Marginal gains to save the planet

I’m guessing that’s a typo, or you’ve got the wrong word there, sirromj??

@Mark

Do you have data on the carbon footprint of STW, what are the plans to reduce, how have you reduced. Long term aims etc. could we get a dedicated page in the pull down menu

Anyone mentioned temperature kettles yet?

Who needs actual boiling water? And it seems to boil for about 2 mins on most kettles before flipping off. Ours has 70, 80, 90 and 100. 80 makes a great aeropress that’s ready to drink, even if you are boiling pasta etc 90 is grand. Ours was cheap and is 7 years old (we got it when we moved house)

For anyone interested in numbers here’s a plug for this again:

https://ourworldindata.org/

There’s a wide range of plastic free sustainable wet wipes these days.

We used washable baby wipes, they were far more effective for wiping up poo by virtue of being Terry cloth, and they still are as we still have them a decade later.

No such thing as a sustainable disposable thing.

Thanks for the link pigyn. Will give it a browse later as it looks interesting.

Molgrips, it’s great to have alternatives for different people’s needs. I find flannels great too , but you cannot beat a wet wipe for some of our daily situations. I imagine you don’t have the same needs as us.

Nobody here concerned about STWs plan but  people who don’t use or need wet wipes complaining about wet wipes.

Dare I mention hippos?

Email singletrack and find out what they are doing to reduce their carbon footprint, we don’t want to reduce our clicks or give it up we want a carbon neutral website and mag. Force them to improve or we could listen to the ‘give everything up’ brigade.

No clicks today frinstance??

Tj. Already done,

No clicks today frinstance??

Go ahead, lead by example, and don’t stop at a day.

*not a wet wipe user*

Some of the stuff on this thread is mad.
“There’s nothing we can do, it’s all down to the governments and big companies”.

But WE elect the government’s and WE buy from the big companies.

Electing the right politicians and buying the things we NEED from the right companies will do far more than not washing your towels and recycling your wet wipes.

The planet will be fine. It’s ability to support human life in the next few decades is the problem.

Nobody is willing to make the necessary changes. We’ve known about this for what, 40 years and still global CO2 emissions are increasing year on year. Ten years ago 1.5′ was seen as the disaster point. We’ve already hit that and our governments in Westminster and Holyrood have reacted to this by ditching their climate targets. These are governments WE voted for. Labour won’t fix this, Farrage denys its even happening.

In three weeks we have a choice. Voting for anyone but Green is condoning climate destruction and no amount of electric cars or veganism changes that.

Nobody is willing to make the necessary changes.

The necessary changes are for the world’s governments to collectively come up with an alternative to consumer capitalism.  I can’t make that change.  I can buy less stuff, sure, but I can’t affect that many other people.

This is a job for governments – don’t let them off the hook.

These are governments WE voted for.

Yeah, we voted for them, but that doesn’t mean they’ll do whatever we want.  You’re grossly over-simplifying the situation we find ourselves in.  What we need is governments to create programmes to address this properly and competently. It’s all well and good criticising us for not voting Green, but that ignores the actual real world in which we live.  Governments need to do this – Labour, Tory, all of them.

^^On the one hand you want people to be realistic about the world we live in, on the other, you’re hoping governments are going to get together and come up with a new world economy model asap🤪

The consumerist world economy is the only game in town, it will be the only game in town in 25 years, continue spending but pressure your favourite businesses to improve. Just look at the change in the wet wipe industry😁

Now, why is no one concerned with the STW plan? We all use the site,, we can make a marginal gain right here without switching anything off.

In peak ridiculousness I bought sustainable dental floss. It’s silk not plastic but is super white, I suspect bleaching. Mind you normal plastic stuff may have TiO2.  Also it’s a bit wide for my little toothy peg gaps.

I’m very conflicting with my own beliefs, mostly because doing anything means travelling in a car. But I do try to reduce impact. I’ve changed jobs so my sole focus is on reducing the companies carbon footprint, and that doesn’t mean offsetting fortunately. We are genuinely working towards doing better (despite making big parts for big planes).

For riding, there isn’t much I enjoy without being able to drive. I also would like to build and race my little Peugeot 205 in some hillclimbs.

Hence the self conflict.

on the other, you’re hoping governments are going to get together and come up with a new world economy model asap

I’m not expecting them to. I’m just saying that’s what’s needed! That said, a lot of governments are pressing ahead with renewable generation on a large scale. Pretty sure that’s not due to consumer demand. But we need to do better -we need storage, and that needs research and investment. That’s what we need governments for.

Pressuring companies to make their tat slightly less damaging isn’t going to make any meaningful difference. We need them to stop selling us tat, which they can’t do because they won’t put themselves out of business.

