sustainabilitythoughts

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Earth Day 2024

April 22 is Earth Day.  It’s a day to think about the Earth, how important our only home is to us, future generations, and all the plants and critters that inhabit the planet with us.  It’s a day to appreciate Mother Earth, and also to plan for caring for the Earth.  I think it’s also a day to celebrate the growing awareness and action to take better care of the Earth and all the inhabitants.  Let’s look past the pessimism and gloom about the future to celebrate the growing number of initiatives and actions to help care for the earth.  More governments, companies, and individuals are taking action, however large or small, to reduce their impact on the earth.  Everyone I know has implemented small (or not so small) changes in their lifestyle to live more sustainably.  Ever more people are interested in learning how to live more sustainably and care for the earth and its inhabitants.  So don’t let the doom and gloom hold you back from being part of the solution.  Big things or small, they all count.  Pick something that works for you and celebrate Earth Day!

#sustainability #environment #earth day 2024

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Can it be fixed?

Most of us live in areas with a “throw-away culture”.  Single-use items are everywhere, and it is generally easier (and frequently cheaper) to replace an item than to fix it.  Unfortunately, many consumer items are actually designed to be difficult or impossible to repair.  Significant resources are used to create, transport, sell, and dispose of even simple items.  Once an item is thrown away, its component materials are no longer available and eventually, the earth’s resources will be used up.  And there is no “away” for our trash.  We just hide it in landfills, where it is out of sight but can still create significant problems for the earth.   Every time we repair an item and continue to use it, we are helping the earth.  A little research can help you repair many items (or find a business that can perform the repairs).  CAUTION: do not attempt to fix items that use electricity, natural gas, propane, or hazardous chemicals unless you have appropriate training.  If you make a mistake, you could start a fire or injure or kill yourself or others. And always unplug an electrical item before working on it.  Now that we’ve covered the safety concerns, let’s talk about repairs. The article at the link provides lots of links to information to help you repair many of your own items, including clothing and some electronics, appliances, and furniture.  Sometimes you can hire someone who can fix these items for a reasonable price. 

#sustainability #environment #environmental

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Climate friendly protein

This article from the Guardian is a good summary of the reasons to cut back your consumption of animal protein and increase your plant-based protein.  There are many reasons why you may not want or be able to adopt a completely vegan diet, and that’s okay.  Just replacing a few meat-based meals each week with plant-based foods will make a difference.  Or, as the article suggests, use half meat and half plant-based protein in a favorite meat-based recipe.  It might be helpful to think of meat as a condiment in a plant-based recipe.  Explore the wide variety of international recipes using beans and other legumes, nuts, and high-protein whole grains. 

#sustainability #environment #climate change

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Sustainable laundry

If you think about it, doing laundry is more resource-intensive than it first appears. Doing laundry uses energy to get the water to your home, energy to run the washer and dryer, and energy and resources to produce all the laundry products.  Whether you have home laundry appliances or use a laundromat, you can employ techniques to reduce your environmental impact.  And if you’re buying a washer or dryer, do some research so you can buy energy and water efficient models with only the features you need. 

Use cold water.  Modern detergents are designed to work well with cold water and cold water is better for removing most stains.

Choose a washing cycle that is appropriate for the clothing you are washing.  Long vigorous washing cycles will wear out clothing faster, although the longer cycles may be necessary for clothes that are very dirty.  Wash similar items together so you can pick appropriate cycles. 

Don’t overload the washer.  Clothing and detergent can’t circulate enough in an overstuffed washer so your clothes may not get as clean.   

Measure detergent and other cleaning products so you don’t use more than you need.  Using too much detergent can leave a residue on clothes and even allow dirt to settle back on clothing. 

Liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets may do more harm than good.  The softeners can leave residue on the clothing and the inside of the dryer.  The fabric softeners and dryer sheets also contribute chemicals to the air and water in the environment.  Consider using reusable dryer balls (typically made of wool but also available in rubber or plastic) to help reduce drying time and keep clothing from clumping together in the dryer.   

