SuperGreen - Eco Ideas

[gimmegimme]

Blogs:

Treehugger

Hugg 2.0

Ecofabulous

re-nest

Recommended reading:

Treehugger's Guide to Going Green (with such highlights as Green Funerals and Green Sex)

Shopping:

Earthtech Products (solar panels, LED bulbs, etc.; ships to US & Canada)

[rome1]

I constantly carry a nalgene bottle instead of using or buying bottled water, it just wastes way to much plastic.

[thaiison]

^same here. i'm always bringing a tote-bag too to put stuff i bought in so i don't get a bag from the shop. Nowadays me nor my family use the car, we use the car and bicycle for almost every possible errend.

[bobby alto]

This guy I work with turns the water off in the shower when he is lathering the soap. I would never do it but it is an idea...

[gimmegimme]

Are you using a new Nalgene or an old one (since they outlawed whatever plastic they were using cuz yew babies are born with the wrong parts). I use a Sigg aluminum bottle...expensive, but they're nice, and pretty much indestructible.

I bought a low-flow showerhead (1.8gpm)...I know some girls turn off the water while they're washing their hair because it takes them a while, but it hardly seems worth it for me with hardly any hair.

I also stopped getting plastic bags from the grocery store, etc. It either goes in my backpack, or in one of these, which I keep in my backpack (speaking in future tense, as it has yet to arrive...) I also stopped using ziplock bags for everything...only recycleable plastic containers.

We have a city managed recycling/compositing system here in Toronto which is good.

Lots of nasty detergents/chemicals in most cosmetics and cleaning products these days, so I like using Dr. Bronners' organic soap and various "green" cleaning products. There's a hippie store here that lets you refill your old bottles too called Grassroots. They also run a program to recycle old batteries, although I plan on getting some rechargables when I need some next.

CFL bulbs are the latest craze...seems as though most people adopted this quite easily as they cut down on your power bill, but they still contain mercury and often come in plastic blister-packs, which is bad. Buy them in cardboard boxes if you can. LED bulbs will be the way of the future, but at the moment they're stupid expensive, and not very bright. Lots of great LED lamps are coming out now, like this one from Herman Miller.

I feel like an advertisement, but whatev...just happen to be the products I like.

[broneck]

I now shit in re-usable diapers instead of the disposable one's I'd been using up until recently.

[sybaritical]

Is anyone interested in sharing environmental/green ideas? Saving water, energy, recycling, etc.

Yes.

Go.

[masuerte]

I stopped taking showers and now just bathe myself in rich oils like they did in the past. (10)

Forreals though I only let the shower water run at least a minute at a time: quick minute to acclimate to cold temp, turn it off when I lather myself, shave, shampoo etc... then I run it another quick minute or so to wash ... sometimes I do a few minutes more. Also I do this in the dark or use available light.

[gimmegimme]

I now shit in re-usable diapers instead of the disposable one's I'd been using up until recently.

I've been pondering said change...not sure if I'm willing to give up my huggies yet tho. :confused:

If anyone's looking for eco-friendly chairs that don't look like shit - Emeco.net. 80% recycled aluminum (pop cans, scraps). Each chair has a life span of at least 150 years.

[Gabriel]

I live in Sweden; we bathe in lakes.

And there are ten different garbage types of garbage, coloured glass, cardboard, compost, etc.

[gimmegimme]

I live in Sweden; we bathe in lakes...

Pics of random lake hotties please.

[gimmegimme]

-apparently changing your monitor's wallpaper to solid black uses less energy, as the computer uses more power to display photos

-use www.blackle.com instead of google (see above)

-roll the windows up while you're driving - open windows reduce aerodynamics and the car uses more gas

-buy organic cotton - cotton is the biggest crop in the world, and uses the most pesticides. AA has an organic cotton line (now with actual colours instead of ugly "natural")

-don't put your produce in plastic bags when grocery shopping

-punch people that leave the grocery store with 80 plastic shopping bags...tell them I said it was okay

-stop dating ugly chicks - they require more makeup to leave the house and you require more alcohol to lower your standards...everyone is wasting stuffs

...tbc

[multicolor]

^^ I have that chair!

good suggestions gimmegimme

fluorescent light bulbs- more expensive but will definitely save money because they do last a lot longer.

composting-- it's not that hard, especially if you have a window in your kitchen that you can just toss stuff out of. Plus it benefits you because 1. garbage won't smell bad, and 2. saves space in garbage that you can use for other stuff so you don't have to take it out as often

buy locally- a lot of people probably can't do this but if you can, you should.

buy organic food stuff also- at least get organic milk/butter if nothing else, they have it at any normal grocery store i think.

[snickersnicker]

Go vegan.

10char

[le_chic_garcon]

- compost your shit

- I just throw my vegtables, and stuff in the woods it saves like half of my trash

- recycle or re-use everything

- Im gonna use old snapple bottles as water bottles and just re-use them like the large snapple glass jars.

[geekbonchic]

For the knitters out there, take old plastic bags from grocery stores or whatever, cut them into thin strips and tie them together. Knit yourself a green bag using old bags. My friend is neary done with hers and I'm going to start on mine soon.

[marie]

THE OBVIOUS:

- bike, benefits both the environment AND your physique

- eat less meat/eat more local organic foods. feedlots are a major source of organic pollution and tropical forests are cut to raise beef. also have health benefits for yourself.

