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[QnA] Thinking of changing my lifestyle to more sustainable and eco-friendly one as a new year resolution. What can I do?
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Basically I want to transition to eco-friendly and sustinable lifestyle. But changing suddenly seems difficult and I want to make sure i succeed and keep the habits for long time, not just a couple of months. I think I'll start small and change 1 or 2 habits every week. My first weeks goal is to start using ink pens instead of use and throw pens to cut down unnecessary plastic waste and delete junk emails that take up serves spaces and energy. Both are aimed at reducing unnecessary contributed CO2 emissions. What are some similar small steps that I can take initially?
Also suggest some big steps that I should eventually aim towards? I have the idea that I should recycle, grow my own food, not waste, live frugal etc etc. I need it broken down into actionable steps so that it would collectively be able to checklist them and not just have them in mind and never do them.
Thanks for your time and efforts!!
Edit 1: A lot of you are suggesting to avoid meat. My entire household is already vegetarian(due to relegion) and I'm moving towards vegan. I use heavy rail for almost all my trips which runs on electricity. I walk for short trips upto 2.5kms. I don't own a car. I am actively trying to reduce my consumption and reuse whatever possible. Recycling hasn't been entirely possible because all kinds of waste management systems are not in place yet. But I still want to make better choices. These were kind of obvious and come up on a simple Google search too. I want to make sure I'm a carbon neutral person by 2024 and that I don't generate wastes that can be actively avoided by better choices. Like one I'm including is getting rechargeable batteries instead of pencil cells. That helps reduce my waste.
But I'll still do an LCA or EIAA to make sure it helps. Sometimes what looks green actually isn't always green. I have read somewhere that recycle paper plates without plastic lining are actually better than chinaware. The reason was glass needs to be blown at high temperatures and thin china takes more time so more direct burning of fuels. Plus we end up washing it over life so a lot of water and soap enters ecosystem. Which was less than what it took to recycle paper and make plates which is how they're typically done. Obviously the comparison was for a 1000 meals or so to make it equal functional unit. A lot of you suggested bamboo toothbrushes too. I'll do the same for those too. Because I don't want that to be a reason for deforestation or something similar. Will keep you updated about the studies\exercises.
For some context and better understanding. I'm 24M, from Mumbai, India. I have a B. Tech in civil engineering and I'm doing masters in infrastructure engineering and management.
Edit 2 : Screenshot for CO2 saved on emails deleted
Might not be accurate but sure seems good enough. Somehow I had around a thousand subscriptions I've unsubscribed around 350 and the app has automatically deleted those emails. Close to 14k mails. Crazy. Might actually reduce a ton of emission.
Top Comment:
This is so exciting! Good on you for wanting to make a change! I have a lot of suggestions that I really think you’ll like.
- Buy products from Etsy as opposed to Amazon, the company is carbon neutral, the businesses are small (thus generally more sustainable), and the items are either handmade or vintage. Just be sure not to get scammed lol, perhaps stick to shopping in your continent. I also know this isn’t necessarily an option if you don’t have the money.
- Stop eating meat. If you can’t make the commitment, maybe start flexitarian, then pescatarian, then vegetarian, then vegan if you’re able.
- Stop using plastic bags and cling wrap! They make great reusable silicone baggies and bowl/dish covers. The key here is silicone, although plastic is alright if that’s all you can afford. Once again, I recommend Etsy for low waste items like these.
- Buy any new clothing, dishes, etc second-hand. A big piece of a sustainable earth is a circular economy. Don’t buy new unless you have to (but also, you’re human, don’t feel ashamed if you treat yourself once in a blue moon.
- If you wash your face and/or need to remove makeup, use reusable cotton rounds with micellar water (for makeup removal) or cotton face towels. Basically, don’t use any single use items on your face anymore.
- Switch to toothpaste in an aluminum tube, like Hey Human toothpaste (I think that’s the brand name?).
- If you want a single serve drink, purchase the ones not in plastic. For example, if you need a pre-made coffee, buy Starbucks in the glass containers instead of Dunkin in the plastic. Same goes for teas and juices, Nantucket Nectars, Honest Tea, and Snapple are a toss up, sometimes they’re plastic but other times they are glass.
- Bring a reusable cup when you get coffee or tea. I do admit this is less convenient and not very possible right now with the pandemic.
- Refuse plastic silverware during takeout, bring your own from home or purchase non-plastic collapsible ones.
- I could be off about this one, but from my experience, powder laundry detergent comes in less plastic than liquid. Plus, let’s be honest, the liquid is a waste of water. Alternatively they make eco-friendly pods or sheets, but that can get pricey fast imo.
