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

maryb

It looks like Tesco will allow you to recycle a lot of the sort of soft plastics you just had to chuck out before, like crisp packets.  I've always recycled the plastic that has a 4 symbol in the supermarket carrier bag recycling but anything that made a crinkling noise had to go in landfill.  It'll be good if you can recycle more.  I realised they were doing this when I bought a pot of cream from Tesco and instead of saying the film lid couldn't be recycled it said that it could.   I need to check when I next go in exactly what they will take 

Coffeekup

cuddlymarm said:

That doesn’t mean we should just give up. Any positive comments guys ?

Ok I admit I got carried away as it looked like this thread was going down hill. So here is my tuppence....

I live alone with my special needs daughter who is now a teenager, I work part time In retail so income is low which changed the way i look at things, which in turn helps me/us to live within a better "carbon footprint"…. 

*I don't drive as I can't afford to. However I see more of the world as I walk everywhere....enough said

*Make your own meals from scratch, compared with ready made meals/take away. You can make the same thing for half the price, it's more tasty and you get 3-4 times the amount of food/meals, and far less packaging waste and what u do get can usually be recycled. Old jam jars get re-used, as do a few other items like roses choc boxes.

*I don't buy drink's that come in can's, plastic bottles, working in retail has opened my eyes just to how quick it comes in and goes.... Only to walk home and find a them thrown in the hedge or river.

*Old toy's/clothes get sold, handed in to charity or handed doN. Unless clothes too tatty for anyone to have I'll keep and either use it to dry my hands after dirty work in the garden or to clean windows/floors. 

* As budget is tight what I buy is from a charity shop's, not that I buy much, but things get a second life then.

*I grow my own veg, although I'm no where near self sufficient, this year for example I didn't have to buy any lettuces, mixed leaves, radishes, courgette, chard and potatoes this summer. I consider this a win as they all come wrapped in plastic, and money saved. I also reduced the amount of punnets or strawberry/blackberry and blueberries I normally buy too.

*As our diet it pretty much vegetarian and food waste gets composted on the garden compost heap.
Paper envelopes, brown cardboard all go into my compost too, along with the neighbours either side of me (I need more brown material in the summer to balance the green)... I also have a water butt, which is better water for the garden then tap water.

*I turn off all switches when I leave the house or go to bed.. I have been a keen energy watcher for a few years taking readings monthly I know my year's usage for gas and electric, I also know my daily KWh averages for each month of the year. 

There is a few more things I do and few more thing I could do, some are expensive and unachievable, some more achievable.

With inflation coming in I see it as a good thing, as people will buy what they can afford and look after what they have better/longer (well I'd like to think so). For me however who has made cut backs over the years, and is on less income I have less room to wriggle and cut back.

skogar

Coffeekup - I enjoyed both your posts, a really interesting read.

I thought I'd grow some lettuces this year - they grew great and the one I got which the slugs hadn't eaten was nice. grrrrr It sounds like you did a lot better than I did. My fruit bushes are still establishing but  I did get some red currants and blackcurrants this year which was nice and the amount of raspberries is gradually increasing. Still a lot of work to do on the garden here. I'm aiming at a fruit garden and growing own salad but type stuff eventually. I have got the water butts as I have aquired some freebies but not connected yet. My little christmas trees are still very small as well but the advantage is that it will be very fast to decorate. It will need to go on a coffee table so it can be seen!

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
As a prepper and of a certain age I don’t buy fast fashion. So much so that I’ve got years of holiday snaps with the same t shirts, dresses etc. I’ve got 2 skirts about to be consigned to the cleaning cupboard but I just keep getting one more wear and then another then another. They are not going out clothes now though.
We haven’t any outside space but veg peels and spare salad get made into soup.
I’ve really cut back on electricity and we’ve not needed the heat on yet.
We would love to get an electric car but they are too expensive and not realistic as we live in a flat.

The main problem is many people won’t want to spend money, even if they can afford it. Or be inconvenienced. Only when it starts to affect them will anything might be done. 

Coffeekup

skogar said:

Coffeekup - I enjoyed both your posts, a really interesting read.

I thought I'd grow some lettuces this year - they grew great and the one I got which the slugs hadn't eaten was nice. grrrrr It sounds like you did a lot better than I did. My fruit bushes are still establishing but  I did get some red currants and blackcurrants this year which was nice and the amount of raspberries is gradually increasing. Still a lot of work to do on the garden here. I'm aiming at a fruit garden 

Thanks....

