How "green" are you?

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swedenrose3	How "green" are you?		Lead	[-]
Posts: 557 07/01/08 12:56 Punker Sweden	Tags : None What is everyone doing to combat climate change? Does it extend to "fair trade" products? We are a very "green" household and we go "fair trade" whenever we can. We recycle, have switched to energy saving light bulbs, I buy only natural cleaning products or make my own and I try to buy local products whenever I can. But I know that all of this is easier for me than it is for other people and there are 3 reasons: 1) Sweden is working hard on a national level to make sure that the citizens can easily adapt on an individual level (This is the biggie. Without that, we would not be able to do most of what we do.) 2) I only add small steps at a time and only after the previous step has become second nature. 3) H is a vegetarian so my field of purchase is already cut. Sometimes ecological is the "safe" bet because they are usually fit for a vegetarian lifestyle. BUT as hard as I try, I know that I can never be 100% green. For one thing, it would be a full time job staying up to date on companies and production methods. For another, who has the energy? I admit to tossing a can in the garbage somedays because I am lazy. So...How green are you? A ship in the habor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
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InAlabama		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3823 07/01/08 13:19 Kudzu USA	We aren't perfect but we do make an effort. 1. Use compact florescent light-bulbs -- I switched 10 years ago when most people had not even heard of them. 2. Recycle all our cans and plastic food containers. -- Our city has curbside pickup for cans, plastics & newspapers. 3.Shred "junk mail" and other paper and use for garden mulch. 4.My roommate collects discards from her workplace as much as possible to recycle. (For instance some aluminum letters that were removed from her building and would have gone in the landfill. They were 40 pounds of pure aluminum.) 5.We open the windows at night whenever possible instead of running the air conditioner. 6.Installed ceiling fans in all rooms in the house -- the circulation makes the house feel cooler so air conditioners can be set at a higher temperature. 7.Have heavily mulched garden beds instead of grass which requires less watering than grass. 8.Rerouted drain from washing machine to drain outside the house into flower beds to water flowers instead of using extra water for plants. 9.Buy local vegetables as much as possible.
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shadeaux63		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2939 07/01/08 13:39 USA	My family does the best we can, but it isn't so easy here in the US,especially if you're low-income. We do recycle what we can,and have almost completely gone to compact flourescents. We also have a rotary lawn mower- no gas, no electric, just human power to run it. I do my best to never buy anything that's over-packaged,and try to buy bulk whenever I can. I also do my best to recycle the clothes the kids have grown out of that are too worn to go to a thrift shop.I'm trying to learn how to make braided rugs out of some of the material, and I'm still trying to learn how to quilt.I also use the scraps to stuff pillows. My kids, and hubby all have battery-powered electronics, so we use rechargeable batteries instead of always buying new ones. I'm trying to get a vermi-composting bin going, so I don't have to toss the kitchen scraps in the trash,but on my first attempt I got the wrong kind of worms,and not enough of them.So I have to start over again on that one. I would love to buy more organic foods, but around here, you just can't do that with a low income and a limited food budget.I DO do my best to avoid genetically modified foods-when I know which ones they are. Around the house, I use vinegar and baking soda for the vast majority of cleaning,and liquid castille soap for us-it can be diluted to death and still work just fine. What we need to improve on is reducing the amount of garbage we produce and the amount of plastics we buy.We could also stand to find ways to use less electricity.And I wish I could get my kids to understand that there are ways to recycle all the paper they go through,instead of just tossing it in the trash. Great topic, BTW.Glad this time it didn't end up on a beach sipping sangria. I just read an article this morning about how our lovely government here has placed a moratorium on the building of large solar arrays in the western United States.They want environmental impact studies first. Nevermind that they've ignore the impact studies on clear-cutting, coal mining, and oil drilling, and nevermind that everywhere large solar arrays have been built they have actually been good for the eco-systems- the government wants more info that may take up to two years to compile. It said that one million acres of solar panels could power up to 20 million homes.Here's the article- http://www.bsalert.com/news/2343/Bush_Halts_Solar_Plants_Citing_Environmental_Concern.html
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caitlie bob		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 27 07/01/08 14:26 USA	we do recycle ( instilled since Birth ) food allergies help in some ways we eat organic and locally grown whenever possible we have cfl light bulbs but we're switching back to incandescent because their to bright and buzz whenever you turn them on (bad for migraines) not to mention mecury we have a lot of fruit trees my dad doesn't use pesticides on them or the garden
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California Native	How "green" are you?	#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 400 07/01/08 15:18 USA	I need to figure out how to vote these topics. I see the Kudos, but not how to vote. LOL I recycle plastic & paper. I store it in my vehicle until I'm going in that area (I avoid extra trips to anywhere, did that before the gas prices went up). The light bulbs - too bright and I find when I'm around them I'm really uptight. That is how they light the computer lab at work. Luckily before they finished the room, I was able to talk them into having two switches for the lights (one for the outer set, the other for the center set only). There are three rows on the ceiling. The center row is the only one I use AFTER the natural light is gone for the day and artificial is needed. Is there anything wrong with Hydrogen Peroxide? It's a great disinfectant (or so I've read, I've used it on bathroom & kitchen counters). EDIT: I figured out how to vote Kudos-my new thing learned today. Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life. John Muir Last Edited By: California Native 07/01/08 15:21. Edited 1 time.
