View Full Version : Help the Environment Tips!
Thought it might be fun to post quick tips of easy (or hard) things to do that help reduce garbage, save water/electricity, reduce pollution, etc.
For example:
1. I feed our chickens our vegetable scraps. They love them, and eventually we eat the eggs!
This is NOT a fun one but easy to do:
2. To save water/electricity - take super-quick showers - get wet. Turn off water. Soap up. Turn water on and rinse.
If everyone did this we would save oceans of water!
Deleted User
03-01-2009, 04:06 PM
1. I use all my old tank water on the garden.
2. I recycle all fish food pots so all my nails / screws and fish hobby bits like spare air stones and tubing is easy to find.
3. I cut plastic milk bottles in 1/2 and use yoghurt pots & microwave meal trays for growing vegetable & fruit seeds in.
4. I also now have a compost heap but would love to start a wormary but have no clue how to or where to get the worms or equipment from.
korith
03-01-2009, 05:17 PM
If people would actually recycle. On our campus they make a big deal out of being "green" and recycling, yet the recycling bins rarely get filled or emptied. They even made a huge production out of how they are recycling on campus, then a week later the number of recycling bins in the campus apartments went from about 10 down to 2. It's just not something people do for some reason. Back home in manitoba, every house has a recycling bin, that gets picked up for recycling the same day the garbage truck comes by. I think our trash is down to less than one can a week, most of the stuff gets recycled, or composted in the garden.
Don't think the majority of people will really ever start recycling unless there is some financial incentive.
Oh and aquarium related, all the used tank water gets poured into the shrubs outside the windows. And the few potted plants I have.
...yes, the entire problem is getting people to participate, and I think we need more onus placed on manufacturers and more involvement by the government to obligate people to take part...
That being said:
1. Use cloth grocery bags OR my preferred choice - plastic bins! (So much easier to pack, haul, and unpack groceries with! Saves time too!)
2. Reduce use of personal products. Hair products, dyes, nail polish are all unnecessary chemicals. Reducing the use of such products will also reduce the garbage produced by their packaging.
...and I'm not suggesting we don't groom ourselves, but have you ever seen how many bottles of stuff most people have in their bathrooms? Yowza!
Lady Hobbs
03-01-2009, 05:59 PM
I heard on TV that 3 million trees are cut each year for paper products. Three million! Why don't they stop all the trash that comes in the mailbox, fliers and all that stuff? All it does is fill up the landfills and who reads the stuff plus our mail man has more junk to deliver.
All trash bags on the market and grocery bags should be from recycled products. Shredded old tires make good playground cover and sidewalks. Much more could be done like the fast food restaurants throwing their burgers in a piece of waxed paper instead of a foam box.
Each state needs to adapt weekly recycling pickup. FL had a great one and here in MI, nothing.
I fully agree! The PTB need to get their derrieres in gear. Seems all they do is talk...not enough action!
1. Sign up for internet banking. Pay bills on-line. That saves a significant amount of paper.
2. Stop getting a newspaper.
3. Find others and share magazines. This takes a bit of effort, but if everyone participates it works well.
Alfcea
03-01-2009, 06:17 PM
Oh... paper...
When I was in University, we were allowed to use paper that was already used on one side to write up papers, assignments and things... and that's what I was used to and believe it is a good thing to do....
... but in Canada, apparently that is a huge lack of respect... maybe Canadians believe they have enough trees so that it doesn't matter to them?
Tigerbarb
03-01-2009, 06:30 PM
All the lights in my house are compact florescent/florescent, and that helps with the energy bill and helps conserve resources.
I try and use cloth grocery bags as much as possible, and I also use those biodegradable dog bags when I walk my dog.
I recycle as much as possible, and nothing recyclable ever really falls within 10 feet of the trash.
Since aquariums can be quite wasteful, I dump all my old fish water outside... or atleast all the fish water that doesn't have salt in it...I also try and have as little equipment plugged in as possible, to conserve electricity...and I've also decided that I'm not going to buy any wild-caught marine livestock for my tank.
I have to say, it's very sad how many people just don't care. I'm sure all of the members on this site care about our environment, but there is still a great number of people out there who don't seem to understand why we should save the environment...Trust me, anyone who doesn't recycle whenever possible doesn't understand.. anyone who does understand recycles.. that's just the way it is.