- dress appropiate for the weather. too hot ? get nekkid. don't leave that ac running. too cold ? put on one of those nice sweaters you just posted in the recent purchases. turn your thermostat down !

- replace paper napkins with cloth ones. and if you eat at fast food restaurants then tell them you don't need the 20 napkins they throw in the bag. because you don't.

[VuONG]

recycling is bull shit. yea i said it. its been proven that recycling waste twice as much energy and produces more pollution then if we just threw it away with our trash.

its still a good idea but its not quite effective yet.

i wouldn't consider recycling an eco idea.

if you really wan to be suitable and help the environment:

look up a few of these practices

- grey water

- start a co-op

- buy local

- plant a tree - plants are the only known organic method in removing and storing carbon

- ride a bike or take public transport

just a few things. if you want to get into construction methods im glad to share.

[BTT]

my roommate is pretty heavy on environmentalism, here's some stuff:

compost box somewhere we can dispose so there's 0 waste.

he has this solar power phone charger that works all right

aluminum containers for water. the plastic bottles carries some chemical, so don't fuck with those.

turn off lights

oh yeah, this is the biggest one. don't eat red meat.

[FUCK]

Yeah, I actually picked up vegetarianism again, because I digest it better and I've really felt I should try harder to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

Been composting for about 3 years and use the soil in my vegetable garden, which is always rad to reap the fruits and veggies that have thrived off of my wasted materials.

I've also been trying to do the 100 mile food radius thing. Helps local farmers and business owners, but its not always possible for me to adhere to this.

Farmers markets....great for the community...make sure you know where their products are coming from and their production process!

biking

and finally, I haven't used the AC in my bedroom once this year. It was hard the first couple weeks of summer, but I've completely gotten use to it.

Great thread!

[BTT]

-apparently changing your monitor's wallpaper to solid black uses less energy, as the computer uses more power to display photos

-use www.blackle.com instead of google (see above)

-roll the windows up while you're driving - open windows reduce aerodynamics and the car uses more gas

-buy organic cotton - cotton is the biggest crop in the world, and uses the most pesticides. AA has an organic cotton line (now with actual colours instead of ugly "natural")

-don't put your produce in plastic bags when grocery shopping

-punch people that leave the grocery store with 80 plastic shopping bags...tell them I said it was okay

-stop dating ugly chicks - they require more makeup to leave the house and you require more alcohol to lower your standards...everyone is wasting stuffs

...tbc

i told my roommate about blackle and he said yeah he knows about it but theres an add-on on mozilla that give you the whole black energy theme if you want ( he uses it). dodnt know if you would use that though

[Scais]

buy (or catch) a few pigeons. feed it food u dont finish/scraps. then when they reproduce. Eat them. Use their shit as fertilizer. Rinse and repeat.

[FUCK]

i told my roommate about blackle and he said yeah he knows about it but theres an add-on on mozilla that give you the whole black energy theme if you want ( he uses it). dodnt know if you would use that though

If you can find the name or link toward the add on, let me know. I've found a few, but i don't really care for the layouts.

[marie]

Unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, it still uses energy

[gimmegimme]

Unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, it still uses energy

Apparently most electronics do (I didn't know that). It's suggested you plug everything into power bars, and then flick the power bar off so nothing uses stand-by power.

[Guest]

recycling is bull shit. yea i said it. its been proven that recycling waste twice as much energy and produces more pollution then if we just threw it away with our trash.

its still a good idea but its not quite effective yet.

i wouldn't consider recycling an eco idea.

if you really wan to be suitable and help the environment:

look up a few of these practices

- grey water

- start a co-op

- buy local

- plant a tree - plants are the only known organic method in removing and storing carbon

- ride a bike or take public transport

just a few things. if you want to get into construction methods im glad to share.

ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED?

proven by who? and did they factor in the cost of producing petroleum products to replace the ones we just throw out?

did the land usage or the leeching of chemicals into soil and water occur to them?

was it based on more bullshit computer models?

did they factor in that im fucking sick of bullshit computer models?

[lovethrust]

I'm all for going green, but some of you people need to stop drinking the kool-aid on a few things. Blackle for instance, a few weeks ago google made their page black, and this was followed by them saying it doesn't actually save energy, it might even use more. this is the post.

I try and bike to places instead of driving, and pushed for the parents to replace incandescents with CFLs. I feel like I could do more though

[raWorkshop]

Unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, it still uses energy

I don't get this for things like chargers. You'd think that the circuit isn't closed so it wouldn't use any energy? Or is it because it's an AC device?

Anyways, buy less, buy better. Superdenim is actually really good at this (except for Edmond). Don't buy cheap throw away shit at H&M or whatever, it save's no money, it wastes resources and materials.

Edit: Switch to glasses, contacts are a waste intensive pain in the ass. Get nice locklid tupperware or mason jars if you have the room.

[marie]

http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2001/02/09_energ.html

[lovethrust]

I don't get this for things like chargers. You'd think that the circuit isn't closed so it wouldn't use any energy? Or is it because it's an AC device?

Anyways, buy less, buy better. Superdenim is actually really good at this (except for Edmond). Don't buy cheap throw away shit at H&M or whatever, it save's no money, it wastes resources and materials.

Edit: Switch to glasses, contacts are a waste intensive pain in the ass. Get nice locklid tupperware or mason jars if you have the room.

this may be true, but chances are, those brand new quality raw denims were shipped all the way from Japan, not exactly an improvement over shipped from eastern europe or asia