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shar4j		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 485 07/01/08 15:56 CookieMoMster USA	Caitlin forgot to say that her dad grows everything organic. I drive Tyler crazy because I make him pull stuff out of the trash when he throws it in the bin rather than our recycle can. We have recycle trash pick up every week, but the kids keep the glass, plastic bottles, and cans for some income for them. Last time we took they in they got $60. My hubby uses our old newspapers for weed control in the garden and uses drip irrigation also. I refuse to buy milk at Costco because they put the 2 1 gallon jugs in a cardboard box. Back when I worked, I took all the cardboard home to recycle. We had white paper recycle at work, but that was all. I'm the type of person that gets on others when I see them throwing soda cans in the trash and I will pick them out of the trash myself rather than leave them there, much the my son's embarrassment. We had a solar oven, but gave it to missionaries. We have taught how to make solar ovens also. We are planning to build a new one soon. ~wife of Bob, mom of William 31, Matt 21, Caitlin 16, Tyler 14~ *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**
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paganstarchild		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 473 07/01/08 16:24 Hapless Heathen UK	Blimey, everything and anything, except running the car...that's essential. No public transport here. Wood burning stove and living room fire. As for Fair Trade...not "green" at all, think of the food miles. Better buying as local as possible and in season than fair trade. I'm in a group that is into british fair trade. Buy local, Buy regional, buy national, buy continental, buy worldwide....in that order. So we don't get bananas often and it'll take 3 years before I get a pineapple growing in my dining room. CFL bulbs, in the UK we get daylight coloured ones, and I have yet to find one that buzzes. Thye don't seem to affect my migranes. As for the mercury, well there is more risk from your dental fillings than 1000 broken CFL lightbulbs. Vegetarianism...where does the meat substitute come from? Is the soya imported? Is it GM free? How many food miles has it travelled? Veganism.....wearing artificial leather and acrylics, all made from oil, cotton products? could that land have been used for food production? What are the dyes made of? Fur is far more "green" when it is a by product of the pest control or food industry (Grey squirrel is nice in a stew). I did one of those carbon footprint monitor things online (in fact I've done several) and even burning coal we have a carbon footprint half of that of a family of 4 and we are a family of 6. http://www.freewebs.com/notesfromtheplot/index.htm Torchwood Freelance Operative - Omega
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caitlie bob		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 27 07/01/08 16:34 USA	with cfls there will be a problem when all the light bulbs burn out then get thrown away so not a matter of individual harm but later down the road possible contamination into the water table. there may only be a little mercury in each bulb but when you have millions there will be a problem eventually
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paganstarchild		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 473 07/01/08 16:37 Hapless Heathen UK	We are not allowed to dispose of them in the rubbish bins over here, they have to be taken to recyling centres to be properly disposed of. http://www.freewebs.com/notesfromtheplot/index.htm Torchwood Freelance Operative - Omega
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MoodyBelgium		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3789 07/01/08 17:21 Sleepwalker	We are trying to live as green as possible. In our household this means : - energy-saving lightbulbs almost everywhere - separation of household trash into three different cargo's - recycling as many things as we can - buying clothing from charity shops or shops that produce environmental-concious clothes - using public transport whenever possible - we have 1 car only - shopping locally for almost everything - re-use textile bits to sew cushion covers, table runners, napkins, etc... - using eco-friendly washing and cleaning products whenever possible. I am very interested in preserving the environment and protecting wildlife. I am an active member of Greenpeace too. One vice we do have : we drink lots of coca-cola and Fanta out of small plastic bottles. That is something I would like to solve next by only drinking tap water! But with a teenager that will be very hard!
