What are you doing today...to help the environment?

[Atlas14]

I don't know about a lot of you, but to me it often feels like a chore to be environmentally friendly with your everyday lifestyle, and to make eco-friendly adjustments as necessary.

Back in Maryland, we didn't have any convenient recycling bins or companies to load all of our recyclables. However here at college we do, so I feel a lot better about making the effort to save all my bottles and recycle them in the correct bin and such.

This thread is meant to show individual progress for achieving eco-friendly lifestyles. What do you have to do? Simply post what you have just done or have done today (must be past tense, no I will do this...) that has helped the environment. Large projects that benefit the environment are good, but work/progress must have already been made before you post.

Rules:

1. No spam. It is clearly bad for the environment and doesn't belong in this thread.
2. No more than 2 consecutive posts by any one poster.
3. Must be environmentally related and friendly. No boasting about driving across the country in a Ford Excursion. That is not only spammy, but counter-productive for this thread.
4. Must be past tense, no I will do such and such
5. Must have been done TODAY (i.e. whichever day you are posting)
6. Try to be specific in telling us how and what you recycled.

 

[El_Machinae]

Specifically today?
In addition to my other methods of reducing my footprint, today I made a couple changes in my life.

Firstly, I arranged to dry my clothes by putting them in the dryer at night. This is instead of drying them during the day (during the summer I use a clothesline). Because I'm not using the dryer during 'peak times', I'm not encouraging the coal-plant to have their 'peak times' generation as high as it usually is. I'm using their 'standby' generation, which is on regardless.

As well, when cooking supper, I used a combination of the stovetop and the oven; however, I arranged the timing such that the maximum powerdraw was not a combination of both the oven and stovetop, but used the stovetop after the oven had heated itself (i.e., they weren't at maximum at the same time, but at different times).

 

[Nylan]

I have regularly participated in trash pick-ups, but idk if that counts since it was more roadside than the wild. When I camp I always make an effort to use only dead wood already on the ground, leave the campsite better than when I left it, etc.

 

[Atlas14]

This thread is meant to show improvement amongst individuals and proof that people are actually genuinely trying to make an environmental effort, so try to keep it to what you have done specifically today (or whichever day you are posting). Thanks

 

[TheBladeRoden]

4. Must be past tense, no I will do such and such

What are you doing today...to help the environment?

I....don't know how to respond to this thread!!!

 

[theimmortal1]

I flushed 3 times while dumping instead of 4. And I used less toilet paper than what I usually do.

 

[Atlas14]

I....don't know how to respond to this thread!!!

Something along the lines of: Today, I recycled 6 newspapers, 10 Powerade bottles, 34 aluminum cans, and only took a 7 minute shower (only an example).

 

[Atlas14]

Today, I actually recycled 2 newspapers, 5 bottles, and I did not leave the water running for as long when I brushed my teeth.

 

[MjM]

Today I recycled alot and peed alot.

 

[Fugitive Sisyphus]

I sat on my rear end all day thereby decreasing my C02 emissions.

 

[Tortosa]

I parked my car in front of my neighbour's driveway with 5 cars in it so now they can't drive.

 

[onejayhawk]

I grow organic vegetables. I contribute to the organic accumulations via the sewer system. I attempt to illustrate the hoax that is popular global warming theory. Just the basics.

J

 

[Tee Kay]

I planted trees, with recycled water.

 

[Ramius75]

Good things
1) Try to reuse plastic bags. use 1 bag for all the shopping (unless they are designer bag which i will not throw away anyway)
2) reuse newspaper for my kitten litters.
3) use water from washing rice to water plant
4) use water from washing machine to clean the floor
5) turn off power from appliance when not in use, (except computer)
6) take public transport when possible (except in dates)
7) walk alot more than taking public transport or cab
8) Dont smoke
9) seldom use tissue paper but handkerchief instead.
10) refuse to wear anything aesthetic that was made from animal fur.
11) refuse to eat anything animal not domesticated.
12) Refuse to eat sharkfin and get everyone to do the same.
13) bath in less than 10 mins

bad things:
1) Use alot of toilet paper in toilet, especially public which i use them to cover the seat
2) Drive car sometime.
3) Left the computer on for most of the time.
4) leave TV on while playing computers sometime
5) large TV and home theater syste,
6) hot bath most of the time
7) eat alot

 

[CCA]

Didnt shower, brush teeth or wash hands today.

