What do you do to help save the planet?

[RiverMeadow]

Looking for more ways to help so any ideas would be much appreciated!

Ive tried so many things over the last few years, but so many are hard to keep up if you are living with not much/on a budget:

For a while we had a milkman, sadly they were expensive and didn't deliver on time. I spent more money on the phone to customer service, so we ended up giving up on this
Ive cut up old clothes, no good for chairty of giving away in rags
Use natural deodorant (better than shelf brought that even Dp uses)
Unfortunately my dp is used to his "creature comforts" so we brought bulk containers of shampoo/body wash, rather than lots of littles ones
Buying organic meat/clothing when finances allows, again all these things are more expensive!
I try to eat vegan/veggie - this one is more difficult when DP and family are very much 'meat' people
I buy most things- toys, clothes etc from shpock, charity shops etc, I try never to buy things 'new' its genuinely easy and amazing to find things you need for next to nothing, and is as simple as looking what people are selling close to you. - recently we got an American fridge freezer to replace our energy guzzling old fridge, for less than half the price of buying new. Good for us. Good for environment, I then didnt just tip my old one, but someone came to collect it to use -

The thing with being environmentally friendly, is that it is more expensive- eg. Buying 3 loose peppers in the supermarket is more expensive that buying a whole bag wrapped in plastic.

I can honestly say since learning about plastic and its damage to the environment, it has had a huge effect on my conscious mind for the environment, but most of the time its just so expensive to the average person, I can see why its never going to work.

I do what I can, and im always looking for ways to improve, but we live in such an ingrained throw away society. Its actually overwhelming all the time.

I've introduced lots of little things over time so that they stick and become habit

1. Switched out of all plastic bottles - milk in glass from the milkman, homemade juice and water from tap in the fridge
2. Oddbox deliveries for rejected fruit and veg
3. Refillable cleaning detergent from Bower Collective and compostable cloths and sponges from Seep
4. Electric car
5. Travel less (not difficult at the moment) and offset when it can't be avoided
6. Utilities and bank from ethical providers
7. Buy new significantly less and instead repair and buy secondhand
8. Don't beat myself up too much when I feel like I'm not doing enough...

Hi Peeps,
I try to balance a bit of eco living with maintaining my sanity. Sorting crisp packets to give to the local Terracycle scheme is pretty much my limit,

My BIG passion, that I would LOVE your thoughts on is to normalise the planting of a baby's placenta with a tree in the UK. Almost all human placentas in the UK are treated as clinical waste and incinerated (more CO2 emissions). We planted ours (after a spell in the freezer while we summoned the energy to garden), with hazel trees for both boys and they grew really well.
This is normal practice in many cultures around the world. What do we need to do to normalise it here?

@ppeatfruit

I collect the washing up water in old plastic bottles for watering the garden. We don't have a D.W

Washingup water will have dish soap on it, which is not good for garden plants. Remember dish soap is a detergent that is excellent at removing oil, grease, and wax. When you spray it on your plants, it removes the natural oils and waxes that all plants have on their leaves. These oils and waxes serve to protect the leaves.

When the protective coating is removed from the leaves, it makes it easier for pathogens to get a foothold and infect the plants.

Watering your plants with dish soap removes their natural defenses against pests and diseases. You are setting the stage for your plants to get sick, and maybe die.

(should be working but have stumbled across this thread...)

• i am trying to do a minimal clothing spend for myself this year, and also to use up all products i have before buying new.

• i buy huge bottles of shampoo (they are plastic) but it lasts for ages so i'm buying less overall.
• switched to bar soap
• cloth make up wipes
• reusable sanitary pads
• reusable pull ups for ds at night time - he's potty trained now day time.
• only use dishwasher on a full load, same with washing machine
• wash on 30 degrees for the majority of things
• only tend to heat the rooms were in - so the kids rooms the heating gets put on right before bedtime and stays on low all night
• dh and i have a heater in our room but rarely use it over night - i like to sleep with the window open a bit so sort of negates the heating....
• limit use of paper towels in the house - i bought a ton of dish cloths for wiping spills and a ton of flannels for mucky hands (oldest dc is 3 so still at the sticky hands stage!)
• shop locally where possible.

Not enough but off the top of my head

Cloth nappies and wipes although the baby days are long behind me
Mooncup
Refill bottles from a larger one
No unnecessary journeys (although that applies to lockdown) and drive an electric car

Plan I only use the washing up water in a drought (which btw is not detergent , we buy a specific refillable eco one, that the local Organic shop sells oh and I don't spray them ) I use the water mainly for the pots. The plants are happy!

