After watching Hugh Fearnley- WhittingStall talking about washing man made clothing, I’ve started washing these items (sports gear, fleeces etc) on a quick wash.

Also I’ve been asking as politely as possible for people to stop idling their car engines (it’s an offence under the highway code) while parked up.
There have been (as you’ve read above, varying degrees of response). Some people do it straight away when you mention the word ‘fine’. Yesterday I asked a chap, who promptly switched off his engine, then when I walked 2 steps away, he switched it back on. He was still there when I came out of our local bike shop.

Asking people to do something in cars? Wow. People in cars mostly find anyone telling them to do anything different to what they are doing the biggest possible insult you could give them!
But good on ya, if you think this will make any difference to the planet. 😉

DezB – you are correct it’s against any car driver to be told anything. However I believe if you can just get a few more people thinking about this the better. The word ‘fine’ is helping. It’s an offence to idle your engine and in Cheshire they are being strict and enforcing the £20 fine.

I’ve just politely asked a motorhome driver to switch off is engine and he was great about it.

Also I’ve been asking as politely as possible for people to stop idling their car engines (it’s an offence under the highway code) while parked up.
There have been (as you’ve read above, varying degrees of response). Some people do it straight away when you mention the word ‘fine’. Yesterday I asked a chap, who promptly switched off his engine, then when I walked 2 steps away, he switched it back on. He was still there when I came out of our local bike shop.

Take my hat off to you Bunnyhop and isn’t it encouraging when a driver turns off their engine having being politely asked to. Who’s enforcing in Cheshire and how do they do this, assuming there’s no extra patrols?

I was talking to my daughter about Greta Thunberg, she didn’t know who she was. Made me feel a rubbish parent.

Thanks C-G. There are a few of us in our WI who are passionate about pollution and the affect it has on old and very young alike.

Ooooh that’s not good that your daughter doesn’t know about Greta. Mind you, if you don’t watch the news then one won’t know about world events.

Sorry not sure about the Cheshire fines. However we’re on the Derbyshire boder. Actually I was speaking to a Derbyshire traffic warden who said he can’t enforce these fines – yet!

Bunnyhop wasn’t there something in the news recently about the pollution in London? Great that your WI are concerned, these small steps do make a difference and encourage others.

Daughter doesn’t watch news on telly, told her to look online and be aware of what’s going on in the world! Oops, not sure it had any effect.

Do update us with these potential fines, just hope it’s not simply hot air.

I haven’t read the whole thread so don’t know if anyone has mentioned the single thing on the planet that’s causing pollution?
Us.
Homo Sapiens.
The human race.
As long as we keep reproducing there’s going to be pollution of some sort. Not only that but things like habitat loss for wildlife, all vital for the planets ecosystem.
If you have kids, theyr’e eventually going to need homes of their own, (usually) & they’re going to leave a carbon footprint & it’s alright saying ‘oh, my family are very green, we recycle everything & drive leccy cars’ etc etc but each & every one of us leave a footprint with an impact on pollution.
The planet can only sustain a finite population. That I think, should be obvious.
When my 2 were born in the 80’s, all this wasn’t a problem, either that or no-one knew, I certainly didn’t.
So those of you with big families, or who want big families….think again.

esselgruntfuttock – you are brave to say this, but I entirely agree. Unfortunately it seems to be popular amongst ‘slebs’ to produce 4 children. Of course some people will follow this trend.
We need to make it known that having 2 or more children now a days is really a bad thing for the future of our planet.
I know that in Bangladesh it was common for women to have 7/8 children. Now these young women are being educated and being allowed to have a life other than being a mother and wife. The birth rate has now dropped. Can you imagine, 8 children having 8 children, on and on, it’s just not sustainable.
Someone in power needs to bring this to attention. I remember a senior midwife talking about reducing the population in our country a couple of years ago now. The midwife was saying her profession are struggling with demand on services.

Midwife was talking bollox. Our increasing population is due to immigration The birth rate is less than 2 per woman. Less than needed to maintain population. How busy she is has nothing to do with people breeding too much.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales/2017

IRC, well done,blaming those bloody foreigners again. Now they’re responsible for the environmental disaster that looms as well.Bloody foreigners, coming over here with their carbon footprint’s, mucking up my path!

