What little things have you done

[weltweit]

I ate Cauliflower, grown locally so it had almost zero food miles.

 

[LDC]

Stopped flying in Europe. Used to do a 2-3 short hauls a year to see friends in France, Barcelona, and Berlin, but haven't done that now for a few years. I still go, but less frequently, and get the train when I go. Doesn't feel like a big sacrifice, and maybe it partly happened due to other changes in my life (and I have a bit more money tbh, so trains seem more do-able) but I do think flying less short haul (or none at all) is what nearly 99% of us need to do.

Also thinking of having an annual week tree planting here as a holiday when they re-start them Trees for Life | Rewilding the Scottish Highlands

 

[Saul Goodman]

, but I do think flying less short haul (or none at all) is what nearly 99% of us need to do.

Most people aren't flying to see their friends around Europe a few times a year.
I think you're vastly overestimating how many people would even be in a financial position to do this.

 

[LDC]

Most people aren't flying to see their friends around Europe a few times a year.
I think you're vastly overestimating how many people would even be in a financial position to do this.

I was meaning 99% of the people that fly, not 99% of people generally. If people don't fly, then they don't need to cut back or stop. I'd be interested to see that stats about who's doing the short haul flying though. When I've been doing them I've been on low wages, flights have often been £10 or £20. I'd think it might be as much cultural/social as financial, used to travel and havng friends abroad for example.

I hate these type of threads or discussions generally as they end up pushing individual changes, the least important thing to think about and do.

 

[weltweit]

I ate Cauliflower, grown locally so it had almost zero food miles.

I miss broad beans .. if I am honest!

 

[LDC]

I miss broad beans .. if I am honest!

A much under-rated foodstuff imo.

 

[friendofdorothy]

Its not much but I've stopped buying those foam scrubby sponges for washing up a while ago. I tried various cloths or bit of old tshirts for a while, but they were really no good. So I cut up a former thick floor towel, sewed bias binding round the raw edges and made 16 dinky wash things, that I can put in a wash and reuse. It was bizarrely satifying making them and they are really effective for washing up.

I've also been saving all the yoghurt pots with clear lids for planting seeds in and keeping seedlings protected while they are small.

 

[StoneRoad]

Trying to make sure that we properly fill the dishwasher, freezer and so on. If it wasn't for covid, we would be shopping locally, plus a veg box etc.

A job in the next few days will be to collect up some logs from the "wildwood" area of the garden.
I have some pruning & thinning to do, which will produce a further supply of logs, plus some to set aside to season, ahead of next winter. We are intending to use our wood-burner this winter, rather than the expensive LPG boiler.
I hope this will make our heating be more carbon efficient. [but, I doubt that I could grow more wood than the CO2 emitted in other ways].

We've exchanged another two windows - new wooden frames and double glazing - to improve the heat seal. The only window left isn't in too bad a condition, and we've built the replacement frame & have the glass already.
It takes us a day to rip out the old window and replace the frames and fit the new glazing. Usually, there is just a bit of tidying up around the beading to do the following day. Why wood ? I'm not a big fan of uPVC and we live in a Nat. Park & World Heritage Site ...

 

[danny la rouge]

I hate these type of threads or discussions generally as they end up pushing individual changes, the least important thing to think about and do.

Precisely this. Lifestyle changes aren’t sufficient. For the scale needed, it has to be systemic change.

Not that I’m saying actively don’t do anything. Just that it’s not what we should be focussing on. It’s what governments and the fossil fuel industry want us to focus on. And they succeed. It’s very successful misdirection.

 

[StoneRoad]

Precisely this. Lifestyle changes aren’t sufficient. For the scale needed, it has to be systemic change.

Not that I’m saying actively don’t do anything. Just that it’s not what we should be focussing on. It’s what governments and the fossil fuel industry want us to focus on. And they succeed. It’s very successful misdirection.

How, then do we persuade governments and the fossil fuel industry that "they" need to do these certain things ?
- such as :- significantly reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions, especially from electricity generation and stick to their promises to make those reductions ? Even when those existing commitments [Paris 2015] are unlikely to be sufficient.

However, although I do agree with you about the need for systemic changes, we [the general people] still need to make those lifestyle changes.
This is a situation where "every little helps" ...

 

[danny la rouge]

How, then do we persuade governments and the fossil fuel industry that "they" need to do these certain things ?

