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Living a more sustainable life in a climate change emergency

Gangu

Living a more sustainable life in a climate change emergency

We are a small family in Dublin. Like many I have to come increasingly aware of the need to change our way of living (thanks Gretter, the guardian and Twitter). We have made some changes such as stopping buying plastic bottles, switching to keep cups, composting, recycling clothes et cetera.

I am sure we could do more. It would be great to have a thread here on boards giving practical tips to ordinary people and families about practical (as opposed to political) changes that they can make to switch to a more sustainable life.

Do you have any tips?

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endacl

denismc wrote: »

let some of your garden grow wild.

Easiest thing ever. Literally do nothing!

[Deleted User]

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with Penney's clothes. I've been wearing them for years and they're grand. Obviously not as good as some more expensive brands but they do last (and some of the more expensive stuff is similar quality or worse than Penney's stuff, I've found). I have stuff, I've had years that I still wear and it's holding up well.

The problem is that people treat it as disposable because it's cheap but that doesn't mean it is disposable.

Yeah I know , some of their clothes are good .......but look at the shelves of products , tanning mitts, wipes, plastic bottles of cleansers, creams , makeup, all wrapped and displayed in plastic, all shipped from the far side of the world.

The availability and vast range of products is what encourages waste . We don’t need all this stuff in our lives! Cheap shops encourage this culture of mass consumer spending and waste .

Ubbquittious

There has to be something to be said for withdrawing all your savings and storing them as cash. Because of how the fractional reserve banking system works this will cause the brakes to be applied to the capitalist merry go round.*

*Though in reality vested interests will lobby the ECB to make more funds available

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah I know , some of their clothes are good .......but look at the shelves of products , tanning mitts, wipes, plastic bottles of cleansers, creams , makeup, all wrapped and displayed in plastic, all shipped from the far side of the world.

The availability and vast range of products is what encourages waste . We don’t need all this stuff in our lives! Cheap shops encourage this culture of mass consumer spending and waste .[/QUOTE]

Interesting angle. Inexpensive shops enable eg pensioners to cope with a small income. I buy almost none of what you list but use "pound shops" rather than pay higher prices for my needs. Paying e1.50 for eg a casserole as against far far more in even tesco? Thankful for dealz; whose food is also far far cheaper than elsewhere.

Graces7

An interesting angle on thrift shops, from a UK forum

They send bales of clothing that will not sell here to Africa and the clothing industry there are complaining that this is destroying their livelihood,

people who buy the castoffs cannot afford new clothes.

Much the same as here

Macha

What role does growing inequality and wage stagnation have on the drive to produce every cheaper good and food?

Ubbquittious

Macha wrote: »

What role does growing inequality and wage stagnation have on the drive to produce every cheaper good and food?

One is probably the result of the other. If people all decided to turn their back on the mass produced stuff and the cheap food that lines the pockets of distributors and supermarkets we would be better off financially in the long run. The only place it might come back to bite us is pension. Lots of big companies are heavily invested in by pension funds

The J Stands for Jay

cutelad wrote: »

Let your garden grow wild? Ah here your mad.

What's mad about that? Your lawnmower is highly polluting, the bees will like it, and perfect lawns look weird. A lot less effort to pull the ugliest of the weeds than to be mowing every weekend.

Macha

McGaggs wrote: »

What's mad about that? Your lawnmower is highly polluting, the bees will like it, and perfect lawns look weird. A lot less effort to pull the ugliest of the weeds than to be mowing every weekend.

Blind Boy did a brilliant podcast on this not too long ago:
https://www.theblindboypodcast.com/episode/tiocfaidh-ar-lawn/

I'm mad keen on the seed bomb idea now.

Ubbquittious

McGaggs wrote: »

What's mad about that? Your lawnmower is highly polluting, the bees will like it, and perfect lawns look weird. A lot less effort to pull the ugliest of the weeds than to be mowing every weekend.

The lawnmower isn't inherently that terribly polluting the problem is ones that are badly tuned and running rich are spewing out unburnt fuel. But because of the race to the bottom nobody really looks after their lawnmower anymore, don't bother changing the oil, tuning the carb or cleaning the deck and just run to woodies every couple of years for a new one.