I'm a hero for the environmentalist cause.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Nothing major - I put some cardboard up into the 'recycling cupboard' - all the plastics/glass/paper there gets put out once a week, and it gets collected for recycling. It's a nice system, I feel.

And yesterday I put bottles up to to be recycled. It's great, I can drink and help the environment!

 

[Swedishguy]

I breathed on the plants. Yee-haw, I'm the hero!

 

[Sophie 378]

Every day:

• I walk instead of taking buses or driving.
• I use energy-saver light bulbs instead of incandescents.
• I cook my vegetables by steaming them over the pasta or rice.
• I sort and collect my rubbish for recycling (paper, glass, and tins - the most Birmingham can manage ).
• I'm a real miser about heating and hot water - I have a power shower and a kettle; central heating and boilers are for wimps.
• Nearly every day, I do some Healthy Exercise as well as saving electricity, by taking the stairs instead of the lift. 126 of them.
• Turn off everything that I'm not using right at that moment. Seriously. If I'm going for a pee, I'll put the comp to sleep; if I'm going away from it for more than a couple of minutes, I'll turn it off at the wall.

Every time I ...

• do my laundry, I hang the clothes up to drip and air dry rather than using a tumble-drier.
• do my shopping: I buy nearly 100% local and organic: good for the environment, and fewer food miles. Fairtrade too if I can.
• do my shopping, I go with rucksack and spare reused bags.
• I'm home with the parents: I help grow the organic vegetables that we eat.

Also: I live in a large city with good-ish public transport, I live in a small flat in a tower block, I don't travel much at all except for home for weekends by train (total flights of my life: UK-Germany and back, UK-Spain and back twice), I don't drive,

 

[Urederra]

I am from Navarra, We do more than enough over there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6430801.stm

At the moment, less than 7% of Europe's needs are covered by wind power, biofuels or solar energy.

But in the Navarra region, in north-eastern Spain, almost 70% of the electricity comes from the wind and the sun.

You do not have to look far in Navarra to see a windmill. Not the sort that Don Quixote fought, but the hi-tech turbines that provide much of the electricity here.

With no coal, oil or gas of its own, this mountainous region deliberately went for renewable energy in the late 1980s.

The first wind farm was built in full view of the regional capital Pamplona, so that people could get used to it.

Now, with some 1,100 windmills dotted all over Navarra, this tiny region is capable of generating more electricity from renewable sources than big EU countries like France or Poland.

I had a privileged view from the top of one, 80 metres (250 feet) above ground. Going up in a cramped elevator in full security gear, you can feel the windmill swaying gently in the wind as you reach the full height.

Close up, the blades emerge slowly like huge white whales, revealing more rows of windmills on the horizon.
From a control centre outside Pamplona, a team of young operators can turn most mills on and off at the click of a mouse, not just in Spain, but as far as South Korea.


When it comes to renewable energy, companies based in Navarra, like Acciona Energia, are world leaders

Company spokesman Jose Arieta says the company is looking to increase its exports to the United States, Australia, India and China.

"We are going to invest a lot of money in renewables in the world because we are convinced this is a very relevant sector for the future," Mr Arieta says.

Some 100,000 people work in the green energy sector in Spain, with 4,000 new jobs created in Navarra in the last decade.

As many people are now employed making turbines or solar panels as in car manufacturing, Navarra's traditional industry.

Growth sector

The regional industry secretary, Jose Javier Armendariz, says clean energy is overtaking cars as a source of growth.

An hour's drive from Pamplona, next to a village called Milagro, I went to see one of the biggest solar parks in Europe.

On a field as vast as 50 football pitches, stand row upon row of huge solar panels, tilted to capture as much light as possible.

In a growing trend in Spain, the solar park is a co-operative, with 750 individual owners. The cost of a panel starts at 50,000 euros, but with a tax break from the regional government and a guaranteed annual income there is a long waiting list of willing buyers.

One of my twin brothers works for them and he told me that they are designing even better and taller windmills (110 m). I have some shares of that company (I think).

And the solar park in Milagro is the one that generates the most energy from the sun in the world.

Beat that...

 

[Gilder]

I've recycled some bottles, both plastic and glass.