All of the countries are discussing climate change. But what can we do ?

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
All the world needs to work together to help cut climate change. But as any journey begins with a small step what steps can we take. 

We’re already seeing fires, droughts, floods now so the future of our children and the future generations isn’t looking good.
I read articles and then get confused. Common sense says shop locally,eat seasonally, make things last. But for instance veganism is getting popular but they are still eating foods from the other side of the world. You see the ports full of containers waiting to be delivered and wonder how we’re ever going to achieve what’s needed.

I’m already eating less meat and trying to buy British. We’ve cut out bananas and citrus fruit and are trying to use less electricity.
We wear the life out of our clothes and then use for cleaning cloths if possible.

Please feel free to join in the discussion. 

Effician

We can do nought but prepare , sorry to say but every solution at the moment is fraught with it's own problems.

cuddlymarm

I think the main problem is that there’s no set time that it has to be achieved by. COVID was different, it really focused the mind when it affected everyone rich or poor money and talent was thrown at it.

Doom_and_Gloom

Waste less food. This is a big thing that is arguably one of the easiest ways to help combat climate change. The damage done by wasted food is ridiculous.

"In fact, if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, only after China and the US. So we’ve called this country Wasteland, and made a plan to wipe it out." - 
https://www.oddbox.co.uk/blog/welcome-to-wasteland-the-most-harmful-country-youve-never-heard-of.


Most people say about only filling the kettle with the amount of water you need to boil and that is a good idea. On the other side we fill the kettle and then put the extra in a thermos so we have hot water later when we need it. We do this all year round, not just in winter.

Wear your clothes (not undies or the like) more than once before putting it for wash. Avoid using a tumble drier as not only are these a heavy energy user they aren't friends to your clothes.

Turn off what you are not using, lights for example but a TV for another example is an item a lot of people have a habit of just leaving on even if they aren't watching it. Background noise.

Reuse things as much as possible. When we come across jars that are a good size for storage we keep them. 

Effician

Our small savings pale into insignificance in the grand scheme of things,  just take the carbon footprint of the climate activists effort to get to Glasgow, never mind the global elite/aides etc etc etc, everybody & their dog seems to be full of good intentions whilst consuming vast amounts of resources going about thier quest .

And all for what, to set a climate goal ( if we're lucky) that has no relevance for 30 yrs & if we're still a functioning society will be ignored anyway.

thriftwizard

Invest in a bike, and/or a shopping trolley. I've lost count of the times friends have told me, "I didn't have time to walk," or "I couldn't carry all this shopping home." So they've driven maybe half a mile, maybe only a couple of hundred yards, burning oil to do so. Then they'll drive off to the gym or yoga class to get some exercise...

Totally accepting that some people genuinely can't cycle or walk, for whatever reason, but those of us that can, should.

cuddlymarm

I’m not safe on a bike but have a shopping trolley. I try to walk as much as possible but in winter it’s not always possible, when it gets really windy it’s not safe.
Public transport could be cheaper, I only ever need a couple of stops but it still costs the same as the full journey.

Suffolksue

I do realise we’ve got to act now, but I would take all of the delegates more seriously if they hadn’t come to this ‘ jolly’from a good few days in Rome ,all with huge delegations and wives,and hangers on .
Have heard that Biden ‘s cavalcade was more than 30 cars long and the majority of the cars were flown in from the USA .
if the last 20 months has taught us anything,it’s that everything can be done on line or via Zoom etc .
hope all their food is from Scotland but doubt it so more air miles 
and then they lecture us ,one rule for them etc 
Rant over !

maryb

I don’t want to derail this into a discussion about veganism.  But I looked into the subject and came to the conclusion that a one size fits all response to greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture wasn’t appropriate for the UK where farming is very different from the US where a lot of the studies were done.  And there is suddenly a lot more interest in regenerative agriculture which means eating meat can be ok .  It’s not the cow, it’s the how.  Grass fed livestock and approaches such as maintaining soil health enables farming to act as a net absorber of carbon.  It is more expensive than cheap supermarket meat but the butcher I go to charges prices that are comparable with Waitrose.  So I use less meat but really enjoy it.

in fact I got the bus on Saturday with my wally trolley and went to a farmer’s market where he had a stall and got an absolutely gorgeous bit of lamb.  But it is being streeeeched till it pings.  Roast yesterday, shepherd’s pie tonight with chopped carrots to eke it out and then a split pea Dahl with the last scraps tomorrow .

There was a report a year or so ago by the Eat Lancet commission which came up with guidelines for a Planetary Health Diet.  I was translating their daily recommendations into weekly amounts and realised they seemed oddly familiar.  They are, in fact, remarkably similar to WW2 rations as regards animal protein.  It stands to reason that the amounts available as rations would be sustainable for the UK which had to try and be as efficient in producing food as possible.  I had some fun experimenting with trying to stick to rationed quantities for a week or two and found them to be more generous than I  had imagined.  

But it would be hard to do it long term.  However a compromise could be to try and be less extravagant in our use of ingredients.  If you look at old cookbooks from the 1970s portions were much smaller and dishes were less rich.  That doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t tasty.  I use a recipe for Queen of Puddings from my 1970 Good Housekeeping cookbook and everyone loves it.  But I compared it recently to a modern version of the recipe and it had much less sugar and fat.  I don’t think the modern recipe would actually be an improvement 

cuddlymarm

When I was a little girl my mum would really streeeeeetch one piece of meat ( usually lamb, sometimes chicken ) Sunday roast, Monday cold meat and chips, Tuesday a stew, Wednesday rissoles and Thursday soup and pud. No pasta, curries or chillies. The meat was local. My friends dad had a farm and supplied his brothers butcher 20 miles away. 

Simple food. My auntie made the most fabulous rice pudding and sweet pies. 

Steak was a treat for a meal out. Beef was for a pie or stew. 

Meals weren’t as big as now and we often had bread and butter alongside meals.
We could easily go back to eating like this. 

The main problem is that we’ve got used to strawberries in winter and fruits and veg that would never grow over here. You only need to listen to the whinging that’s going on about maybe a shortage of turkey at Christmas. So eat something else. Xmas dinner is nice, but it’s only a meal. 

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
Well the climate circus seems to be coming up with lots of ideas, aims and promises. We’ll just have to see.
On the up side OH is happy to cut down on meat ( which will be good for his health) and it might help the planet a little bit.
I know any things we do are a very very very tiny drop in the ocean.