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hurtseachday2		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1514 07/01/08 18:58 Mark Barista USA	We do the following: recycle all paper, cans, plastic bottles use solar powered lighting for the outside of the house have a hybrid vehicle for the family car and, limit the amount of driving that we do by consolidating errands If I had the money, I'd install solar panels on the roof of my house ... I really love solar energy. Mark I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. (Albert Einstein)
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jillybromley		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2442 07/01/08 23:26 Jilly in UK	A fact I learned very recently is that when trees are felled they immediately give off huge amounts of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. The Carbon Dioxide given off EVERY DAY from the trees that are felled in the Rain Forests is the equivalent carbon footprint of 1 million people flying from London to New York EACH DAY. When I heard this, it made my little gestures seem very small indeed. I feel fortunate that we have a Government that is doing it's best to get our country as Green as possible as quickly as possible. There are all sorts of incentives to be Green, and all new build housing must have a zero carbon footprint by 2016. The less emissions our car gives off, the lower road taxes that individual pays. Virtually everything is recycled in my particular county on the Kent/London borders and our local recycling unit has bays for over 50 different types of things. We take the stuff there in the car about once a month it is only 1 mile away. Garden waste Electrical waste Paper waste metals wood rubble and loads of other separate categories for shoes, spectacles, mobile phones, batteries etc. They also collect from our door each week and each house has to separate it's waste into these categories Paper, glass, plastic bottles, aerosol cans, tins, food, and general, and it is all collected separately and recycled. If we do not separate our rubbish into these categories then no waste is collected at all from our house. I think we are the first country to actually legislate on Green Issues. I buy virtually everything second hand from Charity shops. Clothing, bedding, towels, furniture, crockery and take anything I don't use any more back to the Charity Shop for recycling. Have low energy light bulbs. Try not to leave anything on standby. I buy local or Fairtrade products. We don't have much in the way of local food produced in and around London so Fairtrade is my next best option. Make my own cleaning products from Bicarb, Lemon and vinegar. Send my old printer ink cartridges back to HP's recycle centre. Buy lu rolls made from recycled paper. Buy fresh food and veg and avoid anything with heavy packaging. Don't use plastic carrier bags, but use a washable cotton bag instead, given away free by our local supermarket. Have a composting bin in the garden that I use for vegetable parings, eggshells, vacuum cleaner dust, tissues, etc. I'm far from perfect and could do a lot more. My biggest carbon footprint is probably gas for heating.
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havheg		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 4679 07/02/08 08:31 Moderator Norway	You're all so clever! I don't do much. We use power saving lightbulbs. I give away to charity shops or friends things and clothes we don't need but can still be used. I like to buy in charity shops as well. But clothes and shoes that are too worn out I throw in the garbage. In winter we use the fireplace to help heating the house. I'm not sure how eco friendly it is to burn wood, but it saves on the electric bill. I buy fairtrade products when I can because I want the producers to get payed for their hard work: Bananas and coffee do come from far way anyway. Sometimes I buy ecological youghurt and other products. But I don't buy ecological vegs and fruits from the other side of the globe, when I can buy locally grown instead. I prefer Norwegian apples to imported ecological apples from Argentina! The same with potatoes etc. Unfortunately all ecological and fairtrade products are expensive compared to "ordinary" products. So it is economically not possible to buy "green" all the time. In the garden I use ecological fertilizer. Unfortunately I have nowhere to put a compost bin (I've always wanted one). When it comes to recycling waste our garbage collecting company seems more interested in money than in the environment, even though it is government owned. They only collect every 14 days, and they don't do recycling of household waste. I collect all paper and cardboard to recycle. I used to recycle glass too, but since the garbage company reduced the recycling points to only a few (we used to have one right were we live, now we have to use the car ) I cannot cope. I don't have anywhere to store it, and it's just become too much of a burden to keep up. But it does seem rather useless for a single household to be "green" when we see how much waste companies and factories are allowed to produce and let out into nature. In Norway a few large factories pollutes more than all privately owned cars in a year! I find these facts quite demotivating!
