So how environmentally friendly are you?

[Breaker_Morant]

Okay.. I think most of us, irregardless of our political affilications can agree that there needs to be a some sort of conservation of our natural resources - not only fossil fuels but but other things; especially water.

Additionally Nature preserves are a good thing, imsho. As the highest tier on the food chain we have a duty to ourselves as a species to preserve this big blue marble we call home.

 

[jockdom]

Okay.. I think most of us, irregardless of our political affilications can agree that there needs to be a some sort of conservation of our natural resources - not only fossil fuels but but other things; especially water.

Additionally Nature preserves are a good thing, imsho. As the highest tier on the food chain we have a duty to ourselves as a species to preserve this big blue marble we call home.

This throw away society of ours is shocking nobody fixes anything any more and most of these things are made of plasic which is oil based! Gets off the soap box

 

[catalina_francisco]

We use low energy lighting and only have on what is needed (usually 1-2 lights for 3 floors at night while up doing things)....I monitor the heating during winter...I switch off all electrical items (not just put on stand by) when not in use, even the PC if I am going to be off it for more than 20 minutes...recycle all food scrapes and garden waste (I wanted a compost system like I had in Oz, but need to convince F that is not an outlandish and nasty thing to have)...recycle all paper, glass, cardboard and plastic...try to recycle building products etc., but once again have to convince F it is a good idea...am working on getting F to be more thoughtful about water usage such as not letting taps run while cleaning teeth and a list of other water wastage (maybe mentioning the cost will work)...we have a diesel run car (wanted smaller, but he had his heart set on his new toy and it is reasonably efficient)...walk or bicycle when possible, use public transport when possible...recycle our shopping bags for re-use and also have the heavy duty type which can be used over and over and fabric ones I bought from Oz...also have shopping crates they sell here to eradicate the use of shopping bags...and I also have a lovely shopping trolley thing which holds a ton when I walk to and back to do shopping.

Catalina

 

[Desdemona]

We live pretty green

We have a compost heap, much to ADR's chagrin. She is totally creeped out by my descriptions of the little ecosystem there.

We recycle everything possible.

We freecycle.

We have fuel efficient cars and walk wherever possible. We combine errands to limit starting and stopping the engine etc.

We have rain barrels (made from recycled cooking oil drums) which we use to water the garden (organic of course).

We use CFL bulbs but only turn on lights if needed.

We keep the thermostat under close watch. Don't have central air conditioning and only use the bedroom window unit at night while in bed.

We turn off appliances like Catalina described.

We take re-usable bags for shopping.

Try to mostly use rags instead of paper towels.

There's probably more that we do, but my brain is tired.

 

[Netzach]

My next major purchase may be green/fairtrade and may not, depending on whether it's stones or silver. I've yet to find stones that I can afford which are fair trade, and certainly not mined "green" I do stretch stones out more though, than I was, and I use a lot of vintage beads in glass, so it's utilizing stuff that already exists.

I recycle a lot of stuff, not insanely religious about it, but I re-use and repurpose containers as much as a human can.

I am not opposed to trying to solve fossil fuel issues as stopgap. I think getting Nigeria stable and seeing the oil industry there creating equitably paying JOBS would go a lot further than drilling in the Arctic. It is going to run out though.

I don't know what to do. I'm reasonably informed about the issue but could be more. Honestly, labor and fair trade is my pet thing more so, if it's "green" but still made by slaves or ruins the economic prospects of people who had no viable income but logging and farming that's not a solution to me.

I eat local sustainable and humanely raised whenever I eat at home. Meat consumption is less for me than it was but a hell of a lot tastier. I dislike the "all or nothing" mentality of vegetarianism as a moral choice, for me it's purely about distribution, environment and health and I think if people just ate a little *less* meat that would do wonders for cutting down on the need for clear-cutting.

I bought some wind powered shares this year and I pray for the day we reach sense and use turbines here.

But I'm not a put nails in trees and lie down in front of bulldozers person, really.

 

[Desdemona]

I don't lay down in front of bulldozers either

But, I have to admit to being vastly entertained when our local Pagan group managed to save the life of a huge old growth tree that was going to be taken out in order to build condos. OK, they're claiming that it was saved by their intervention. They chanted and prayed and oddly enough, 6 months later, the whole construction deal fell through. It caused quite a stir politically in our little bucolic mountain town.