Clothes dryers use a lot of energy, but there are ways to reduce the energy use.  Choosing a lower temperature can slow the drying process a little, but it cuts energy use significantly and is better for your clothes.  Using a clothes dryer wears your clothing out faster – as proven by the lint in the lint trap.  Clean the lint trap after every use to keep the dryer running efficiently.  Dry similar items together so everything in the load is dry at the same time.   And my favorite recommendation – air dry clothing whenever possible.  When I can’t hang clothing outside to dry, I put it in the dryer for a few minutes to knock out the wrinkles and start the drying process.  Then I hang the clothes in the house to finish air-drying.  You can buy small portable drying racks or use hangers on a shower curtain rod. 

“Baby steps toward sustainability”

#environment #sustainability #saving energy

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Reducing your household energy costs

I found a good article that discusses several ways to save energy (and money) in your home.  Many of these ideas apply to renters as well as to homeowners.   

#sustainability #environment #saving energy

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Money-saving sustainability tips

Implementing small sustainability lifestyle changes can save you money while the changes also help the planet, making them a double win.  Here are a few ideas to get you started.  If you look at your daily activities, I’m sure you will find a lot more. 

Shop the “last chance” section in the grocery store.  These are reduced-price items that are nearing their use-by date but are still good.  Buying them saves you money and keeps the wasted food out of the landfill.  Don’t buy more than you can eat and have a plan for using leftovers. 

In summer, set the thermostat one or two (or more) degrees higher.  In winter, set the thermostat one or two (or more) degrees lower.  These changes save energy, which always saves money.

Use it up, wear it out, or repurpose it. 

On hot summer days, keep the window shades or curtains closed on the sunny side of the house to help keep the heat out.  In winter, close window shades at night and on the shady side of the house to help keep heat inside.  Keeping the window shades open on the sunny side of the house in winter lets the solar energy help warm the house. 

Unplug electronics and chargers when not in use.  Even while turned off, many electronic items draw small amounts of power. 

Electric clothes dryers use an average of 6 percent of a household’s energy.  Air dry clothing or hang it outside to dry when possible.  I frequently dry clothing on low heat for just a few minutes to remove the wrinkles and start the drying process before I air dry the clothes.  When you do use the clothes dryer, it takes less energy to dry a load for a longer time at a low temperature than it does to dry a load at a high temperature for a shorter period of time.

#environment #sustainability #environmental

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Baby steps to sustainability

One of my most faithful readers pointed out that she frequently feels guilty when she reads some of my blog’s sustainability suggestions that will not work for her.  That is sooooo not the intent of this blog.  This blog is a menu of suggestions that you can follow if you want to.  Please, no guilt!   The title of my blog is 3% sustainability.  What this means is that if a large number of people reduce their impact on the earth by 3 % (or hopefully more), all those little things will add up and begin to make a difference.  Changing by 3% will not solve the environmental problems facing the earth right now, but each small thing we do can be the seed for other beneficial changes.  None of us can make all of the changes suggested by this blog, but most of us can reduce our impact on the earth by 3% without making huge changes in our lives.  I do not implement every suggestion in this blog.  I implement those that work for me and continue to look for other changes I can make. Mobility, geography, medical issues, personality, living situation, and similar factors will affect which ideas work for each of us.  Rural locations do not have public transportation.  A person in a wheelchair cannot use the stairs instead of an elevator.  Few people are able or willing to be fully vegan, but you can incorporate one or two plant-based meals into your weekly menu.  If an idea does not appeal to you, you are unlikely to make that change, so pick ideas that do appeal to you.  Evaluate if some of your daily actions can be modified to be slightly more sustainable.  And give yourself credit for the changes you have already made.  To help remind readers that this blog is meant for sharing suggestions for small changes, my posts will now end with “baby steps toward 3% sustainability”. 

“Baby steps toward 3% sustainability”

#environment #sustainability

[sustainabilitythoughts]

i'm so sick of being the only person who can make simple connections of how doing a thing to the ecosystem has effects. so so so so sick NO ONE knows the ways of the plants

[sustainabilitythoughts]

hi! i love your blog :D do you have any advice to implement low waste and solarpunk aspects into everyday life with a tight budget? keep doing what you do!

Hi!

Thanks for asking - I’ve had this question before and it’s definitely a real problem. Organic, plastic free food is expensive. So is handmade durable clothing, and train fares these days. It can feel like only the rich can be solarpunks, which is pretty counterintuitive given its anticapitalist ideology. But! I’m here to tell you there’s lots you can do to bring solarpunk into your life in a cost-effective way.

