Green living - what is your favorite change (Austin, Happy: transporting, credit card)

[jenkirk]

Austinites, what change did you make to be "greener" that ended up being better for you and not just the environment?

Top of my list is:
I love the Target reusable bags that fold up. I do not have to kill my hands carrying in all of the little plastic bags. Also it only takes me two trips from my car to the kitchen instead of four to five.

I am putting this question out there because I am looking for other ideas that will be easy to implement.

[G Grasshopper]

Speaking of grocery bags, I rinse out those produce plastic bags, and dry them on a little wooden stand made for the use. When dry, I put some of them into my cloth grocery bags in the trunk of the car, and some of them I leave in the house for storing produce that I bring home without a bag. I am also trying to use a few of those reusable, mesh bags to reduce my use of the produce bags.

When doing other shopping, I am trying very hard to never accept a plastic bag. I keep a smallish rip-stip bag, all stuffed into its own tiny stuff sack, in my purse. Often I tell the clerk that I'm trying really hard not to accept plastic bags, and usually they are supportive.

I also have changed to "preserve" toothbrushes. They are recycled and recyclable. Throwing out the regular plastic toothbrushes every few months was beginning to bother my conscience, so I was glad when the Preserve brand came out. When you accumulate a few, you can go online and the company will send you a postage-free mailer to send them back to be recycled into park benches, or whatever.

[UKjay]

We've been living overseas for a while now and recycling is, while not mandatory in our borough, choosing not to recycle costs money for many people. I believe the "habits" we've adopted here we will continue when we move to Austin.

One, we always bring our own bags wherever we shop; these bags are available at the stores for a very small price and the store will replace them for free if they wear out or are torn. Some bags are canvas, some burlap and the remainder reusable plastic. All the bags have substantial handles and are easy to carry. The bags hold more than the plastic "carrier" bags the store offers. Some stores now charge 5p ($00.10) for each carrier bag they provide. Food is labeled with it's country of origin and some people will not buy produce that has been flown to the UK. Ditto with the barn vs free range eggs and meat. We are naughty and often buy food with a carbon footprint...sigh, sometimes a person just wants vegetables and fruit that are out of season

As an aside and not a "green" issue, everyone sacks their own groceries; the cashier does not even ask if you want help. People queue here politely and just wait. I will miss the politeness and mindfulness of the people here. The times I've been in Austin it seems that everyone is "mad" about something.... those of you that fit this profile, people life is short and "it's" not all about you. Keep calm, Carry on.

Second, we recycle all plastic, glass, cardboard, tin, aluminum, and "green" aka yard/garden waste. We do not recycle food waste as most people do; we have the luxury of a disposal and food just stinks after awhile. Also collections are weekly, with some areas fortnightly. Some local councils have "bin" police to check that people are recycling.

Third, we drive much less. Of course a good, safe public transport system helps make this easier (notice I didn't mention cheaper - public transport in the UK is much more expensive than any other European city). I walk to the grocery store which is about 0.5 miles away, again sidewalks and cooler temps make this doable. Also fuel here is the equivalent of $10.00/gallon. There are also virtually no drive in fast food restaurants (let alone fast food) to sit in line and burn fuel and add to the air pollution.

Fourth, since everything is so expensive here we only buy what we need and not what we want.

Lastly, the UK lags far behind countries like Switzerland in recycling so even the UK has a way to go.

Recycling, in my opinion, is a choice and the right thing to do. Driving less, well that is more problematic in a state like Texas. The price of fuel is not going down and it seems prudent to choose wisely when driving.

Well that's my 2p worth. Everyone in the States seems to gripe about pollution and beat their chest over the state of the environment. Green living is a choice, albeit not always convenient, and each individual or family needs to decide their personal contribution to the environment, every bit, no matter how small, helps.

[centralaustinite]

Well, living in a green builder house isn't exactly easy but it is amazing! Low-E windows, great insulation, low electric bills.

A much simpler change was giving up plastic sandwich bags when packing my kids' lunches. They now use bento-style lunch boxes with small sturdy plastic containers. They can get a wider variety of food for lunch with much less waste. Laptop lunchboxes. And we now carpool to school. I thought that carpooling would be a hassle but I love it!

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[G Grasshopper]

Yes, I work with kids, and do talk with them about no waste lunches, but alas, the packages of chips and fruit roll-ups and lunchables keep coming. Many parents have not caught on (either to being green or being healthy). I also do not use bottled water. It takes 5 bottles of water to produce one, not to mention all the energy used in bottling, the emissions and gas used in transporting water all over the place when we could just turn on the tap. If you need water on the go, stainless steel or aluminum water bottles last forever. Another thing is that we throw away so much food. We might think that it just goes to the landfill and rots naturally, but landfills are made now to protect the water table, so they are impervious on the bottom, and often sealed on the top. So things have to rot in the absence of oxygen, producing methane gas, which is even a worse green house gas than CO2. So we need to 1. Don't make or order too much food, and eat what we take,
2. Compost as much as possible, using hot compost or worms. I know composting is seems like a big hassle, but there are small, convenient systems. And we can at least do #1.

There are so many green things to do, we could just keep suggesting forever, I'm sure. Its really about living life in awareness of the implications of all you are doing.

[MJinAustin]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

When doing other shopping, I am trying very hard to never accept a plastic bag.

I've never liked to waste things. Sometimes at HEB before I can get my reusable bags out, the bagger has already started. (I'd be on top of things, but I usually have two toddlers with me distracting my attention.) So, I'll say to the bagger that I don't need something bagged or that I have my own bags, and then I watch them take the thing out of the plastic bag, crumble the bag up and throw it out!!! It's so annoying...I mean DUH, why do you think I'm using my own bags?!

I work part time at an upscale retailer and when people bring returns, if the bag isn't too crumpled up or dirty, I fold it back up when no one is looking and reuse it for another customer!

[car957]

I slaughtered one my five Herfords. It's in the freezer and it no longer releases methane after eating alfalfa.

I reduced my carbon footprint by 15 percent. I am having porterhouse this three day weekend. My trip to HEB will impact my carbon footprint, but so will the butter.

Happy holidays.

[Mike78613]

Fourth, since everything is so expensive here we only buy what we need and not what we want.

Yep, only in America. Why does a parent w/ a 3-month old really need to drive a Surburban daily?

Why does the avg Joe w/ family of 4 need 4000-6000 sq ft house w/ 4 bathrooms 6 bedrooms, dining, kitchen nook and 2 living rooms? Only in America!

Living practical makes more sense. We’re making that adjustment, but I have to admit even for myself, its kind on hard.


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Oh as for going green.
I turned off my AC for upstairs. Changed my lightbulbs out through out the whole house.

Always recycle my motor oil, plastic, cans and paper.

[austifornian]

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[xsloane]

We have changed most of the bulbs in the house to "energy savers".
I use the canvas or reusable bags for shopping and only accept the grocery store plastic bags when I run out of them at home, I use them as liners for the waste baskets in the house, in the car for garbage and to line the little ones' potty, etc.
We try to go mostly to the playgrounds and pool where we can walk instead of having to drive.
We teach our children about the bad consecuences of wasting and how it is not ok to try to have everything we want even if we don't need it.
Oh! yes, and we have a man-powered (well, usually WOMAN powered ) lawn mower.