 

[intothewoods]

But, I have to admit to being vastly entertained when our local Pagan group managed to save the life of a huge old growth tree that was going to be taken out in order to build condos. OK, they're claiming that it was saved by their intervention. They chanted and prayed and oddly enough, 6 months later, the whole construction deal fell through. It caused quite a stir politically in our little bucolic mountain town.

Oh my gosh, Desdemona, where do you live? It sounds very sweet.


What do I do?

Well, I try to reuse everything. And wear vintage or hand me downs. Ok, kidlet gets hand me downs, lol. I try not to buy stuff with excess packaging. This is actually a big deal for kids - juice boxes and all that. It's so ridiculous. Fuel efficient car. Check. And I try to take public transportation too.

My next project is to try and get more recycling in the office, and at home.

 

[callinectes]

I use the county recycling service for paper, #1 & 2 plastic, and aluminum cans. My employer recycles CDs and batteries so I take mine from home up there.

I compost, nothing fancy, just toss the leaves, weeds, and non-protein food scraps in there.

I use the high efficiency light bulbs, turn off stuff.... but admit I don't unplug everything like the experts say to do.

Freecycle and ebay

Take old electronics to the quarterly electronics recycling drive

Have some of those 99 cent shopping bags the grocery stores sell, I use them for all kinds of stuff.

I can't do much in terms of walking to work, shopping, etc. I live in the semi-rural south and everything is spread out. There is a shopping center within biking distance but there is no bike-safe road to get to it.

 

[Desdemona]

My little town

Oh my gosh, Desdemona, where do you live? It sounds very sweet.


What do I do?

Well, I try to reuse everything. And wear vintage or hand me downs. Ok, kidlet gets hand me downs, lol. I try not to buy stuff with excess packaging. This is actually a big deal for kids - juice boxes and all that. It's so ridiculous. Fuel efficient car. Check. And I try to take public transportation too.

My next project is to try and get more recycling in the office, and at home.

Is Asheville, NC. It's a pretty sweet place to live.

 

[A Desert Rose]

We have a compost heap, much to ADR's chagrin. She is totally creeped out by my descriptions of the little ecosystem there.

We recycle everything possible.

We freecycle.

We have fuel efficient cars and walk wherever possible. We combine errands to limit starting and stopping the engine etc.

We have rain barrels (made from recycled cooking oil drums) which we use to water the garden (organic of course).

We use CFL bulbs but only turn on lights if needed.

We keep the thermostat under close watch. Don't have central air conditioning and only use the bedroom window unit at night while in bed.

We turn off appliances like Catalina described.

We take re-usable bags for shopping.

Try to mostly use rags instead of paper towels.

There's probably more that we do, but my brain is tired.

And you watch public access tv. There has to be some kind of tech-rebate, tax write off, something on that...

Do some research on that, darling.

 

[PublicAffection]

We recycle paper, glass and plastic products & containers. S/O works for a tech company who offers recycling of electronics. We buy recycled paper and recycle our ink & toner cartriges. We aren't super hardcore environmentalists, but make little changes. We both drive crossover vehicles instead of full blown SUV's so that we have the storage area we need to move shit, but still get fairly decent gas mileage. Someday we'll build a 100% self sustaining house... when we have tons of money and lots of spare time.

 

[madetotakeit]

I chose a fuel efficient car. I opt for less packaging when available. I would like the house I buy to be converted to solar power. I recycle religiously. (I would love to see the guys' expressions when they pick up my recycling in the morning that contains the packaging for my toys that just came in. )

 

[graceanne]

I'd rate myself half way. We recycle. I buy those funky, energy friendly light bulbs. I'm working on getting a car that gets better gas mileage. We don't litter or burn trash. I don't buy anything aerosol (partly cause aerosol makes me sneeze).

We don't recycle EVERYTHING. I have not switched to using cloth bags for my groceries. I need the plastic bags I put my groceries in for the garbage in my car. We barbeque A LOT during the summer, and my husband smokes. *shrugs*

 

[cherokee_dove]

I recycle what i can. Such as cans, plastic cartons, batteries. Those go to the recycle plant.