( we don't grow veg. because they really DO need water in the dry summer). I collect rainwater from the roof of the barn which has no gutters .We support our local organic growers for as much produce. as possible.

I don't remember if I said I've stopped flying completely.

I do little things. I can't do anything huge like installing solar panels as I live in rented accommodation but I do -
.keep the heating to 17 degrees ( except if it's snow ⛄️ cold) and don't use it at all in summer.
. Buy second hand at charity shops for most items ( all closed atm though 😢)

• hand me downs/ pre loved children's clothes and toys
• reduce, reuse and recycle
• we have one family car.

-Wash our clothes on 30/ 40 degrees

• we eat very little meat
• we have almost gone plastic free in the bathroom

There's probably a lot more I just can't think of atm.
I don't believe that having a child / children means you don't care for the environment. It would be sad to look back n life and that's the only reason you didn't have dc. Use reusable nappies/ eco recyclable if necessary

Realise this thread is a few days old now but I do the following (aiming for more) but I'm happy with my progress so far -

• switched to a mooncup 2 years ago and wouldn't go back. Only wish I had discovered it sooner
• washable pant liners
• cloth makeup round wipes
• old fashioned razor with replaceable steel blades (has taken some time to get the method right - and quite a few cuts on my shins in the process, but got the hang of it now)
• solid shampoo and conditioner (kinkind). Just fab!!
• switched to good quality large soap bars that we cut up for the shower cubicles

-home-made toilet cleaner / laundry powder / dishwasher powder / fabric conditioner / all purpose surface cleaner / natural leather & wood balm (use on my wellies too) / body moisturising bars / solid deodorant bar / liquid hand soap- all stored in glass containers.

• no plastic water bottles - drink water from the tap and use refillable chilli bottles
• no candles only diffusers with essential oils
• only buy new underwear / workout wear / shoes - everything else I try and thrift shop first
• mend and make do with a reduced wardrobe
• only own 1 pair of jeans - the dying and water used in denim is horrific
• steel straws and beeswax wraps in the kitchen
• visit refill store approx every 2-3 weeks
• weekly local organic veg order, delivered in paper bags
• love my wine, but try to buy British made or French - closer to uk
• don't buy kitchen roll, haven't done for years
• knitted a huge batch of dishcloths (badly, but they do the job!)
• use my car much less (yes due to COVID but this has shown me how much less I actually need to use it)
• no holidays at the moment obviously but we were getting into the habit of minimising one flight from uk and using train travel throughout Europe
• until recently we used a green energy supplier - they went out of business, but we're planning on finding another one

I've enjoyed reading the other posts but more ideas

Ooh forgot, on the food front, we are moving towards a near free diet. Loving Bosh and The Happy Pear for inspiration.

• cool wash all clothes and sheets (with a hot wash for bedding once in a while)

Not enough, but I don't think individuals can ever do enough until large retailers and factories take responsibility on a global scale.

But I do:
Reusable nappies, wipes, sanitary products, cleaning cloths, sponges and kitchen roll.

Have a low emissions car (we can't have an electric charging point yet due to not having a driveway)

We don't fly, 3 out of 4 of us don't even have passports

I buy and sell a lot of stuff secondhand, especially kids clothing. Anything which isn't worth selling (e.g. baby clothes and toys) goes to the baby bank.

. Last one that I forgot (god knows why, the box is huge!) who gives a crap toilet paper! Love it - had a huge debate about with my sister on a comparison against aldi toilet paper (her go to). wgac won hands down on volume and quality per roll - In turn way more cost effective!

@BerllanBrych

Hi Peeps, I try to balance a bit of eco living with maintaining my sanity. Sorting crisp packets to give to the local Terracycle scheme is pretty much my limit, My BIG passion, that I would LOVE your thoughts on is to normalise the planting of a baby's placenta with a tree in the UK. Almost all human placentas in the UK are treated as clinical waste and incinerated (more CO2 emissions). We planted ours (after a spell in the freezer while we summoned the energy to garden), with hazel trees for both boys and they grew really well. This is normal practice in many cultures around the world. What do we need to do to normalise it here?