IRC, well done,blaming those bloody foreigners again.

Ah yes, sorry, I thought the thread was about the planet not just the UK.
Until the worlds population decreases or It’s growth slows down drastically, wer’e ****.

is it just population though ? the population of the us is 1/4 that of india but emits 10 times the amount of CO2 per person.

is it just population though ?

Has to play a big part in the overall scheme of things. More houses for more people = less habitat for stuff that’s vital to the planets existence, & how much plastic is properly recycled by either the US or India? (or anywhere else for that matter)
More people equals more impact on the whole ecosystem & as far as I can see the planets population isn’t dropping.

or put another way the population of Nigeria would have to rise to 10,000 million to have the same carbon footprint as the US

“andy8442
Member
IRC, well done,blaming those bloody foreigners again. Now they’re responsible for the environmental disaster that looms as well.”

Environmental disaster? Never mentioned it. Just stating a fact. The midwife was talking crap linking demand for her services to population growth. High birth rate isn’t an issue in the UK. World population is a problem – among the “bloody foreigners” as you called them.

As for the looming environmental disaster – tinkering around the edges of the 1% or so of world CO2 output from the UK isn’t going to make any difference. Other countries will increase their CO2 output as they improve their standard of living. Can’t blame them. Combining that with massive population rises will make things worse.

I haven’t read the thread in it’s entirety…

But some people have theorised that our mounting environmental problems have been part of a deliberate attempt to foist some kind of global government upon us, a kind of ‘fait accompli’.

Unless there’s a faster-growing weed, then surely the legalisation and proliferation of hemp cultivation everywhere as a ‘carbon sink’would be a good idea.

We’ve got vast areas of moorland in the U.K. that could be used to cultivate it.

Great in cities too, as a way of absorbing pollution.

Planting more trees is great, but they take a long time to reach maturity.

As for plastics, we need to recycle more of it into ‘glass’.
Apparently, the supplies of sand of the right kind are dwindling.

Lots of people still use their car for grocery shopping.
Afaik, we should use the supermarkets to deliver the heavy goods,and wherever possible, we should physically carry the lighter, more perishable items home.

Found out that tea bags don’t compost anymore (the bags). Not only do they contain plastic, but they are bleached.
Yorkshire tea are trying to sort out the problems they have with their ‘natural’ bags, but until that happens I’m going to buy loose tea in a box and pop the leaves into our compost heap.

This seems like a good solution:

Just 10% of fossil fuel subsidy cash ‘could pay for green transition’

But if got me to thinking… just how much taxpayers money are governments around the world investing in fossil fuels?

United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education

The report explains that fossil fuels account for 85% of all global subsidies and that they remain largely attached to domestic policy. Had nations reduced subsidies in a way to create efficient fossil fuel pricing in 2015, the International Monetary Fund believes that it “would have lowered global carbon emissions by 28 percent and fossil fuel air pollution deaths by 46 percent, and increased government revenue by 3.8 percent of GDP.”

But how much are we talking?

Well, in terms of direct subsidies, we’re into the hundreds of billions:

Appreciate that’s not UK figures… however, climate change is a global issue that unlike agenda driven politicians, gives no shits whatsoever about borders;

UK figures are less accessible, no doubt in part to transparency issues and creative accounting (we’ll leave the role of tax havens in all of this for another day), however, data suggests the UK subsidizes fossil fuels to the tune of around $11,000,000,000 (£9,080,342,000) a year

But of course, there are many factors to consider beyond direct subsidies…

The study includes the negative externalities caused by fossil fuels that society has to pay for, not reflected in their actual costs. In addition to direct transfers of government money to fossil fuel companies, this includes the indirect costs of pollution, such as healthcare costs and climate change adaptation. By including these numbers, the true cost of fossil fuel use to society is reflected.