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amberlover13		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 20572 07/02/08 16:15 Moderator USA	We try as best we can....like others pointed out, "green" often costs more, and when you don't have a lot of money you can't do as much. What I do though is recycle everything I can....is mandadory to recycle garbage here in my state. Also, i save the plastic bags i get from the grocery store and re-use them as many times as I can. I only buy local produce, and only use my car when necessary. If i have to make a trip to town, i will do several things during that trip to save gas. Sometimes i will be able to stay home for weeks at a time without having to use my car. I am slowly replacing my light bulbs with energy saving ones, use celing fans, and only buy in bulk. Instead of throwing out stale bread I put it into a bucket to dry and then use for either breadcrumbs or stuffing. Potato peels and food stuff like that go out in a pile outside for the birds and small animals. In the winter we keep the heat around 60 degrees to conserve energy, and use celing fans to dispurse the heat, and air conditioning. Lights are kept off unless absolutely neccessary, even at night. At night usually the only lighting i use come from my computer, tv, and fish tank. (unless i am reading, then i need a light) During the day, daylight comes in from the windows, so no lights are on then either. Pesticides are very rarely used (except when we had rats....had no choice then) and no life is killed except when absolutely neccessary, like mosquitos. Even spiders are allowed to live their little spider lives, as they do their part for the environment. Think that's about it for me
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Sunshine56		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 43124 07/02/08 18:39 Mosken ezOP Board Owner Norway	I need to figure out how to vote these topics. I see the Kudos, but not how to vote. LOL Just click the hand! We mostly only recycle. We are totally dependent on several cars. The car is my legs...... when I shop I don't go to the closest supermarket at all. I get out so rarely I need some fun! I only smoke one to two cigarettes a year. Maybe one cigar. Does that count?
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MoodyBelgium		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3789 07/02/08 18:59 Sleepwalker	Oh, another of my vices : smoking! And my husband smokes too!
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jillybromley		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2442 07/02/08 19:46 Jilly in UK	I only smoke one to two cigarettes a year. Maybe one cigar. Does that count So a packet lasts you 10 year to 20 years!! Mosken, You are so funny .... . Last Edited By: jillybromley 07/02/08 20:21. Edited 1 time.
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Sunshine56		#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 43124 07/03/08 07:57 Mosken ezOP Board Owner Norway	jillybromley wrote: I only smoke one to two cigarettes a year. Maybe one cigar. Does that count So a packet lasts you 10 year to 20 years!! Mosken, You are so funny .... . That is correct, Jilly! Some years ago a friend talked me into throwing my old stuff away. That was really critical because how was I to get any new ones?? I'm not getting to the store on my own anymore. And I cannot ask anyone in this house. Thank goodness a special friend in Bergen (not using any names here), delivered fresh supply last year. I was so happy this spring! :-) Moody, I had no idea you smoked. That is funny. Maybe I should bring my supply. I never smoke in front of my children though. Only my oldest son knows my device. Ha ha he is so grown up I can tell him almost anything. I hope I'm not hijacking Sweden's thread. I am so sorry, I cannot think of anything else I do. I know I pollute a lot when I use the boat and the camper. :-( I don't use any airplanes though.
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eli58		#18	[url]	[-]
Administrator Posts: 6131 07/03/08 12:37	Thank goodness a special friend in Bergen (not using any names here), delivered fresh supply last year. I was so happy this spring! :-) Lol and I have å pic of Mosken when she are smoking
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MoodyBelgium		#19	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3789 07/03/08 18:43 Sleepwalker	Mosken, yes, bring your supply and we'll smoke like chimneys No, I don't smoke that much. About 4 cigarettes a day. B. is worse; he smokes about 10 or 12. In fact we've created a bad example for Isabelle, but she's so fed up with us smoking, she claims she'll never start. Let's hope so!
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jillybromley		#20	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2442 07/03/08 21:47 Jilly in UK	Well, I'm sure your tiny bit of smoking does no harm to the ozone layer, girls! And anyway, a little bit of what you fancy does you good! And after a good laugh, back to topic! I received this link in an email tonight ... Guess which electronic piece of equipment you can run for three hours because of the energy savings of recycling just one aluminum can? Answer: A computer or a television set! Aluminum is the most abundant metal on Earth. It takes 95 percent less energy to make a new aluminum can from recycled aluminum cans. The aluminum can you recycle today will be back as a new aluminum can in 60-90 days. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/recycle-most-important-thing.html Also I just found out this week that our Borough has a recycle target of 80% and currently we are almost at that target at 79%. That mean that of all the household garbage and waste collected each week 79% of it goes for recycling. I reckon that's pretty good going!
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