I don't think that planting placenta is really an eco friendly issue. I mean, how much CO2 is being added to the environment by incinerating a placenta which weight a few hundred grams? And per person, that is happening only once in a lifetime. Would you advocate people planting their removed appendix, or malfunctioning kidneys, or tumour tissue, as these are also burned as medical waste? If you want people to plant their placenta for emotional or spiritual reasons, fine, but I really think the CO2 emissions angle is tenuous at best.

the supermarkets should be fined trillions (or at least made to pay for the produce to be taken to food banks etc. ) for doing that to the producers
Supermarkets throw out heaps cos the consumers are picky fucks. (Me included)
We can't give away close to date, the risk of someone sueing if they get sick is deemed to high from supermarkets , even grounds from the in-store coffee machine must be chucked on that basis - someone may try reuse them to make coffee and get sick, blame supermarket and sue.
They won't agree to uncover their ass unless consumers agree not to sue or complain about a bruise or look for a lawyer if their close to date or at best before product isn't quite right

In answer to the OP, I do fuck all. Unless it's easy, I don't bother
I value convienence above all else
I also don't want near enough is good enough for things like op shop clothes
And sorry to me, reusable pads, mooncups, just eww. I won't ever use them

• I ride a bike instead of owning a car.
• I haven't flown in years, instead I take the train.
• Grow some of my own veg and buy the rest loose from independent greengrocers.
• Buy bulk stuff (pasta, sugar, cooking chocolate etc.) from a zero-waste shop.
• I use independent butchers as their local meat is better than importing it from Brazil. Plastic wrap is an issue and I'm going to start taking in my own containers now that the pandemic is on the way out.
• Almost plastic-free bathroom - nylon toothbrush bristles are unavoidable.
• Will limit the number of children I have to less than replacement level.
• Only buy clothes when I really need them - what's a few holey socks between friends?

I am slowly trying. I change something every so often and hope it adds up.

Recently I have switched to using cloth wipes for cleaning and refillable cleaning products. I am also significantly cutting the amount of red meat we eat. I try and buy local - I have a veg box that's grown locally over the summer and will eventually work up enough courage for the butchers/fishmongers. Hopefully the refill shop will open again soon. We get a milkman from a local dairy.

Covid means I can WFH rather than driving 30 miles to work every day (DH's work and my work are 35 miles apart and I cannot take public transport, it just does not run at the times I need it). Once we get back to the office, I am hoping to just go in 2 days a week.

I have planted some of my own veg, targeting the ones that are more carbon intensive (peppers, I am looking at you).

I recycle, use my local zero waste shop, use soap and shampoo bars, have milk delivered in glass bottles etc. I also don't create much food waste and very rarely fly. However, I have 2dc, a dog and a cat and we are a two-car household (we live fairly rurally and I work in multiple locations which would be impractical to reach without a car).

Haven’t flown in over a year.
Fitted ASHP for heating
Don’t buy new cars
Cut commute to work from car journey to 3 steps to desk.
Walk to shop for food.

Working on all this currently, but it's all a compromise I think. The main thing is we try to reduce the amount of stuff that comes into our home. Basically trying to reduce our consumption of everything. We still eat meat, but it's all local and we have small portions. Milk is being delivered now. Sold one car, and will ultimately sell the other but for now we can't. Walking as much as possible, and plan to dust off my old bike and use that.
Reusable sanitary protection. Hanging washing out and reducing use of tumble dryer.
Haven't flown for years but do have a family member abroad, and if we don't go to them then they'll come to us, so either way there'll be the odd flight. But no distant holidays.

Place marking for later

Sticking with one kid
Recycle
Cut down plastic use as much as possible
Absolutely minimal flying
Work from home = much less mileage
Eat local food
Make compost
Grow various plants purely for nectar/bird cover
Garden organically
Wear natural fibres

Plans to install a water butt.

Plans to learn to sew and make own clothes, repair etc.

I only have one child and have flown to a holiday once since they were born. One short flight in a decade seems ok to me!

Childfree, mooncups, wooden toothbrushes, palm oil free products where possible, try to avoid plastic, use soap bars and other cosmetic items that are plastic free, recycling, walk wherever possible, reusable bags for shopping, reusable bamboo kitchen roll instead of paper to towels. That's all I can think of for now.

I rummage through my in-laws' bin every time I go round, to pull all the items they should be recycling!!

The planet is fucked. We cant reverse global warming.

So I garden.

And I am proud to say in Britain our domestic gardens are the most biodiverse land group we have; and by extension the most bio-resilient.

So get gardening everyone :) Remove unpeermeable areas. Mix those natives with those non natives, build up your soils and provide for the invertebrates and all will be well.