What're you doing to save the planet?

MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
The planet's sick...polution's rampant, fresh water's scarce, soil eroding, hole int he ozone etc... you've heard it all before, and some of you are even sick of it. Imagine what our kids are going to feel about it.

"We could've done something about it before it went this far", they'd say...and they'd be right.

So...doing anything to help save the planet? Anything small?

Reduce/Recycle/Reuse ?
Car-pooling
Public transit?
Vegetarian?
Composting?
Have your animals spayed or neutered?
Give to greenpeace?

so...?
 
MrBishop said:
The planet's sick...polution's rampant, fresh water's scarce, soil eroding, hole int he ozone etc... you've heard it all before, and some of you are even sick of it. Imagine what our kids are going to feel about it.

"We could've done something about it before it went this far", they'd say...and they'd be right.

So...doing anything to help save the planet? Anything small?

Reduce/Recycle/Reuse ?
Car-pooling
Public transit?
Vegetarian?
Composting?
Have your animals spayed or neutered?
Give to greenpeace?

so...?
Click to expand...
i know in myself that i'm doing all that i possibly can as the individual that I am, and I'm teaching my children to do the same.
 
my family definitely recycles. if it can be recycled, or reused, we'll do it.
we also have our cats fixed.
we're also strongly against littering.
i think that's about it, tho.
 
Mother Earth said:
In reverence to my dear old friend Mr Clemens "the report of my death was an exaggeration." would aptly apply to me also.
Click to expand...
 
Reduce/Recycle/Reuse ? Yep
Car-pooling? No opportunity.
Public transit? Don't have it
Vegetarian? How does that help?
Composting? Sure do
Have your animals spayed or neutered? That's a matter of self defense at my house.
Give to greenpeace? Hell no! I don't support terrorist organisations.

Long after humanity and all our works have disappeared, the earth will still be here. We're poisoning ourselves, the planet will survive.
 
Well, I think about recycling an awful lot. But don't always get to it. :s

I am against littering and try to do very little as possible, though I will admit I haven't been perfect. When I smoked cigarettes I was real bad about littering the butts out the car window - which is REALLY BAD. :s

The cat's spay'd, puppy will be as soon as she's old enough. I reuse plastic and paper bags at my house. At the one grocery store I always get paper bags, and at the other grocery store I reuse the paper bags (and plastic ones) to bag my own groceries. Aldi rocks, yo. :D
 
I recycle what is easy to reycle. Cans are easy, there is a place that takes them right on the way to work, plastic and paper is another story, there isn't a place that takes it within 60 miles of work or home.

We don't buy aerosol cans, and the dogs and cats are all spayed or nuetered.
 
Recycling -- the city I live in has a program where recyclable materials are picked up with regular garbage collection, so it's very easy for me to recycle all paper and containers

Reuse -- as much as possible: grocery bags are my garbage bags, deli wrappers are my sandwich bags, old toothbrushes are great little scrubbers, some old clothes (not good enough for Goodwill) become rags, store bought water bottles are used over and over as personal water bottles I refill from a PUR-filtered pitcher, grass clippings and leaves are used as mulch, newspapers are great for cleaning windows, etc etc etc

I drive a high mileage compact car, and am considering a hybrid in 2 or 3 years when I'll be in the market for a new one.

I never buy aerosol cans of any kind. I never buy ANYTHING packaged in styrofoam. The few paper products I do buy are all made from recycled paper. I avoid all products that have excessive packaging, and try to buy grains and legumes in bulk that I pack in my own containers. If the weather permits I hang my laundry outside and only use the dryer in the winter (added benefit: my clothes and linens smell so much nicer). I buy very few cleansers, but use white vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda for most chores. I buy as much organic produce as I can, and avoid meat. When I do buy meat and dairy products, they are free-range and organic.

I'm not sure any of this will help save the planet, but then I think we're far more likely to kill ourselves off before the planet dies. And I certainly think the planet would be MUCH better off without humanity screwing the ecosystem. Why do I do these things then? Force of habit. My parents lived this way, and it just feels right to waste as little as possible and to care about what I eat. :shrug:
 
I've helped in the reforestation of our native trees ...

I plant as much native vegetation (trees, shrubs, ferns, etc...) around my house that I can ...

I don't litter, and I don't let anyone with me litter ...