I don’t have a great deal of faith that they will. The 26 in COP26 means they’ve held this conference 26 times and still not done what they need to do.

The best hope we have is direct action. That means not performative publicity stunts, and not vanguards of activists acting in our best interests, but actually engaging with working class people so that the action comes from, involves, the people affected, and the action targets those responsible.

But will world leaders and business do enough soon enough of their own volition? No, probably not. Not going by past performance.

However, although I do agree with you about the need for systemic changes, we [the general people] still need to make those lifestyle changes.
This is a situation where "every little helps" ...

Well I did specifically say I wasn’t saying don’t.

 

[LDC]

The best hope we have is direct action. That means not performative publicity stunts, and not vanguards of activists acting in our best interests, but actually engaging with working class people so that the action comes from, involves, the people affected, and the action targets those responsible.

I agree, but I do think here's something worth thinking about with the relationship and dynamic between social movements like the climate stuff happening now, and what might be more work and community based movements. I think like it or not the form much of politics takes in the here and now is through things like XR and Insulate Britain, the question is how to expand what they do and makes links with the things you mention, which is where I think it will be won or lost. (Know you know this, just thinking out loud.)

I want to be able to say something about the struggle in the sphere of production (work) and the sphere of circulation (the streets etc.) both being needed and possibly complimentary, but it's too early!

 

[friendofdorothy]

How, then do we persuade governments and the fossil fuel industry that "they" need to do these certain things ?
- such as :- significantly reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions, especially from electricity generation and stick to their promises to make those reductions ? Even when those existing commitments [Paris 2015] are unlikely to be sufficient.

However, although I do agree with you about the need for systemic changes, we [the general people] still need to make those lifestyle changes.
This is a situation where "every little helps" ...

Yes.

I often feel powerless against the tidal wave of plastic, waste and burning up the earths resources. There is only so much we can do as individuals .Yes we can not buy this or that product - or collectively we can join a movement to urge manufacturers or energy companies to waste less do things better but with out a national or global framework to really change the whole unsustainable system we are all fucked.

I also know we are all going to hell in handcart and I am very, very angry with govts and big businesses for not protecting our world.

I feel doing the small things are the only things in my control. Remaking things, choosing a 'green' energy co, and avoiding the worse excesses of throw away culture gives me a teeny weeny feeling of agency so I don't feel awful for just washing dishes.

 

[mentalchik]

There seems to be a huge disconnect....work in a supermarket, we sell hundreds of "bags for life" every day...in fact we sell just as many if not more than before they got rid of 5p bags (interestingly one of the biggest groups being our local students, hardly any of them seem to bring a bag) i do daily shopping and have a large rucksack and reusable bag, haven't bought a plastic bag for years...littering....every day i pick my way through large amounts of litter (really dirty town) and a litter strewn car park when i get to work....if people can't even be bothered to not dispose of their own litter what hope is there ? can't personally do much about my home as it's a HA flat in a very large block, use the heating very sparingly i spose but tbh that's more about cost.

 

[StoneRoad]

Littering seems to be is really getting worse, and has been for years.

This time of year the rubbish alongside roads gets really obvious. And it makes me depressed, that people care so little about the environment. Nothing much seems to have changed !

Back at the 1990 Gateshead Garden Festival, the management had a thing about litter-picking. For various obvious reasons.
You would have thought that six months of making sure you didn't chuck stuff except into bins would have registered somewhat with the staff ...
Nope, on the last day, various staff were smoking / eating on duty [something that was almost a sacking offence] and chucking their litter.
"It doesn't matter now"
was the response !

Nothing much seems to have changed, again ...

I do pick up (using a picker and wearing gloves/mask) along the road outside the house, stuff lobbed out of cars etc.
So much litter & waste, much of which could be recycled ... cans get put into our recycling bin.

Something on this subject of littering that really buggs me.
[apart from discarded butts that start fires]
People walking up to a beauty spot for a picnic [carrying full bottles/cans and food packets]
then dump their waste, the now lighter, empty containers ! rather than take them away.

 

[Aladdin]

Having all the groceries delivered means they arrive in a big crate which I leave out again for next delivery. No plastic bags if any kind.

I turn off any lights in rooms I'm not sat in.

Heating is on a thermostat and only kicks in twice a day for an hour each time in winter. The house is massively insulated and holds heat well.

I'm showering less since the pandemic started and I wear clothes at least 5/6 times before washing them. (Except for undergarments which get changed daily...)