That said, a lot of governments are pressing ahead with renewable generation on a large scale.

Probably one reason for that, and it’s more likely to do with saving their wallets than saving the earth. Dunno why people feel obliged to make excuses for governments and corporations.

We used washable baby wipes, they were far more effective for wiping up poo by virtue of being Terry cloth, and they still are as we still have them a decade later.

Same. And i think they were all inherited from my sister, so they’re 20+ years old and worked on five kids!

Well (local)governments are starting. We are about to have a no/low impact secondary school built.  There are no bunsens in the science labs, in fact no gas.

Unfortunately I’ve been through this before so started asking questions. Yeah architects are a bit shit at practicallity.

@Mark

Do you have data on the carbon footprint of STW, what are the plans to reduce, how have you reduced. Long term aims etc. could we get a dedicated page in the pull down menu

Probably the biggest single impact would be to fix the janky code that causes everyone’s phones / laptops to massively overheat.  Bearing in mind how long people spend with STW just burning away – multiplied by number of users…

Controversial suggestion – marginal gains actually make the situation worse?

paper straws, 5p plastic bags, an eco branded toilet paper, separating the recycling etc etc…

These things all have tiny, probably immeasurable impact on the world, but my in-laws (and I think a large part of the populations) think if they are doing those things (and not even all those things) they are doing their bit and so its OK that to fly on holiday 4x a year, including one 2 week cruise on a massive floating dinosaur burning hotel EVERY year.

One of the best decisions we made was getting rid of the Singletrack branded diesel van some years ago. It was one of those things we convinced ourselves we really needed but haven’t missed.

We swapped out all our lights in the office (two floors) for LED lights years ago. Then installed a 4kw solar system on the roof. The mag has been printed as environmentally as we could make it for some time. Renewable sources of paper, printer with strong environmental credentials and the like. Current printer is 100% powered by green sourced energy (Manson).

the janky laptop heating code is entirely the fault of the ad system with animated ads pumped in by ad networks, mostly Google. I’m trying my best to get the business to a point where I can get rid of them. I guess subscribing and going ad free is an environmental option in that case (joking – not serious) 🙂

in short we are conscious of our impact and we try our best to make good choices.

Oh and we just signed up with Octopus Energy for our office supply.

Controversial suggestion – marginal gains actually make the situation worse?

paper straws, 5p plastic bags, an eco branded toilet paper, separating the recycling etc etc…

These things all have tiny, probably immeasurable impact on the world, but my in-laws (and I think a large part of the populations) think if they are doing those things (and not even all those things) they are doing their bit and so its OK that to fly on holiday 4x a year, including one 2 week cruise on a massive floating dinosaur burning hotel EVERY year.

I agree, I think this is an issue. Also an issue is that the key to greenness is, basically, ‘use less stuff’, but the much stronger forces of marketing and convenience have turned it into ‘buy this stuff to increase your greenness’. So we have things like an enormous selection of aluminium drinking bottles in every gift shop and outdoorsy shop in the country, ‘plant based’ fabric conditioners and, dare I say it again, ‘sustainable’ wet wipes.

Cycle to shop rather than drive so car hardly gets used. Although my bike was bought on bike to work and I work from home, so some accused me of being a tax dodger…just can’t win on here!

No kids, so (despite what daz says) that’s a massive saving

As for towels. I recently went through this debate with the OH. Can’t believe folks wash a towel every 2-3 days. Madness..

Hey, @Mark. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Great to hear it’s already a big part of the business.👍

Would it be possible to get a page with previous efforts, your commitments and long term goals on the website. I’m amazed how many websites still don’t actively promote their efforts.

Maybe the journos can do a story advertorial piece??

Do you plan to find out the CO2 produced by STW so that you’re able to measure reductions year on year.

What’s next, If your carbon footprint isn’t measured in any way how do you make informed choices for the next phase?

I might even send some money your way😁

Define your version of environmental sustainability and there will always be somebody come along to say ‘oh, but it’s not perfect’, because most things purchased we can survive without. It’s just a game of fairy tale perfectionism.

By definition sustainability isn’t perfectionism.

It’s simply being sufficiently little imperfect that it doesn’t have a long term impact.

So if you do a sufficient amount of “marginal gains” you could justify driving a car for example.  The trouble is that a sustainable amount of CO2 is ~1500kg/year per person.  Which is near enough the current amount for driving a car, heating a house, consuming a meaty diet or taking a medium-haul flight.  So the answer still needs to be, pick one of those four big tickets to keep, and do all the marginal gains as well so you can keep it.

Governments need to do more, but so do people.  Stop saying “but I can’t give up driving/petrol/diesel, get a heat pump, not go on holidays, eat vegetables, insulate my home” or whatever the activity is and get on with it.