When my husband goes fishing, he only catches what our family needs to eat, and catches whatever is in season ...
 
v I use hydro-electric sources of energy ( no fossil fuels to heat my home or power my TV)
v Lights in empty rooms remain closed
v All lightbulbs are being replaced with high-efficiency neon as they burn out.
v My hot-water tank heat is reduced from 140deg to 100deg., wrapped with a thermal blanket and all piupes are wrapped as well.
v My windows have plastic heat-shrunk covers (it fits on the inside of the house, over the window and reduces heat loss)
v All my downstairs windows are new and use Xenon to stop heat loss,,the upstairs ones come next J
v My insulation is being replaced slowly but surely with higher R factors
v I have a coke bottle filled with water in my toilet tanks to reduce the amount of flush-water used per flush (2 liters less)

v I recycle everything I can…paper, metals, plastics etc… they pick up at the door. J
v I buy in bulk to reduce packaging
v I re-use all plastic bags from shopping, and recycle them when they’re too ratty to use again
v I compost 3 out of 4 seasons
v I live on left-overs to reduce food wastage, and use Tupperware to increase life-span of food in my fridge/freezer and cupboard.
v I use the clothes-line 3 out of 4 seasons.
v I rarely use my A/C in the car or in the house
v No aerosols
v Environmentally friendly soaps/shampoo/detergents
v I walk everywhere that I can.
v I maintain my car to reduce fuel wastage.
v I don’t print anything unless I absolutely have to and I use unbleached paper unless it
v DEMANDS aesthetic white

There’s so much more…but it’s getting long as is.
 
hmm..lesee...

The local authority collects all recyclable plastic, paper, aluminium, other glass, garden waste, etc etc from the house so most of my household waste that can be recycled...is :)

My local public rubbish dump stores and then recycles wood, glass, all metals, car tyres, books, cloth (old clothes mainly) old engine oil, car batteries etc....so I would guess that nearly 90% of all household rubbish from my home is reycycled (government is gonna have this figure up to 96% by 2006......hopefully).

Used to participate in car sharing when I worked for a big company....don't have the oportunity now.

Gotta confess.......I rarely use public transport :eh:

Vegetarian? Have you ever smelled a vegetarians fart??? All that methane cannot be good for the atmosphere ;)

I don't have a "working" garden at the mo'.....but I'll prolly start composting in the summer.

My animals are neutered. Can't be having with dozens of cats running around the place.

I don't give to Greenpeace.
 
carpool if travel(no liscence tho i have a permit)
give to greenpeace if have cash
recycle always
dog is fixed
 
My name ain't greenfreak for nuthin. ;)

I do recycle as much as possible. When I come across styrofoam, I break it up into small pieces and line the bottom of my plant pots with them for good drainage. I detest styrofoam peanuts but when faced with them, it's the only thing I can think of that I can use them for.

Rusty and I drive to work together and when we have local errands, we usually walk in good weather. Whenever travelling into the city, we always take the train & subways.

Not a vegetarian by any means but I do grow herbs on occasion and will probably have a veggie garden when I finally get my own house and backyard.

I do compost. I don't have animals but I would definitely spay/neuter them. We give to environmental organizations from time to time. And we don't have a/c either.

But the big thing that I do as a gardener which so many people don't do is never, NEVER use pesticides. You just don't realize how it winds up damaging the environment, the ground, the water table, the lungs of people and animals that breathe them in... I made that mistake when I was starting out but now I've found something that's a wonderful cure all for most of my problems and it's all natural: Neem Oil. It smells awful but unlike some of the pesticides out there (like Malation), it won't kill me if I inhale it. As a matter of fact, people in brush their teeth with Neem Oil, use it for dry skin and even in shampoo. And it's all natural.

The last pesticide I used was to get rid of Japanese Beetles. And you know what, it didn't work that well either. You know what did work? Dawn soap mixed with water in a spray bottle. You can't get much better than that. :)
 
greenfreak said:
But the big thing that I do as a gardener which so many people don't do is never, NEVER use pesticides. You just don't realize how it winds up damaging the environment, the ground, the water table, the lungs of people and animals that breathe them in... I made that mistake when I was starting out but now I've found something that's a wonderful cure all for most of my problems and it's all natural: Neem Oil. It smells awful but unlike some of the pesticides out there (like Malation), it won't kill me if I inhale it. As a matter of fact, people in brush their teeth with Neem Oil, use it for dry skin and even in shampoo. And it's all natural.

The last pesticide I used was to get rid of Japanese Beetles. And you know what, it didn't work that well either. You know what did work? Dawn soap mixed with water in a spray bottle. You can't get much better than that. :)
Click to expand...

same here... no pesticides.... found a border of marigolds in front of my vegetable garden does wonders for keeping critters away... as does periodic sprinkling with cayenne pepper :D

something else I no longer do is salt my walkways in the winter.... sand works perfectly well and doesn't damage the water table the way road salt does
 
Ms Ann Thrope said:
same here... no pesticides.... found a border of marigolds in front of my vegetable garden does wonders for keeping critters away... as does periodic sprinkling with cayenne pepper :D

something else I no longer do is salt my walkways in the winter.... sand works perfectly well and doesn't damage the water table the way road salt does
Click to expand...

Sand works after the ice is down, but SnowN'ice works better and doesn't damage the water table, kill grass, or is poisonous to children or pets.

Never heard of cayenne pepper being used in gardening...work mwell?
 
MrBishop said:
Sand works after the ice is down, but SnowN'ice works better and doesn't damage the water table, kill grass, or is poisonous to children or pets.

Never heard of cayenne pepper being used in gardening...work mwell?
Click to expand...

rabbits hate it :D
it works fine until it rains.... then it needs to be reapplied
 
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