long time. Casual clothes tend to get worn and worn until they are literally in shreds (and then they are patched and used for gardening)! Obviously, we are not style icons though!

I also tend to buy six identical tops - wear them like a uniform - so they can be washed all together and you don't have to have lots of different washing piles for different colours and fabrics. Not sure that can exactly be qualified as a saving though!

I will also email companies to ask to be taken off mailing list when they send me paper catalogues. I usually recycle but this would be reduce!

It is also worth bearing in mind that emails aren't all that environmentally friendly. I learnt that at work, who ask us to use IM or the old-fashioned get off your butt and talk to someone

www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/oct/21/carbon-footprint-email

"The sending, sorting and filtering of spam email alone accounts for 33bn units of electricity each year"

"Very roughly speaking (remember that all complex carbon footprints are really best guesses), a typical year of incoming mail for a business user – including sending, filtering and reading – creates a carbon footprint of around 135kg. That's over 1% of of a relatively green 10-tonne lifestyle and equivalent to driving 200 miles in an average car."

I love your fabric bag clearsome did you follow a pattern? I've sorted out some Christmas fabric so I'm going to make fabric bags for family presents (then I can ask for them back )

I've also been working on my rag rug today, I'm saving any old clothes to cut up for this purpose .

I went on a visit to a Sewage treatment plant today, the amount of non flushable stuff I saw was just disgusting. Also cotton buds are too small to be stopped by the filters which is why they end up back in the water ways. I hope manufacturers start using a more ethical product to make the stick out of.

I've also unfollowed various companies and groups on social media that are trying to get me to buy more stuff. It feels quite liberating!

Can anyone recommend good zero waste or environmental people to follow?

I've found a lot can be expensive to start with (buying reusable) or just more expensive and hope it lasts longer.

For example I really need new socks, I have about 3 pairs left. I've been looking at organic bamboo and cotton ones and they are so pricey, compared to standard. I really hope they last longer.

Generally with clothes I do charity shop. I've gained a bit of weight recently, but the upside is that it has taught me that I can't survive perfectly well with about 4 outfits.

We always wash everything on 30 and don't have a tumble drier.

There is a fb page called "1 million women" which is about reducing plastic and general zero waste.

Biffy Bea Johnson, who I mentioned on the other thread, is one of the best known zero waste campaigners - I first got interested in zero waste after hearing her on Woman's Hour a year or so ago. There's also Beth Terry of My Plastic Free Life and Lauren Singer of Trash is for Tossers. All three are based in the USA (Bea Johnson is French); I'm also in a couple of zero waste groups on FB for information more specific to the UK and where I live.

I always leave the oven door slightly ajar after cooking, so it helps heat the house.

In case anyone didn't realise most chewing gum is plastic and not biodegradable. Good reason to stop buying it.

You can also turn the oven off 5-10 minutes before the end of the cooking time and dishes will continue to cook in the residual heat.

Oh I never thought about chewing gum! What about greaseproof paper is that biodegradeable, I have some homemade gifts for an advent calendar & I want to wrap them up so they dont go soft. Anyone know?

Thanks for the bloggers to follow. I'll check them out

So I already use a menstrual cup but today I have ordered some reusable pantie liners to try.
I have also bought an ecoegg laundry egg set, magnoball (to soften the water in the washing machine) and some Eco stain remover. We are moving into our 1st home next year so i'm getting stuff ready so I can be Eco straight away!
I always use my stainless steel water bottle and i am making the move to Dr Bonner's bar soap from liquid to lessen my plastic consumption.
Love this thread for the inspo!!

Im so behind on the thread but reading some fab ideas. Today I bought nothing except a pret sandwich. Although I was naught and had the meat one!

Lots of greaseproof paper apparently has silicone on it and shouldn't be composted since it releases the silicone into the soil.

You can get soy wax paper though.