- Buy your chapstick and deodorant in compostable packaging. Some companies like Old Spice and Dove are slowly implementing this, but also you can look to Etsy.
- See if any products you use have a return program, either with Terracyle or on their own. The production of plastic is bad in and of itself however this is a good way to get rid of the packaging you already have or that other people have who won’t make the switch.
- Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shave cream...all of it can be found in bar form. If you’re interested, I can send you the link to the shampoo bar I use, it’s super amazing.
- If you get soft plastic bags for any reason (bread, shopping, toilet paper packaging, etc) you can return them to most stores and they’ll get recycled. Usually there’s a spot for them next to the trash and regular recycling. Target, Walmart, and Costco all do bag recycling for sure.
- Turn off lights when you don’t need them
- If you have the money, opt for bamboo toilet paper.
- Bring your own takeout containers to restaurants instead of using their single-use plastic/styrofoam ones
- Donate and sell your old items before just trashing them, if you really must get rid of them to begin with
- Buy in bulk, it’s less plastic overall. For example, if you eat yogurt, buy the large 48oz tub instead of the individual servings.
- A lot of local recycling programs (in the USA) accept most plastics nowadays. I’m talking shampoo bottles, cleaning supply bottles, plastic coffee cups, yogurt containers, and anything else with a number of 1-7. I checked with my local recycling plant, check with yours before you trash the plastics you have. Once again, avoiding plastics to begin with is better, but if you have them at least try to recycle them.
- Compost! Food in landfills don’t break down well and end up producing methane.
- They make slightly more sustainable cotton swabs that really aren’t more expensive than the regular. I personally don’t favor the reusable silicone ones.
- This one’s tiny and a given, but I’ll still say it—reusable straws.
- Stop buying napkins and paper towels, use reusable napkins and rags instead
- Also a given, but—reusable shopping bags are a must. /any bag that won’t break on you, you don’t have to go out and buy new things.
- If you buy produce/veggies, buy them individually (instead of in prepackaged plastic) and use reusable mesh baggies.
- Buy cleaning concentrates that mix with water in reusable bottles instead of buying pre-made stuff.
- Make the switch to plant milk instead of dairy, or at least lower your consumption of dairy (Say you buy 1 gallon of milk a week, maybe switch to half a gallon regular milk and half a gallon plant milk).
- If you have the time and energy, make your own snacks instead of buying prepackaged ones. For example, air pop your own popcorn kernals instead of buying microwave popcorn.
- Buy jam/jelly in glass containers instead of plastic. Same goes for pasta sauce and, well, anything else that comes in a jar.
- Bulk stores, if they happen to be near you, are your friend.
- Borrow/rent instead of buying when you can, such as suits or dresses.
Hope these help! I may pop in to edit in more later.
Is there a sub on how live a more "Green" (eco-friendly) life?
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I'm looking for something that would have news about eco-friendly topics (energy consumption, food, clothes, eco-friendly brands), tips, political discussions, etc. Thanks.
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r/zerowaste is interesting. Might be a little extreme for what you're looking for though. And then there's the enormous r/environment, and their big list of related subs
60 frugal ways to be more environmentally friendly.
Main Post: 60 frugal ways to be more environmentally friendly.
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I spent a good [10] minutes doing research into why cloth is more environmentally friendly than paper since it seemed so absurd for me to discard a cloth every time I needed to wipe something down. Then I felt stupid.
How can I become a more eco-friendly person without going over the top?
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So, I try my best. I'm not vegan or vegetarian or anything like that. I recycle, I try to reduce my waste and reuse things whenever possible. I don't wanna be that person who carries a reusable straw because regular straws are a waste, or anything over the top like that, per se. If that's you, AWESOME! That's not a bad thing... I'm just not ready to get that deep into it just yet. But what are some quick things I can do that will reduce my environmental impact without reducing my quality of life or making my life significantly more difficult or expensive?
TIA! :)
Top Comment:
Reshape your thinking.
Example 1: Someone suggested you use reusable bags, so you ordered brand new ones on Amazon (it's okay, I did the exact same thing last year). When presented with a need, rather than feeding into the cycle of consumerism, take a step back and ask yourself:
- Is it really a need at all? If yes,
- Do you have something already that can do the trick?
- Can you make or borrow something that will fill that need?
- Can you thrift something to fill that need?
If the rest of those was no (truly no, not just lazy/inconvenient no), buy new. Try shopping local before shopping online though, to reduce your contribution to shipping packaging waste.
Example 2: They also suggested reducing meat consumption, and you were quick to shut it down. Reduction isn't abolition, though. Could you cut down on how much/how frequently you eat meat? If you're doing chili, maybe you could do half ground beef and half TVP. Maybe you could do two vegan dinners per week. Don't look at it as denying yourself your pleasures - look at it as making compromises between your wants and the environment's needs. Shopping at local butchers can also help.
