50 Things the individual can do to help save the planet?

Del.Monte · 18-06-2019 05:11PM #1

In the forlorn hope that others may contribute their ideas in this forgotten backwater.

What can the individual do to reduce their impact on the planet and leave it in a better condition for their descendants? And, let's not take the defeatist attitude of some of our politicians that what difference does the action of one small country or one person make.

Exhibit .1. My Friends of the Earth bag - bought years before the plastic bag ban and still in regular use. The handles are giving up but I'm checking the bag in for a rebuild at a local mending shop this week. When/if it finally gives up, and I'm still above ground, I will cut it up into polishing clothes.

FOE%2Bbag%2B1.jpg

That's it, I've more posts planned but if there's no interest I won't bother posting again.

Harry Palmr · 18-06-2019 05:16PM

Learn to read the road, your fuel consumption will drop. It's also good for saving brakes and gearboxes!

Heat only as much water as you need.

Turn your back garden into a growing environment for something other than grass. You can feed yourself with all the greens you'll ever want for at least 6 months of any year. While onions store well

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 18-06-2019 05:18PM

The list is endless.

Leave uncut areas in your garden for wildlife.

Walk more, if possible.

Stop burning turf.

18-06-2019 05:23PM

Avoid single use plastics.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 18-06-2019 05:25PM

Check the insulation in your home and top it up.

Holiday at home.

Sleepy · 18-06-2019 05:25PM

Use bars of soap instead of shower gel. Far less packaging waste.

Del.Monte · 18-06-2019 06:06PM

Another of my feel-good products has to be Ecover washing up liquid. I walk the few yards to my local Health Food shop and get it refilled as required. This is only my second physical bottle in 12 years - the first would still be going strong but the bulk container in the shop ran out on one occasion a few years back and so a second had to be purchased. I now have a small standby container with an emergency supply.

This sort of bulk buying hasn't caught on in general down here (Co.Wexford) and, indeed, the availability of green/organic products has dwindled over the years especially in supermarkets such as Dunnes. Their loss not mine, as I now do the least amount possible of my shopping in any supermarket.

baaba maal · 19-06-2019 09:12AM

And to add to the stop burning turf idea- if you are buying compost, look (and more importantly ask the staff for) peat-free compost. The likes of B&Q have a policy to phase it out but others are lagging behind.

crisco10 · 19-06-2019 09:18AM

If you've a baby, use cloth nappies instead of disposables. Ireland alone sends ~1 million plastic nappies to landfill a day..

(And before anyone asks, it's not as gross as it sounds!)

baaba maal · 19-06-2019 09:26AM

crisco10 wrote: »

If you've a baby, use cloth nappies instead of disposables. Ireland alone sends ~1 million plastic nappies to landfill a day..

(And before anyone asks, it's not as gross as it sounds!)

Indeed, a very good not-for-profit scheme exists supporting this:
http://www.clothnappylibrary.ie/

Del.Monte · 20-06-2019 10:52AM

1. Turn off the tap while washing your teeth.

2. Toilets: I know it's an old one and a lot of people don't like the idea but there's a lot to be said for - if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down. Every flush uses between 3.5 and 1.5 gallons of water depending on the age of the toilet, with modern systems using far less than older types. Even one less flush per day by every family in the State would save a huge quantity of treated water!

3. Take a shower instead of a bath and reduce the time you spend in the shower. Saves water and electricity bills.

4. Fix dripping traps as soon as you notice them.

5. Install rainwater barrels to catch water from your gutters for reuse in the garden.

6. Only use your washing machine when you have a full load ditto your dishwasher.

Lots more water saving ideas here: https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/

nigra · 21-06-2019 09:53PM

Admittedly these may not be the easiest things the individual could do to save the planet as there is an element of sacrifice involved...

1. Drink water, not tea or coffee.

Do you really need a hot drink? It must leave a hell of a carbon footprint as it takes a godawful amount of energy to boil the water, grow / transport /process the tea or coffee. Then it has to get to you and then theres the energy that goes into producing the kettle. And don't get me started on the throwaway coffee cups.

2. Take the toaster challenge. Give away your toaster. Humans don't need toast.

Either there is a climate emergency or there is not. Seems to me that a lot of people pay lip service to the whole idea of a climate emergency . Want to pay more than lip service? then say goodbye to hot brown water and partly burnt bread. (And say hello to integrity!)

Capt'n Midnight · 22-06-2019 12:50PM

nigra wrote: »

Admittedly these may not be the easiest things the individual could do to save the planet as there is an element of sacrifice involved...