Something to remember in all of this given the UK’s special relationship regardless of who’s elected is that the US Military is the world’s largest single polluter…

A huge chunk of foreign policy and military strategy for many countries involves protecting shipping lines for fossil fuels. The US military spends at least $81 billion a year protecting oil supplies. Meanwhile, there are no carrier groups defending wind turbine supply chains or a strategic silicon reserve for solar panels.

Factoring in the indirect costs as mentioned above, just how much is the fossil fuel industry subsidized every year?

Blimey, that’s a lot of zeros

Found that my independent health food shop sells: recycled baking paper, aluminium foil, kitchen roll and loo paper (mmm not sure about that- haha). I’ve bought most of these.
The also sell biodegradable bin liners.

I’m doing my bit by having sold my hulking great Volvo & replaced it with another bike. I will probably regret this decision come winter, but that’s future me’s problem (the train station is only a mile away and is well connected). The car still obviously exists… but probably won’t see a lot of action.

Super excited at having made 1500kWh of electricity with my solar panels since the beginning of April. With Yorkshire sun even. So excited that I’ve ordered an electric car.

I had to admit that I couldn’t quite do without a car first though, which was a bit sad. Even though I cycle all local trips and there’s a train line but there are a lot of journeys that don’t quite work still. Mountain biking trips were one thing and work trips to places that don’t have easy train routes. It’ll probably arrive once the sun goes in, but it’ll be ready to soak up the rays in the spring.

Also getting much better at getting cleaning products refilled now. And veg box delivery cuts down on the ‘must use a car to do a supermarket shop’. Toiletries switching is going well – wood toothbrush, solid shampoo and a cardboard tube deodorant that actually works are the new additions.

1 Million years from now, the earth will still be here & humans won’t. Either by our own influence or some external source.
Do whatever makes you feel good, but the earth will be fine (probably better of without us actually).

Bumpity bump!

Have mentioned my local-ish zero waste shop before and it’s great to see a new small business really taking off. Here’s a pic of their huge refill station together with price list demonstrating that saving the planet can be affordable and not just for the well-off.

Suma Shampoo & Conditioner range 60p/100g
Faith in Nature Shampoo & Conditioner range £1.30/100g
Cole & Lewis / Eden Body Wash 65p/100g
Faith in Nature Body Wash £1.30/100g
Hand & Body Lotions 65p/100g
Ecoleaf Liquid Hand Soap 32p/100g
SESI Liquid Hand Soaps 62p/100g

SESI Washing Up Liquid 22p/100g
SESI Dishwasher Powder 40p/100g
SESI Rinse Aid 20p/100g
SESI All Purpose Cleaner 25p/100g
SESI Cream Cleanser 30p/100g
SESI Glass Cleaner 18p/100g
Ecoleaf Toilet Cleaner 20p/100g

SESI Biological Laundry Liquid 32p/100g
SESI Non-Bio Laundry Liquid 32p/100g
SESI Fabric Conditioner 22p/100g

Strong White Vinegar 12p/100g
Bicarb of Soda 15p/100g

Eco-friendly dish-washing scourers just not cutting it unfortunately and reviews for alternatives, of which there are plenty, seem very mixed. Has anyone found an alternative to plastic scourers that really do work?

Do update with your eco-friendly successes, failures would be helpful too!

I’ve been trying to use ‘Maistic’. A hemp, no scratch scrubber.

It’s fallen apart a bit.
The sewing that keeps the hemp together (over locking) has come away.

It’s not ideal but still better than sponges (which I’m still using, until they run out.

Same!

Went car free last month. Bought a bicycle trailer for when we need to carry a bit more stuff, and will hire vans if we need to carry more than that.

We’ve been living practically car free since March, but my other half wanted the security of having it ‘just in case’. I have to admit to relishing not worrying about paying out for tax, insurance, diesel, and repairs. We also took our first long trip away without it at the weekend and it was better in every way.

Been having suicidal thoughts, well it’s a start.

Went car free last month. Bought a bicycle trailer for when we need to carry a bit more stuff, and will hire vans if we need to carry more than that.

We’ve been living practically car free since March, but my other half wanted the security of having it ‘just in case’. I have to admit to relishing not worrying about paying out for tax, insurance, diesel, and repairs. We also took our first long trip away without it at the weekend and it was better in every way.