To start with, lots of solarpunk spaces are free or cheap. Get a library card and you can borrow as many books and DVDs and other resources as you like. Look up to see if there’s a library of things in your neighbourhood, and join a buy nothing or stuff for free group online. Download TooGoodToGo, which lets you access food from local cafes and restaurants which would otherwise go to waste. See if there’s a repair cafe that operates near you - I managed to get a pair of trousers mended at one of these for free, and I had been thinking I would need to pay a tailor (which is fine if you can afford it! Skilled labour deserves fair wages!). In some places plant-based food is cheaper, so when it is, choose it. But in others it will cost more than animal products so you have to decide on a case by case basis whether saving money or a particular diet is more important to you.

There’s lots else you can do for minimal spending or that actually saves you money. Walking to work or school avoids the expenditure in the petrol for a drive or a bus fare. If you’re within walking distance and able to do so, I’d recommend it. Joining your local chapter of Extinction Rebellion, Friends of The Earth, Greenpeace, The A22 network or any other active climate group in your area is almost always free and just involves a small weekly time commitment. This will introduce you to activists and inform you about protests and public meetings you can attend.

If you have the time in your week and the physical ability, which I acknowledge many people don’t, you can also join some sort of volunteer group looking after a nature reserve or tending a community garden (which might also give you access to free or discounted food). Learning to forage is also a good skill as that really is free food!

Depending on where you are, a green electricity tariff *can* also be less expensive. If this is the case and you have control over your provider, it’s worth switching to it. Buying books and clothes secondhand will also be better for the environment and your bank balance. Teaching yourself about the climate and the natural world with podcasts, YouTube, online free articles and other resources is also free and the knowledge will help you keep solarpunk at the front of your mind. Read good news stories online whenever you can, to remind you that good things are happening already.

If you’re employed, you can also try to influence green policy at your workplace or in your trade union. If you’re at school or university, joining (or setting up!) the environmental society and/or lobbying for change at the SU are both good ideas and shouldn’t necessarily cost you anything. If you can - and I know this is inaccessible for a big swathe of the population - put a very small amount of money aside whenever possible, because the more you save the more you can afford to buy better products, donate to causes, help out the needy in your community, travel in a greener way, and other more expensive choices. It’s all about that dual power.

Hope this helps get you started!

#sustainability

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Start a trend

In a recent post, I linked to a video of a TED talk that includes discussion about how climate action can be “contagious”.   In the video, the speaker says that once a few people in a neighborhood install rooftop solar on their homes, many other homeowners quickly follow.  This illustrates the power of providing a GENTLE example of sustainability actions you’d like to promote.  When dealing with individuals in your life, strident demands may cause these individuals to dig in harder against the action you want to promote.  Quietly but visibly performing these actions is more likely to interest people in trying the sustainability activity.  If you do this often, in many different settings, you may start a trend that spreads beyond your individual influence.  I have been trying to start the trend of taking a reusable container to restaurants for my leftovers instead of using the disposable container provided by the restaurant.  So far, most people who see my container like the idea, but then don’t remember to bring a container.  I remain hopeful, though, that eventually I will start a trend.  Maybe some of you will decide to help start this trend.  Pick an action you want to encourage and see if you can start a trend. 

#sustainability #environment #environmental

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Shop your own home first

A few weeks ago, I was going through the back of my clothes closet looking for clothing to donate.  I found two items that I’d forgotten I had that were very nice and very similar to items of clothing that I intended to shop for.  This led to three sustainability thoughts.

Shop your own closet for clothing before buying new. Shop your own pantry, refrigerator, and freezer first.  There may be food in the back that is still good but will die soon.    

Keep your “stuff” organized so you don’t buy a second item because you can’t find the one you already have.

Donate or sell items you no longer use so that they are not cluttering up space and preventing you from seeing the items you want to use.

#sustainability #environment #environmental

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Very good ideas to help your spaces appeal to the neighborhood while reducing monoculture. Using native plants to provide food and habitat for native critters makes these spaces even more useful.