And please, don't regard people who are willing to do more to help the environment than you as "over the top". Even though you say their efforts are AwEsOmE, it's belittling to imply that they are in some way going "too far". I also recommend doing some introspection regarding why you think avoiding any form of minor inconveniences is somehow more important than the environment.
ELI5: What can I do to be more environmentally friendly in my day to day life?
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Other than just getting a more gas efficient car, what can I do normally and what can I go out of my way to do to help play my part?
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Bike more. It's arguably the most energy efficient means of human transportation and has a low carbon footprint (you have to account for the energy required to make the bike and transport it to you).
Take navy showers - use water on demand, so if you don't have a push button shower head, then turn the water on and soak down, then turn the water off. Lather up, then turn the shower on to rinse.
Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL, FL, LED, and low pressure sodium lights. That last one might not be terribly accessible to the consumer market (they're used in street lamps and cast that amber color that washes out all other colors, but there's nothing more efficient).
Keep your fridge well stocked; more mass can absorb more heat, so your fridge cycles less. Keep the top and the back of the fridge clear so air can circulate; your fridge dissipates heat through these two surfaces.
Reduce your waste output. If you're throwing food away, for example, you need to examine why you're wasting food, money, time, and the resources required to acquire that food. You should be generating more recyclables than trash.
Don't throw away old clothes and belongings. DONATE EVERYTHING. Allow someone else to reuse them. Also, this is how you get a substantial donation writeoff on your taxes. I just donated even a set of table legs, of all the random things; you can assign a dollar value to anything...
Insulate your house. Use light shingles to reflect heat (collecting heat through your roof has no bearing on heating your house in the winter, as there should be substantial insulation between your roof and living space, but in the summer it can be a big negative contribution).
Cool yourself in the summer, warm yourself in the winter, not the whole house. A wet towel around your neck will help cool you. Wear sweaters and sit on heating pads, use heated blankets in the winter. Ceiling fans are meant to be used year around, blow down hot air in the winter and pull up cold air in the summer.
Crock pots and pressure cookers are the most energy efficient means of cooking practically accessible to the conventional kitchen. Induction stoves are the most efficient, but prohibitively expensive; pot skirts make your neighbors look at you funny because they're just foreign to Americans, and insulated pot sinks and compartments are a rarity these days (think of a thermos you put your whole pot in once you get it to boiling, you can maintain most of that temperature for hours, but you just don't see these things anymore). Pressure cookers are also stupid fast.
Turn off your electronics. Don't just let your computer idle, hell, don't let them sit in standby, either! The XBox 360 consumes 25 Watts an hour TURNED OFF. Any device that can turn on by a remote needs to consume energy to power the receiving circuitry, and some devices can be embarrassingly inefficient. Put things on a power strip and turn the strip off, start with your entertainment system and then your desktop computers. Don't worry about cell phone chargers, that one is an urban legend (it takes very sensitive and expensive equipment to measure the parasitic loss these things incur, fractions of a penny a year if you have a dozen plugged in at all times).
Buy things that last. It takes more to buy a piece of shit once a year for ten years than it does to buy a good thing for a decade.
Advocate. Many people don't know or can't be bothered, but can be educated or influenced to contribute themselves. Muck through the FUD and bullshit and organize political efforts to promote actual solutions.
43 Eco-Friendly Products to Save the Planet
Main Post: 43 Eco-Friendly Products to Save the Planet
Top Comment:
To me this is just greenwashing...a shopping list to help you is not what I consider zero waste.
Not buying, or buying used is what I consider zero waste.
This article is just advertising
What do you do in your life to be more eco-friendly?
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Currently, I have a compost bin outside, one inside, use beeswax wrap (not all the time but on occasion) to wrap up unused vegetables, not take plastic utensils when I get food togo, etc.
I've been conscious about the environment ever since I started going to college. However, sometimes, I find it hard to keep up with going green 100%. What are some easy things you find yourself doing that is also helping the environment?
Top Comment:
I try and make more conscious decisions at the grocery store, is it wrapped in plastic is there a different version of it I can get that has no or less plastic?
I recycle everything I can.
I buy food from the bulk section of sprouts and bring my own (pre-weighed) reusable containers.
I avoid straws when I eat out.
I avoid eating at places that use Styrofoam or don't order the items that do (I.e. no drinks at chik-fil-a).
I go shopping on non peak hours so there's less fuel being used in stop and go traffic.
In the winter House temperature is set as low as my more sensitive pets can handle (67°F) in the summer open and close windows and blinds strategically for minimal A/C usage.