1. Compact fluorescent bulbs all around.
2. When you get junk mail, take the time. Get online and opt out of the mailings. It works, trust me.
3. Go email/electronic for all of your bank statements, credit card statements, etc. Again, it works.
4. RECYCLE! Enough said.
Sharon
03-01-2009, 10:09 PM
1.We use Flourescent bulbs.
2. We recycle everything possible.
3. We make our own compost(we have 5 large bins going)and use a lot in the garden.
4.We don't use pesticides
But, I refuse to give up my hair products and nail polish!!!:hmm3grin2orange:
lobsternoob
03-01-2009, 10:16 PM
The city i live in right now recycling is mandatory, I've heard a few people complain, but i like it. The collectors look in your trash and if they see recyclables they yellow flag the can and leave it for you to sort out recycling. They'll yellow flag you twice, and then red flag you which means you get to figure out how to get rid of your trash. I can't understand why not everyone recycles at least their cans, bottles, other containers, and paper products IT'S SO EASY.
It's not easy everywhere.
Back in the late '80s we lived in Ontario and recycling WAS easy - just like you have it. Recyclable garbage was picked up with the regular trash. This worked well since the companies that do the recycling had a decent profit.
We moved west in '91 and recycling was non-existant. Then they started a recycling program - but YOU had to pay for them to take it! LOL...as if that's going to work! Now you can take your recyclables in (most of them) and GET money back. So it's much more successfull - but not cost effective for the companies in many cases. So even now - 20 years later, it still sucks out here.
Not to mention we live in a rural area and use municipal dumps with ludicrous regulations/hours. So what do many people do with their garbage? They dump it illegally because following the rules is next to impossible.
At any rate, I've been doing my best for years, and will continue to do so...but the PTB need to realize what might work for single person won't work for a family of 5 and vs. versa...
loachcoach
03-02-2009, 07:37 PM
We have recycling pickup once a week....all paper, certain metals, food grade glass and plastics printed with a 1, 2, or 6.
They are also talking about charging folks who want plastic bags instead of paper.
Want to take it a step further?
Ready to give up TP?
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
Nightside_Eclipse
03-09-2009, 07:33 PM
1. I use all my old tank water on the garden.
2. I recycle all fish food pots so all my nails / screws and fish hobby bits like spare air stones and tubing is easy to find.
3. I cut plastic milk bottles in 1/2 and use yoghurt pots & microwave meal trays for growing vegetable & fruit seeds in.
4. I also now have a compost heap but would love to start a wormary but have no clue how to or where to get the worms or equipment from.
Do fishing stores not sell worms in the UK?
If they do just buy a container full and dump 'em in the compost!
If not you can try vibrating them out of the ground.
I just kept reading and clicking on links...who KNEW there was so much bathroom info. out there?!
BTW...apparently using the western-style toilet is at the root of ALL our ills...we should be squatting...
If you have LOTS of time to read about it (and NOT while using the restroom!):
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
Algenco
03-09-2009, 08:52 PM
Do you know that paper is the only thing that's economically feasible to recycle?
Give up TP, lod timers in these parts had the best answer, corncobs, in the "outhose you would find a box with red and white corncobs, use the red ones first, then a white one to see if you need to use the red one again[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
Heliwyr
03-09-2009, 09:20 PM
Thought it might be fun to post quick tips of easy (or hard) things to do that help reduce garbage, save water/electricity, reduce pollution, etc.
For example:
1. I feed our chickens our vegetable scraps. They love them, and eventually we eat the eggs!
This is NOT a fun one but easy to do:
2. To save water/electricity - take super-quick showers - get wet. Turn off water. Soap up. Turn water on and rinse.
If everyone did this we would save oceans of water!
Save water/electricity:
-Don't keep fish. :D
-Don't leave your computer on all the time
-Open the blinds every once in a while
-Don't water your lawn so much
Reduce garbage:
-Recycle anything you can
-Compost
-Grow a garden and use the compost (except that falls under save water...unless you live somewhere rainy)
-Use paper...if you're like me, and you write everything down, use handouts, old memos, recipts...get some more use out of them by writing on them
I just kept reading and clicking on links...who KNEW there was so much bathroom info. out there?!
BTW...apparently using the western-style toilet is at the root of ALL our ills...we should be squatting...
If you have LOTS of time to read about it (and NOT while using the restroom!):
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
Yes, sitting causes hemrhoids. But it's also easier on the knees...
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