The paper products get shredded up and go into my compost bin to help its cycle.

As far as the light bulbs, still use the regular type; because i read a report on the ones that are energy savers. The twisty turny type ones, if those things break; you are dealing with mercury. And thats a severe poison. So those are a no-go into my house.

Tries to keep trips into town for shopping to once or twice a week. Can't bike there because it is too far away.

The car is very fuel efficient, thank heavens; with todays gas prices.

 

[Desdemona]

snort

And you watch public access tv. There has to be some kind of tech-rebate, tax write off, something on that...

Do some research on that, darling.

You're right babe. LMAO

 

[chauderlos]

Recycle all that can be (cans, cartons, glass, plastic...)
Low wattage bulbs
Compost drum in the garden
Public transport instead of car
Electric applicances like PC plugged off when not in use (unfortunately, not all applicances, especially those which are hell to reconfigure like statellite TV)

Currently thinking about the next car, but unsure about the green-fuel ones. Shouldn't corn be used for food instead of being transformed into fuel?

 

[Breaker_Morant]

Freecycle and ebay

Netzach mentioned Freecycle and now you use it in combination with eBay.. Care to explain that?

 

[WriterDom]

Shouldn't corn be used for food instead of being transformed into fuel?

It's about the dumbest thing we ever did. A perfect example of looking to government to solve a free market issue. Even if we find something else it will take 50 years to get the corn farmers off the government teat.

 

[saphicsub]

Im not anal about it but i do my bit.
Ive always turned off lights, taps etc cos resources cost money. Ive got an efficient quality diesel car thats several years old.

One of the major wastes in the UK is the amount of food we buy and then throw away and that anoys me. My family grew up in poverty for the first few years and we lived on shot rabbit, potatoes, sweede and home baked bread. Im thrifty and always make do and mend.

Thats the way its always been but due to cost and nothing to do with the environment untill now. The rising cost of food and fuel will make us all think about waste from now on and the main beneficiary will be the environment.

By the way Americans, .........we have had a petrol tanker delivery driver strike here over the weekend thats seen some gas stations run dry. That prompted some unscrupulous retailers to put prices to £2.00 per LITRE...............4.546 litres to a UK gallon.
Its predicted that by christmas that will be an "average" pump price here.

 

[Breaker_Morant]

As far as the light bulbs, still use the regular type; because i read a report on the ones that are energy savers. The twisty turny type ones, if those things break; you are dealing with mercury. And thats a severe poison. So those are a no-go into my house.

I'm not so sure about CFL light bulbs. Congress mandated their exclusive use by 2012 and other countries have already gone to them but the cost of recycling them? If Congress says we need to use them, then there ought to be a program put in place to have them recycled at no cost to the consumer.

http://www.lamprecycling.com/store/products.aspx?id=6760&gclid=CMWX1a3I-5MCFQKfnAodNBxXVg

https://www.thinkgreenfromhome.com/Products.cfm

 

[Breaker_Morant]

The community in which I live has a recycling program that is paid for through everyone's sanitation bill. Everyone is given a red bin to put out and then a truck comes by, sorts out the contents of the bin and then drives off.

I wonder if the trade off between the recycling and the carbon gases given off by the truck are worth it?

I am seriously looking at a SmartCar when I graduate. If I could afford it, I'd convert the house to solar and wind power.

 

[Breaker_Morant]

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/aut...3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawMzMDAwLW9pbA--

 

[Netzach]

Netzach mentioned Freecycle and now you use it in combination with eBay.. Care to explain that?

When you buy people's already used crap instead of new mass produced crap you're doing the equivalent of bringing your own bag x100000.

 

[Netzach]

It's about the dumbest thing we ever did. A perfect example of looking to government to solve a free market issue. Even if we find something else it will take 50 years to get the corn farmers off the government teat.

Welfare queens indeed.

It's not a bad idea per se, the problem is failure to admit failure.

 

[WriterDom]

Welfare queens indeed.

It's not a bad idea per se, the problem is failure to admit failure.

The idea is great. But it is like wiping your ass with a roll of dollars.