Graces7

Ubbquittious wrote: »

One is probably the result of the other. If people all decided to turn their back on the mass produced stuff and the cheap food that lines the pockets of distributors and supermarkets we would be better off financially in the long run. The only place it might come back to bite us is pension. Lots of big companies are heavily invested in by pension funds

.. that also enables folk on a very small income to eat.

PS someone was talking re dealz as if the products there were bad? There is also Mr Price.selling "branded bargains". good brands very inexpensive. I miss them now I am housebound.

Graces7

Ubbquittious wrote: »

The lawnmower isn't inherently that terribly polluting the problem is ones that are badly tuned and running rich are spewing out unburnt fuel. But because of the race to the bottom nobody really looks after their lawnmower anymore, don't bother changing the oil, tuning the carb or cleaning the deck and just run to woodies every couple of years for a new one.

We grew up with push lawnmowers and came to no harm..

[Deleted User]

Ubbquittious wrote: »

The lawnmower isn't inherently that terribly polluting the problem is ones that are badly tuned and running rich are spewing out unburnt fuel. But because of the race to the bottom nobody really looks after their lawnmower anymore, don't bother changing the oil, tuning the carb or cleaning the deck and just run to woodies every couple of years for a new one.

A problem that will disappear when battery electric mowers become common, the only problem is that manufacturers will play their usual trick of limiting their working lives to ensure a steady supply of repeat purchases.

This is of course something that affects all forms of consumerism.

Ubbquittious

Graces7 wrote: »

We grew up with push lawnmowers and came to no harm..

I wonder who came up with the daft idea first day of planting a load of inedible (for human) plants outside the house and spending a good bit of time and energy trying to keep it short

[Deleted User]

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I wonder who came up with the daft idea first day of planting a load of inedible (for human) plants outside the house and spending a good bit of time and energy trying to keep it short

Someone wealthy enough not to need to grow food in their gardens and could pay someone else to keep it. Just think about the gardens that are around many a stately home.

Graces7

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I wonder who came up with the daft idea first day of planting a load of inedible (for human) plants outside the house and spending a good bit of time and energy trying to keep it short

When I was born, folk were "digging for victory" .. I don't mind lawns as much as the modern "gardens" with a great huge ROCK sitting amidships...

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

Someone wealthy enough not to need to grow food in their gardens and could pay someone else to keep it. Just think about the gardens that are around many a stately home.

The "landed gentry " are the last people to think re sustainability :eek: and they all had kitchen gardens, walled gardens with espalier peaches and grew pineapples in pits etc. at least they provided employment...

[Deleted User]

Graces7 wrote: »

The "landed gentry " are the last people to think re sustainability :eek: and they all had kitchen gardens, walled gardens with espalier peaches and grew pineapples in pits etc. at least they provided employment...

Yes, I forgot about the kitchen gardens to the side of the stately homes, I was just thinking about the formal gardens front and back.

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes, I forgot about the kitchen gardens to the side of the stately homes, I was just thinking about the formal gardens front and back.

I used to visit Chatsworth and the other great houses in my youth
..
Kylemore Abbey are still rebuilding the garden complex there. In great and exact detail and employing many local folk.

we owe many of our native plants etc to these great gardens.

Just feasted here on early pickings of my garden greens... a great feeling... sustainable living is great

Del.Monte

Can't be bothered to start a new thread on this, but has anything positive been done by our government since they declared a climate emergency?

[Deleted User]

Apart from complaining about what's happening in Brazil(slash and burn farming), nothing from what I can see.

cutelad

I was listening on the radio the other week the Green guy Cuffe saying Galway does not need a bypass but folks from Barna should bus it to Oranmore and such places for work. Really shows the Greens are a Dublin party. They are an embarrassment.

ohographite

cutelad wrote: »

I was listening on the radio the other week the Green guy Cuffe saying Galway does not need a bypass but folks from Barna should bus it to Oranmore and such places for work. Really shows the Greens are a Dublin party. They are an embarrassment.