Don’t throw a ball for your dog as this causes it to run and pant, emitting more CO2 and requiring more meat to replenish energy. Doing or rather not doing this will cause the planet to cool, therefore reversing climate change and making the weather generally nice all the time with no extremes.

One can even choose their pension provider on ethnicity and sustainability. The returns may not be as big as say ‘Shell’ making your profits but it’s getting better for shareholders.

It’s interesting to think that some people think that by buying a sustainable wet wipe or water bottle they’re doing their ‘bit’.

I know people who just want to enjoy what’s left of their lives and don’t give a flying fig about the planet or anything/anyone else. I always hope that they would at least look at the things they purchase and make that a better choice.

I know people who just want to enjoy what’s left of their lives and don’t give a flying fig about the planet or anything/anyone else.

That’s the other side of the “no kids” question. Parents are more likely to be concerned about what happens after their own lifespan.

Stop saying “but I can’t give up driving/petrol/diesel, get a heat pump

I can’t wait to get a heat pump, I just don’t have ten grand lying around doing nothing.

I can’t wait to get a heat pump, I just don’t have ten grand lying around doing nothing.

£7,500 subsidy at the moment, and octopus are offering some very good prices. You don’t even have to be a customer. Our ASHP is costing us £2,500 fitted, as part of which they’re replacing 6 radiators

I don’t really have £2,500 lying around either. Also, Octopus aren’t fitting in my area.

Don’t throw a ball for your dog as this causes it to run and pant, emitting more CO2 and requiring more meat to replenish energy. Doing or rather not doing this will cause the planet to cool, therefore reversing climate change and making the weather generally nice all the time with no extremes.

Hey grimep that one was actually quite funny, well done

£7,500 subsidy at the moment, and octopus are offering some very good prices. You don’t even have to be a customer. Our ASHP is costing us £2,500 fitted, as part of which they’re replacing 6 radiators

Even with the subsidy, I’ll probably be looking at around another £7,500 for insulation, pipe replacement, larger radiators etc. I wish I could make it work but fitting a replacement gas boiler is hard to avoid. I’m trying…

I reused a towel again this morning which has definitely helped offset the mass deforestation occurring in order to meet net zero targets to save the planet..

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/06/18/green-aviation-targets-cooking-oil-fraud-mass-scale/

Waiting for the cringe “Torygraph” comment, don’t disappoint me please

Even with the subsidy, I’ll probably be looking at around another £7,500 for insulation, pipe replacement, larger radiators etc. I wish I could make it work but fitting a replacement gas boiler is hard to avoid. I’m trying…

It’s worth contacting Octopus – they gave me a fixed price quote including all pipework and plubing, and any necessary radiators. The survey didn’t happen for several months after I started the process and thankfully they don’t need to do any plumbing as we have 22mm pipework (as opposed to microbore) but they wil lneed to repace 6 radiators. The quote took a few minute to  do online

https://octopus.energy/get-a-heat-pump/#fixedpricequote

We have microbore, so a not insignificant additional cost.

grimep

Free Member
I reused a towel again this morning which has definitely helped offset the mass deforestation occurring in order to meet net zero targets to save the planet..

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/06/18/green-aviation-targets-cooking-oil-fraud-mass-scale/

Waiting for the cringe “Torygraph” comment, don’t disappoint me please

This is such a non-point you are making.

Our 20yr old gas boiler has just been condemned for the sake of an obsolete flue component 😕 but I can’t see a heat pump being much use in a 1980’s built detached house.

Perhaps when you go out for breakfast/brunch choose carefully?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/jun/11/inside-mexico-anti-avocado-militias?CMP=share_btn_url

I am pretty sure my house doesn’t need any new plumbing, and I’ve even tried to get quotes but it’s an absolute minefield if you don’t want to just hand over your card details and whatever. One company just sent me a list of heat pump component prices and wanted me to choose.

I would DIY my own installation if it were a monobloc but I don’t know if I’d be making the right choices and I’m sure I wouldn’t get the grant. Most people I spoke to seem unaware of it’s existence. I want a service like the Octopus one but they aren’t doing it in my location.

We have microbore, so a not insignificant additional cost.

I can’t recall if the octopus price includes replacing microbore or not, if so then it’s “just” the hassle of them replacing the pipework. IF youhave to pay for it then yes, it’s going to cost a chunk 🙁

Micro bore describes grimep perfectly.

“That’s the other side of the “no kids” question. Parents are more likely to be concerned about what happens after their own lifespan.”

Yes part of me is wanting a better planet for my 7 year old niece, however I want a better planet for all the life upon it that is being affected and killed off due to our selfish actions.