Dibber’s save the planet!

[Tiggerbelle]

In addition to some of the things already mentioned, we make our own shampoo which reduces both chemicals and waste. We also no longer use shower gel and bubble bath and either use the same shampoo as it can double or a good old traditional bar of eco friendly soap.

[jazzmic]

we have cycle to work through greggs we also offer free water if they bring in there reuseable cups also 20% off coffee when they also use there own cups and shortly will be rolling out our new paper carry bags

Janie

[jengibbo]

i have made many of the swaps mentioned on here but the problem is people continually buying stuff they don’t need. Fast fashion is a serious issue and the amount of people who buy whole new wardrobes for their holiday every year is ridiculous. I frequently read posts and trip reports were people post about their colour co-ordinated 14 brand new ‘Disney’ themed outfits why? Or then posts here is my shopping haul of ten billion hand sanitizers from Bath and Body works. Just use soap.
There will be no world left before long if we continue in this manner. It makes me so so upset.

[Lostbrain]

Lots of great ideas here. I've ditched most cleaning products and use mainly white vinegar and lemon juice etc. I've just bought a bike for short journeys, my weekly petrol trip was about £5 cheaper after the first week so the bike will pay for itself - I can't cycle to work, but it's just under a mile to my local shop and I often find myself driving which is crazy.

Flying is obviously my biggest impact, 3 US trips in 3 years, isn't great. Prior to that we were much less indulgent. Thinking about using the train for an European trip next year.

Trying to just buy less in general.

[quiddity]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread!

It's been 2 year since I posted (took some finding!) so thought I'd say what I've done since & bump it up as I guess it's more pertanant than ever in the current climate for people to not only save the world but save money!

So fabric conditioner is still white vinegar & a few drops of essential oils. Though my wife is in on it now!
Still working my way through our mountain of 75% washing powder/liquid that I got from work 2 years ago! I did however fine an ecoegg in tkmaxx before Christmas. It was only £10 & will do a out 720 washes!
Still cycling 10 miles to work for about 40 weeks a year. Still the same bike as well just fixed rather than buying a new one.

We've change electricity & gas to bulb & have hive which keeps the house at 16 degrees when we're home. If cold we have blankets!
I've changed my bank to TRIODOS. A more ethical & sustainable bank.
Been having my staycations with at least 1 weeks camping a year. We had planned a break from flying aboard before covid started. Do miss florida though!
I've really cut back on my purchases of everything! Impulse buying is a no no now (though still can't stop DW!). Clothes are banned unless I'm completely out. When I do need to I buy better & ethical.

[Michyloulou]

Great thread, and has got me thinking of what we already do and what we (my family) need to do next.
We already:
-Use re-fillable water bottles for school/work
-Use metal straws
-Keep our heating at a sensible level.
-Mainly Showers instead of baths. Youngest still has a bath, and occasionally my older DD wil have a bath, but usually shower.
-Batch cooking- I make large quantities of meals where possible and freeze (less energy than keep using gas for smaller batches), and saves time.
-Recycling clothes - obviously kids are continually growing so we donate clothes to the local ‘Break’ charity which supports vulnerable young people. During 1st lockdown when everything was closed, we donated what we had then to the Salvation Army green container bins in our local town (most were full but we found one that’s situated in an edge of town car park that was still empty!).
- If I order clothes online and happen to need to return an item, i’ll enclose the plastic wrap from the clothes i’m keeping with a label asking them to recycle. I saw this on a consumer programme once, as it’s often more viable for them to be able to recycle, whereas polythene sheets can’t go in my recycling bin.
- Same as with Tesco food delivery- not so much now, but they used to enclose loads of small red bags which i’d collect up when putting shopping away and return to the driver the next week. Some I used to keep to line my small bins.
- White goods - when purchasing new electrical items we always try to purchase the most energy efficient.
- Not using car as much. Luckily I’m able to walk to work, and also try to walk into our local town where possible.
-Eat meat free once per week.

* What we need to do
- Investigate eco eggs! I had heard of them and with the washing I get through, definitely need to look at this!
- Purchase beeswax wraps.
- I’d love to dig out a small vegetable garden and start growing my own carrots, potatoes and (in summer) strawberries. I’m really not green fingered and wouldn’t have a clue about when to plant, how to make sure the soil is good, keeping pests away. Need to research this!
- Think about whether future purchases are necessary.

*Quite a few people have mentioned the carbon footprint for flying to Orlando. There are websites where you can calculate your footprint and make a financial contribution towards a greener, sustainable projects. We went in 2019 to Florida, and this was the first time in 23 years. However, there were 6 of us, so I’ve just put our details in (a single, round trip LGW - ORL x 6) and the contribution comes in at £337-£1052 depending on which project you choose to donate to. I suspect a lot of people wouldn’t go this far, but it’s food for thought if you’re lucky enough to have numerous trips. Here is the website I went onto, but there are others.

[Lostbrain]

Great going, I was planning on not flying and not buying new clothes in 2020. We didn't fly! We have vouchers for Eurostar as we were going to do a rail trip to Spain, but this year if we can get to FL we will, who knows, but I'm really missing holidays in the sunshine.

I did buy some clothes but not many, after I had covid my jeans felt uncomfortable for weeks and weeks so I got some bamboo yoga pants. I also got a new jumper to keep me warm, sitting still at a desk all day is rubbish, the heating is constantly on 22° and I'm still chilly. So I got an apacha wool jumper and wool blend socks, I've also got new slippers on order. The jumper was from UNICEF online store, so hopefully ethical.

I've obviously cut down on my petrol, financially the heating is about the same as the petrol, so probably like for like on carbon?

[aqualiv]

Apologies if this has already been said-
We all love Cadbury’s chocolate in this house and get through quite a lot of their products but since learning they use palm oil I have stopped buying anything from them
Hopefully they will switch to sustainable palm oil soon

[Tinks2014]

We buy large refills for our all our soap dispensers .
Prefer washing on the rotary line weather permitting .

[aqualiv]

Been using an eco egg instead of wash powder for about 6 months now and it’s so good