I'm just curious as to what actions people have taken to make their homes and themselves environmentally friendly! This thread isn't about politics, so leave that out of it. This is about genuine concern for the world around us! Eh, we'll include energy efficiency as well. 1. At my mom's house, we unplug all appliances with vampire traits. For example, the coffee maker, toaster, and microwave. Not only does this stop the waste of energy, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna make a nice dent in my mom's electricity bill. 2. When I want to use liquid fabric softener in the washing machine, I just use white distilled vinegar. It does the same thing, only without artificial coloring and perfuming. 3. Vinegar is an awesome cleaning solution. Wash your windows with it, especially. Sparkly and transparent enough to make birds want to... fly... into... it... hm. Is that really safe, then? xD;;;; 4. I get annoyed when lights are on in rooms that no one is occupying. I often run around the house shutting lights off. It just bothers me. 5. My sandwich container is washable and reusable! Yaaay for environmentally friendly lunches!
I pay my monthly bill for the government to pick up my recycling. Other than that, eco-extremists have caused me to be defiant about such matters. They criticize everything - eating meat, using any paper products, using disposable plastic products, fishing, hunting, boating, SUV's/trucks, leaving exterior lights on at night for safety, any form of vehicle racing, using my fireplace in winter, using my AC in summer...the list of "environmentally friendly" demands by these people have driven me to defiance. When they learn to ask nicely, instead of demanding and ridiculing others for disagreeing, then I might start giving them the time of day.
I only do things when they're reasonable. I often leave lights on in the house at night because I'm afraid of the dark. We primarily use a wood stove in the winter. My dad cuts brush that is blocking other plants from growing. We have four vehicles. I friggin love meat. I hate people who get radical about it.
We use our washing machine water to water our gardens and lawns. We use engery saving globes, unplug all appliances other than freezer and fridge and night lights for my children at night. We only plug in what we need to use. We recycle plastic bags, newspaper, plastic bottles, aluminium cans and the tops off them we send to make artificial limbs or something of the sort like that. All our recyclable materials we send to the school so they can use them for arts and crafts. It is great like that.
Not much of anything when I think about it. I'm good about turning things off in the house, but honestly I don't do it to be green, I do it because the cost of electricity is directly tied to the cost of petrol. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Owkaay, so I am really lazy and so will not go out of my way to save the planet, but my effort goes thus far: I'll turn off lights when I leave a room. However, if I am drifting off to sleep and I have left my light on, it stays on 'cos I can never be bothered to move I recycle tins, magazines, paper and jars. Or at least my mam does I turn off the kettle when I have finished using it, even though it does light up with loads of pretty colours. Thats about it.
Our town recycles, so we separate things for roadside pick up. Paper and cardboard goes in one container, plastics in another, glass in a third, metal in a fourth. Everything else is bagged as garbage, and we pay a per-bag fee for each 30 gallon bag (town bags purchased at the police station, the fire station, or the local convenience store). My landlord provides the bins and the town bags (two family dwelling). I turn off excess lights, although I do have a server and a desktop computer that are always on. I also save up returnable beverage bottles and take them back to the store for the deposit money. I have a timer thermostat that lowers the temperature overnight and while I'm at work, and I turn off the furnace completely when the cold seasons are done to save the gas used by the pilot light. I have replaced most of my indoor lights with compatible fluorescents. Most of these are as much to save green as to be green, of course.
Where I live, the neighbourhood is forced to recycle so I guess I do that and eh I disconnect everything electrical in my room.. but I think that's more an OCD thing, lol
Apologies for erring on the side of politics, but....it always kind of surprises me when someone allows the negative behaviours/attitudes of others to influence their choices like that... :/ Anyhoo, I don't drive - anywhere. I recycle (I probably have to put the actual rubbish out to be collected once every three weeks), use all the energy/water saving devices, etc. I don't listen to the radicals, either - but I pay attention to the earth.