"So what are some guiding principles for a more natural front-yard lawn conversion that, in a few small ways (that admittedly often feel feeble and fruitless), extends an olive branch to the monoculture, resource-intensive, dominant suburban culture?

A limited plant palate based on square footage. The smaller the space, the smaller the species list should be so as not to visually overwhelm.

A cohesive, single-hued green base layer, groundcover or matrix that ties the space together like a lawn might. This is colour theory 101.

Always have one to three forb species in bloom at one time – and no more. Again, the smaller the space, the more this is important.

No herbaceous perennial or annual plants taller than three to four feet (roughly a metre).

Taller plants in the middle or back of beds. Nothing tall within four feet (1.2 m) of the sidewalk.

Employ cues to care that help show intention and access: paths, benches, sculpture, bird bath, arbours, metal edging, a sign, etc. 

Don't use aggressive species. Research your plants to carefully match the site AND one another in the larger plant community.

Arrange seasonal flowering plants in repeating masses and drifts. Repetition is pleasing to the eye and helps show cohesion. Massing also creates a bigger beacon and reduces energy expenditure for pollinators. "

...

Again, ANY landscape that isn't clipped lawn will be an affront, but we have to do better as advocates for change. None of the above bullet points will reduce the ecosystem services we urge for as wildlife gardeners conscious of climate change and mass extinction. However, just letting plants ramble about, get tall, flop into sidewalks – and appear totally dishevelled and out of control while blocking sight lines – is a detriment to what we hope to achieve as we work for equity among all species by encouraging neighbours to rethink lawn monocultures.

Soon enough water restrictions will force the issue, especially in the West and Plains where we're writing to you from. At some point – even our local weed control officials admit – we won't be able to have the traditional lawns we have now.

In the meantime, it behooves us to design AND MANAGE spaces with intention, knowing the plants and tending the space as a new kind of gardener – not a gardener who applies herbicides or annual mulch applications or fertilizers that pollute waterways, but a gardener who learns plants and maintains a sensible balance of design and activism for a healthier future."

#environment #garden design #native plants #ecology

[sustainabilitythoughts]

How to transform apocalypse fatigue into action on global warming

Wow, I just listened to an awesome TED talk about how to get people engaged in solving climate change.  The speaker discusses the psychology of why people are not engaged in finding solutions, and then the psychology of how to re-frame discussions on climate and potential solutions to climate change.  His information makes a lot of sense to me and also inspires me to continue to do better.  Please watch the whole video at the link below. 

#sustainability #climate change #environment

[sustainabilitythoughts]

So many people do not understand the relationship between climate change and cold weather.

#climate change #sustainability #global warming

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Read the instructions

Owner’s manuals and instructions are written to provide us information on the best way to use a product.  It is very easy, and human, to toss the instructions and manuals aside if we can intuitively understand what to do.  However, frequently, those instructions and manuals provide information to help us use the item more sustainably.  Take a few minutes to look at the instructions, even if you are sure you know how to operate or use the item.  Here are a few examples of information you can get from instructions:

How to turn off the heated drying cycle on a dishwasher and let the dishes air dry; also, when to use various settings and how to maintain the dishwasher so it effectively cleans the dishes and lasts for many years

How to turn on power saver options or sleep mode to reduce the energy used when the item is not in use

How to discard, dispose of, or recycle unwanted items (prescription drugs, toxic chemicals, batteries, electronics, etc.) to minimize environmental impacts 

How to maintain your possessions so they last longer and operate effectively.  Proper maintenance can significantly extend the life of an item.

How to properly assemble and install items, for safety as well as effective operation of an item

How to store items to minimize damage.  For example, remove alkaline batteries from items you won’t use for a while, so the batteries don’t corrode and ruin the item. 

How much laundry soap to use so your clothes get clean but you don’t waste soap by using more than you need; how to properly launder an item of clothing to extend its life

#sustainability #environment #environmental

[sustainabilitythoughts]

Here’s to 2023, a year of as many little courageous kindnesses as possible. ♥️

[sustainabilitythoughts]

I love you tailors, I love you recycling center employees, I love you jewelry repair people, I love you tech repair people. I love you plumbers, I love you electricians. I love you all maintenance workers, who make it so things don't have to be fully replaced when they break.

There are so many ways to contribute to the climate movement.