1. Drink water, not tea or coffee.

Do you really need a hot drink? It must leave a hell of a carbon footprint as it takes a godawful amount of energy to boil the water, grow / transport /process the tea or coffee. Then it has to get to you and then theres the energy that goes into producing the kettle. And don't get me started on the throwaway coffee cups.

I moved from an electric kettle to using a kettle on a gas ring.

Because the "waste heat"goes to heating the house most of the year it's not wasted. More importantly it reduces the temptation to turn on the central heating in spring and autumn.

If you have money to burn you can get special kettles that maximise the heat transfer from gas.

Or there's the old volcano kettle that runs on renewable biomass.

Graces7 · 22-06-2019 01:19PM

nigra wrote: »

Admittedly these may not be the easiest things the individual could do to save the planet as there is an element of sacrifice involved...

1. Drink water, not tea or coffee.

Do you really need a hot drink? It must leave a hell of a carbon footprint as it takes a godawful amount of energy to boil the water, grow / transport /process the tea or coffee. Then it has to get to you and then theres the energy that goes into producing the kettle. And don't get me started on the throwaway coffee cups.

2. Take the toaster challenge. Give away your toaster. Humans don't need toast.

Either there is a climate emergency or there is not. Seems to me that a lot of people pay lip service to the whole idea of a climate emergency . Want to pay more than lip service? then say goodbye to hot brown water and partly burnt bread. (And say hello to integrity!)

shaking my head... There are far more effective ways. gozunda posted an item on another thread about how much you save my eg giving up on a car, washing clothes by hand and in cold water, using a washbasin instead of a bath or shower. all of which I have been doing for years. Oh and no dishwasher etc. Or central heating.

Graces7 · 22-06-2019 01:23PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

I moved from an electric kettle to using a kettle on a gas ring.

Because the "waste heat"goes to heating the house most of the year it's not wasted. More importantly it reduces the temptation to turn on the central heating in spring and autumn.

If you have money to burn you can get special kettles that maximise the heat transfer from gas.

Or there's the old volcano kettle that runs on renewable biomass.

agree re using the gas. I do that and use almost no heating ever now. I use one gas bottle every three months, E30 and that does almost all my cooking. I do not own an electric kettle

.It is each to his/her own way of saving resources. Maybe eat raw food? yum

nigra · 01-08-2019 06:36PM

Another way to do your bit:

If, like me, you have to drive, then drive slower.

A very easy way to decrease fuel use is to drive more slowly. I'll let the internet explain' Air resistance (drag) increases with the square of speed, and therefore the power needed to push an object through air increases with the cube of the velocity . If a car cruising on the highway at 80 km/h requires 30 kilowatts to overcome air drag, that same car will require 240 kilowatts at a speed of 160 km/h. Thus, a vehicle needs 8 times the engine power to reach twice the speed. In principle, this means that fuel consumption will increase fourfold (not eightfold, because the faster vehicle exerts the power only over half the time).'

A few years ago Spain temporarily decreased its maximum speed limit to 110km/hr in order to save petrol consumption. It would be nice to see a little follow through from our politicians on their opportunistic 'Climate Emergency' declaration. A token decrease in our maximum speed limit here to 110km/hr would seem to be a painless start.

Alf Veedersane · 01-08-2019 06:40PM

Get an electricity monitor. They're an eye opener in terms of seeing when usage spikes and how much it spikes by.

Blacktie. · 02-08-2019 08:12AM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Get an electricity monitor. They're an eye opener in terms of seeing when usage spikes and how much it spikes by.

Is there much to them in terms of installation? Any recommendations?

Alf Veedersane · 02-08-2019 08:30AM

Blacktie. wrote: »

Is there much to them in terms of installation? Any recommendations?

There are usually 3 main components: theres a sensor clamp that clamps around the wire from the meter into the house and that's connected to a transmitter. Inside there is the display. The installation usually takes about 5 mins.

The 3 off the top of my head are the Owl, Eco Eye and Smappee.

They're basic enough - I just have an Owl because I really just wanted to get a handle on the levels but the readings were probably close enough; tried calibrating by turning on items like kettle and electricity shower to see what it read.

You can download the data then as well and it gives the kW readings, for example, every minute. Also gives temperature. You can set it up so that you can turn the kW into cost or CO2 numbers as well.

The Owl and Eco Eye are about €50-60. Smappee might be twice that but not sure what additional you get

bladespin · 02-08-2019 08:33AM

Plant a tree.

Alf Veedersane · 02-08-2019 08:45AM

Cheap and easy one: insulate your attic. If the house is more than 15 years old (roughly), it will likely have no more than 4 inches /100 mm of wool insulation. You should at least double but ideally triple that.

If you have a gas or oil -fired boiler for heating, get it serviced regularly.

50 Things the individual can do to help save the planet?

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