Washing dishes etc by hand. Not using dish washer.

I drive maybe once a week now. Which is a massive difference. But this is because I am working from home.

Recycling ... I have way more time to wash and recycle most rubbish. And compost food waste. The general waste is less than ever.

 

[weltweit]

..
People walking up to a beauty spot for a picnic [carrying full bottles/cans and food packets]
then dump their waste, the now lighter, empty containers ! rather than take them away.

I spent some months hitchiking in Australia years ago.

The outback roads are little more than red dirt track rolling their way through the red dust of the mainly billiard ball flat occasionally bush covered countryside.

On the more busy roads there was a space of about 10m either side of the road which was deep in empty beer tinnies, plastic wrapping, bottles some broken, and general rubbish.

The average long distance Australian motorist it seems just doesn't care.

 

[StoneRoad]

Something else that would help ---
The idea of giving up Peat in compost etc.

Peat Bogs are massive carbon sinks [better than trees !],
So, draining bogs to plant trees, harvesting the peat for sale or fuel has been very detrimental.

Climate change: National Trust joins international call for peat product ban

The organisation says peat bogs should be left alone as they trap carbon.

www.bbc.co.uk

I try to find & use peat-free composts, and avoid buying plants that need peat ...
Must admit that some peat-free products are crap, which is why I'm doing more home composting.
I used to use those little compressed peat pots for germinating some plants, now I use newspaper or bog-roll centres.

Interesting that the NT has finally come over to the ban peat camp ...

 

[pinkmonkey]

Stopped flying. Switching over to renewable fuel for my burner, Im a bit skint right now and coal is cheap but I should be able to switch totally over to eco logs soon as work picks up. (Haven’t worked for a few months). Got rid of the chemical toilet in 2019 and I compost my turds. I try to buy everything I need at car boots or charity shops or on ebay. I saved up for Goodyear welted boots that were £££ from Trickers, but can be repeatedly sent back to the factory to be resoled and repaired so they should last longer than me. I get most of my electricity from my solar panels. We switched all our lights to leds. I reuse packaging rather than sling it. I don’t use cotton pads I have reuseable ones. We repair things, including things we’ve found - we tat broken electronics and El Jugs fixes them. Amazing how half the time its a fucked battery or loose connection. We fix friends broken electronic things too. I repair my clothes and shoes. I grow my own, I buy food in the reduced section, I then decide what I’m making, cook it up and freeze it in those takeaway containers. Of course I feel like I’m pissing in the wind, but I mostly save money by being this frugal and theres nothing like the satisfaction of making, fixing and doing things yourself.

 

[seeformiles]

I’ve accepted a job that is within 5 mins walking distance from home while turning down a slightly better paid job that would involve a daily 15 miles car commute.

 

[Carvaged]

I don't buy or consume much of anything (beyond what I need to eat). Not just because I'm too poor to afford stuff, but also because I don't like lots of things and owning possessions beyond practical day-to-day essentials kind of stresses me out. I also re-use most things - from plastic packaging to foil, tubs, empty bottles etc.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I miss broad beans .. if I am honest!

I buy them frozen - they're lovely and I get through quite a lot of them.

 

[weltweit]

I buy them frozen - they're lovely and I get through quite a lot of them.

Me too, but Morrisons hasn't had broad beans in their freezer section for months

Actually though, I just found some today in my village shop so yay for them!!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Me too, but Morrisons hasn't had broad beans in their freezer section for months

M & S usually have them in stock if that's any help.

I always try to ensure I've got 2-3kg of them in, and just top up when I need to.

 

[weltweit]

M & S usually have them in stock if that's any help.

There ain't an M&S nearby sadly ..

 

[farmerbarleymow]

There ain't an M&S nearby sadly ..

You can get them from Ocado - £1 for 500g, 1p more than Morrisons based on a quick check.

 

[weltweit]

You can get them from Ocado - £1 for 500g, 1p more than Morrisons based on a quick check.

It's ok, as I mentioned I just found them in my village shop.

An emporium incredible in what oddities and necessities it stocks and provides post office services 7 days a week.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Brought my totes to the market.
Went to the local market instead of the big chain supermarket.
Picked up someone's trash while walking home.

I suspect you also purchased a pallet of spam.

 

[stavros]

Does anyone here apply the "If it's brown flush it down..." maxim?

 

[stavros]

I'm using my gas oven less recently, and using my induction hob more.