It isn't just in Dublin. Connemara's first green councillor doesn't want a bypass for Galway either, according to this:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/connemaras-first-green-councillor-stop-600m-galway-ring-road-927357.html

I'm personally not against the Galway bypass, but I wouldn't call it an embarrassment for the green party to oppose this, since this article notes that only 3% of Galway car traffic wants to bypass the city, and suggests providing better public transport(including light rail) would be better.
It has a few fair points:

https://www.advertiser.ie/Galway/article/106009/climate-change-means-city-bypass-will-add-to-not-solve-galways-traffic-problems

Overall, I wouldn't say it would be a bad investment though. It's just understandable that the greens would oppose it.

ohographite

To return to the original purpose of this thread, here is a piece of advice on how to live more sustainably:

Attend protests for sustainability, which are held from time to time in Dublin City Centre, as this will help show there is public support to make society more sustainable.

The next one that will happen is called the Global Climate Strike.
The main Dublin branch of this protest will take place on 20th September outside the Custom House at 12:00 noon(with a march to merrion square involved).
It is considered a strike for schoolchildren, BUT anyone else is very welcome to take time off work(if they are working) and join in to support the school strike.

Here is a link to the other protests in Ireland which will be held as part of the Global Climate Strike:

https://www.stopclimatechaos.ie/takeaction

Benny mcc

LastLagoon wrote: »

My advice would be to travel as much as you can and enjoy the nice things petrochemicals have allowed us to experience. We are not going to turn it around ,it’s already too late and people will not be able to make the sacrifices required which are extreme and not even really being broached by the protestors as they know it will put the majority off. Any political party advocating what actually needs to be done (as opposed to making empty gestures like declaring a climate emergency) would be destroyed.
I’m going about my life as normal but fully expect to experience severe hardship and to see people dying of starvation in current first world countries in my lifetime.

This is the only post here that says it as it is.
There is no turn back I'm afraid and if you are very naive and think that we as a race would all get to the same way of thinking well best of luck to you my friends. We are human and that there is the problem, we want all the nice things and we want them fast . It's going and we're going with it and faster the trip is getting . When we're gon old mother earth will start to 're grow and best of luck to her. Enjoy what you have for now!!

ohographite

Benny mcc wrote: »

This is the only post here that says it as it is.
There is no turn back I'm afraid and if you are very naive and think that we as a race would all get to the same way of thinking well best of luck to you my friends. We are human and that there is the problem, we want all the nice things and we want them fast . It's going and we're going with it and faster the trip is getting . When we're gon old mother earth will start to 're grow and best of luck to her. Enjoy what you have for now!!

The school strikes happening worldwide show there is public support for a more sustainable society. A lot of inaction by governments(including our own) on this issue is, I believe, not supported by the general public, and I have reason to believe the inaction is caused by the fossil fuel industry's lobbying of governments(once again, including our own).

If we stop looking for any more reserves of fossil fuels, and forget about burning some reserves we've found already, then there is a chance to turn back.
The majority of our government support doing this, but a small group of its members has so far been successful in blocking a bill that would ban it.

However, I accept that the chances that we will turn back before it's too late are very slim.
We still shouldn't give up though, and there are plenty of people out there(myself included) who will keep trying for as long as they can.

To return to the original purpose of this thread, it is still worth a try to live a more sustainable life.
Nobody knows for sure if it's too late.

bilbot79

If every person in the world planTed one tree in their lives....

[Deleted User]

If every person complained to manufacturers about planned & perceived obsolescence and demanded products that were durable, repairable and long lasting, we would make huge headways into reducing waste at evert level of the production chain.

Capt'n Midnight

bilbot79 wrote: »

If every person in the world planTed one tree in their lives....

Would need to be a lot closer to 100 trees each.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6448/76.full?ijkey=OxoPlV/Tcl1Ao&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

Ecosystems could support an additional 0.9 billion hectares of continuous forest. This would represent a greater than 25% increase in forested area, including more than 500 billion trees and more than 200 gigatonnes of additional carbon at maturity. Such a change has the potential to cut the atmospheric carbon pool by about 25%.

cutelad

Deleted User wrote: »

If every person complained to manufacturers about planned & perceived obsolescence and demanded products that were durable, repairable and long lasting, we would make huge headways into reducing waste at evert level of the production chain.

Yep. Lets all go to the manufacturers Saturday and do that. Yawn