It is a bit daft, but I'm an extremely stubborn person, who doesn't take at all well to the domineering, self-righteous manner in which enviromental enthusists tend to preach about our "evil ways". I've had to put up with far too much drivel and **** from people who thought they were better than me, and it has consequently turned me into a cynical and stubborn individual.
In the time honored tradition of the great pacifist, Ghandi, I consider my passive resistance to their extremist message as social mandate. I am simply earning a higher stature in my next life! LOL
This might seem kinda weird, but it's something I've been doing for a long time. I don't know if it's really "concern for the earth/environment" that drives me to this behavior. I learned it from my best friend, an extremely talented, intelligent, and handsome man I've had the privilege of knowing for more than 30 years now. I care about stuff--like bottles, for instance. Have you ever looked at a beer bottle, or the plastic bottle that lotion or cleaner comes in...? I pay attention to those things. I think about them. The bottle has decorations on it. Some artist made those decorations. It has a label--a writer wrote the copy on that label, and an artist figured out how to decorate it so that people would buy it. If it's glass--glass is a miraculous substance! We so take it for granted. If it's plastic--even more so! Plastic is despised by many. I have at least one family member who died of cancer as a result of working with plastic. As such, however, I feel it deserves respect and consideration. And you bought that thing, whatever it was in the bottle. Maybe you bought it just because of the label, or because of an ad you saw on TV, or because your friends told you it was the best beer/lotion/whatever. But whatever it is, several people worked on that thing--many people, if you count all the factory workers who helped produce the container and those who filled it with whatever was in it. I never just toss these things in the garbage--I mean, I don't leave them just lying around the house either, but try to use them in some way. I'm not so much caring for the earth as demonstrating that I know how to value other people's work and efforts. I either recycle the plastic or glass, or I reuse it--I wash old wine bottles, for example, and store water in them for my plants, or put my own distillations (medicine and condiments) in them, or use them for vases. I shred plastic bottles and use the plastic to cover flowerbeds in the winter. If I already have a plastic squirt bottle for every possible substance that could be squirted in the home, then I take the plastic bottle, wash it out, and send it to the recycler. I never get tired of looking at these things. Containers are fascinating. They are the result of a person's idea brought into being--they helped sell something--sometimes they sit, with their contents inside them, for months and months, or years, or even centuries!--until some person opens them. Again, this probably sounds sort of dumb. However, this is how I look at things. I'm not one of those people who can never throw things away, but on the other hand the only things I put in the trash are things that I know will rot very quickly in the landfill--the shredded paper that I put in my birds' cages, teabags, the innards of a gourd, and so on. I really throw very little away--I only leave stuff out for the trash collector like once a month, usually. And now that I think of it, even once a month isn't necessary--I just like an opportunity to look at that guy's biceps. yours in Chaos, Scarlett
??? The government has never forced me to do anything. Its power of suggestion, however, is quite overwhelming sometimes. I figure if I could ignore my mother and father as a child, I can ignore the government.
I meant the Irish government. We're charged rather heavily for having our garbage collected, but we're provided with 'green bins' which are collected for free. Which means the more you recycle, the less you put into your black bin, the less you're charged. There's also a charge for plastic shopping bags. You're encouraged to buy re-usable bio-degradable bags and bring them to the shops. Also SUVs are taxed, meaning there's very few around. Besides, petrol is so expensive in Ireland (far more than the States -- it's funny to see them bitch about prices that seem so cheap to us) that you're looking for whatever gets you the most mileage to the litre. And a large percentage of our power comes from hydroelectricity generated by the river Shannon, and numerous wind farms scattered around the country. So, we're pretty green. Emerald Isle and all...
Just tell them they're "wasting energy that could be put to far better use" - might speak to them on a few levels. A monster truck driver? lol
I burn paper products in my woodstove, which heats our house. I compost all my leftover food and whatnot. Use energy efficient machines (which sucks because my new washer and dryer only take cetain types of soap and they never have the kind I like ) We just insulated our house....I guess that cuts down on heating......even though we heat with woodstove we do have electric heat -just in case. I recycle my plasics. and turn off my lights......sometimes.