Best of luck with your garden... Have a look at Charles Dowding or Huw Richards on you tube, both very inspiring and insightful "no dig" gardener's.

mandy47

Over the last few years I have really cut down on single use plastic.
 Cotton buds are now paper and I only buy them if they are in a cardboard box.
No more liquid soap, we use bars that are wrapped in paper same with shampoo.
I have a few more toothbrushes to use then I'm switching to bamboo.
Use foil and tupperware (years old) instead of cling film.
Dishwasher tabs in cardboard boxes.
Yogurt pots are reused around the house and garden, I pour any fat from roasting into them so that I don't block the sink or drains. When it's set just pop it in the bin.
Block butter instead of tubs.
Eggs only purchased in cardboard boxes.
Grow our veg, salad and fruit, anything we can't grow we try and buy loose.
Cut down on cleaning products, white vinegar is wonderful stuff.

We also use a green energy company. Never leave anything on standby and are careful with our usage.
Walk where possible.
Eat vegetarian 3-4 days a week. Everything cooked from scratch. 
Recycle.
No fast fashion, most clothing from charity shops.
Reuse everything we can. 

We can't afford an electric car or solar panels and a heat pump quote was way out of our grasp. 
We have triple glazing, external wall insulation and super thick loft insulation. 

It's getting to the point where there is little else we can do as a family to cut down further.

skogar

Coffekup - Many thanks for those recommendations on no dig gardening. I will definitely have a look at those. I'm on heavy clay here so no dig has definite advantages.

CapricornLass

Little drops join up and become rivelets which join up to become little streams and then rivers... I don't think any action we take to reduce our impact on the climate is wasted.  It will impact on many things, to what goods are bought to how we view and treat things and that will affect the manufacturers and politicians.  The drawback is that it will be slow, but we just have to keep at it.  This is for the long haul, and a completely different way of living.

Anyway, I've been trying for around five/six years now to adopt more sustainable ways of living.  We've recycled for a very long time here, grow fruit and veg and a few herbs (although I'm afraid that we aren't self-sufficient), and tend to wear our clothes until they are in holes.  I'm no fan of veganism (I mean, how many groves of jack-fruit/mangos/avocados/coconuts do you pass on your way to work?  Exactly), and I have too many food allergies to adopt it and remain healthy anyway, but I have noticed that our idea of a portion of veg in particular is at least twice if not three times as other people, and what we do have has either been been frozen or more often is seasonal.  We do eat meat, but not in vast quantities at any one time, and when budget allows, we buy as locally as we can from small producers.

My biggest problem is the car.  We live and travel in a rural area, and taking public transport in many cases is either too long (it takes three hours to do a journey that would take half an hour by car, or is simply non-existent. We do try not to use it for short journeys and if we need to go into town, we try to combine it with several tasks.

Things have gone a bit to pot this year, as we had to empty my parents bungalow.  Aside from having to use the car to get there (no public transport) and the trailer (moving items, doing dump runs, and taking things to be traded in) I have done my bit to recycle my mother's clothes - sold some, sent some to the charity shop, and replenished my wardrobe,too.fleece.  and I've replenished all the cleaning things too - have enough to last me several years.  My sister wanted to throw it all into a skip.....  so I think that's my contribution for sustainability for this year!

Thrugelmir

The four year drought in Madagascar is most liikely as a result of climate change. While people in the UK live comfortable existances making adjustments that cause them minimal disruption to their entitled lifestyle. There's a country on the verge of famine.  Live Aid in 1985 is remembered for the music. Not the cause. There needs to be a permanent cultural shift. 

Pollycat

Thrugelmir said:

The four year drought in Madagascar is most liikely as a result of climate change. While people in the UK live comfortable existances making adjustments that cause them minimal disruption to their entitled lifestyle. There's a country on the verge of famine.  Live Aid in 1985 is remembered for the music. Not the cause. There needs to be a permanent cultural shift. 

So there's no point in bothering at all...?
OK. Fine.
I'll stop 'making adjustments' that cause me 'minimal disruption' to my 'entitled lifestyle'.

Not me, not you, not anybody posting on here can effect that 'permanent culture shift'.
But whilst we are 'making adjustments' that cause us 'minimal disruption' to our 'entitled lifestyles', we are making a difference.
So please don't disrespect our individual efforts - regardless of how small they are.