Nice one! 😎

Bunnyhop and malteser oh dear! Funnily enough what I was using had the same as yours on one side but the other side was some kind of terry towelling. It hasn’t fallen apart but can’t cope with dishes that were soaked immediately after use.

Have seen some good reviews for coconut fibre scrub but they’re £2 each. Flame away but this morning I bought 5 plastic scourers for £1.50, at least I know they will work!

lucasshmucas wow and would be interested to hear how you’re finding it in, say, 6 months time. Have been wondering about hiring a car as and when needed due to mileage drastically reduced, getting a flat battery etc. Hard to justify purely for convenience and certainly food for thought.

Just a heads up that Faith In Nature are directly offering some products with 30% off. This includes the 5 litre (plastic) containers of body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Postage extra unless order value is over £55.

https://www.faithinnature.co.uk/departments/special-offers.aspx?deptid=SPECIALOFFERS

Always worth checking prices at Dolphin Fitness as they tend to be very competitive.

Happy shopping and do update this thread with your top tips, latest projects etc.

My latest purchase is silk tooth floss. It comes in a little container, into which you can put refills.

Also pleased that my local family run bakery has started putting the loaves they slice into bio degradable bags. We use sliced to cut down on food waste, by freezing bread and only taking out of the freezer the slices we need.

I’m aiming for zero waste in the food collection bag. (it only really holds potato peelings and tea bags atm). We’re going onto loose leaf tea very soon, which can be composted, the bags had plastic in them.

Sounds good @Bunnyhop and you’re doing more than me on the food collection front. Have always used loose tea and my local zero waste shop is now selling various types meaning you can experiment by buying small quantities.

Listened to the most inspiring podcast yesterday, actually everyone needs to listen to it. A UK stand up paddle boarder called Cal Major has achieved some incredible feats such as paddle boarding the length of the British coastline in order to draw attention to plastic waste. She’s involved in all sorts of groups and projects by clearing the beaches of plastic, apparently in Scotland there is a serious problem with plastic as well as fishing nets etc.

Her boyfriend has made a film on her exploits and, get this, she has cycled around the UK to all the screenings and answered questions from the public.

Here’s the link, just scroll down. It’s essential listening:

12 DAYS OF SUSTAINABLE(ISH) – DAY 3 – PLASTIC-FREE(ISH)

im pretty stunned that they were putting plastic in f*****g tea bags, wtaf! – however the pack purchased yesterday claims to be fully compostable (pg tips) even if it is still wrapped in poly

over the last year i have successfully ditched the disposable razors and remain silky smooth if a little bloody using a DE razor – still working my way through the plastic tub of soap, but that might have to be my next swap.

ive not managed to change my shopping habits (location) but have quickened up the fruit/veg section by only buying whats sold loose – there isnt much choice, so way less decisions

Thanks to this thread I have gone plastic free for bath times. Using those bamboo bags and Faith in Nature soap along with a shampoo soap. It is also great not having loads of plastic bottles around the bath. Got the OH to switch to soap, but conditioner and shampoo is proving harder to move from.

In the garden this year, I have created a dead hedge and put up lots of bug hotel type things along with a few more bird boxes. Really carefully thinking about my planting too, will only go for native and grown in the UK. Probably wont make a massive difference but hey ho.

soobalias – I only found out about the tea bags because I’ve always composted them. Then I noticed that they were left whole in the compost heap (minus tea contents). After some searching I found out that there is plastic in the bag construction.

So it looks as though my fab zero waste shop ‘may be’ moving to a far flung area that’s around 3 times as far for driving. Boo. And boo again.

In other news, I followed a recipe for a facial moisturiser and it’s turned out well. No plastic involved.

Kudos to @mrwhyte for his garden endeavours which will make a difference.

What’s everyone been up to then?

Frequenting local farm shop & green grocers for all fresh goods, using reusable bags or containers on all visits there – need to get a bike trailer to cut down on car trips as they are both local to us.
Thinking of culling the children as they are an environmental disaster but can’t choose which one.

Toilet rolls Ethical Consumer organisation has given open access to most of an article, it’s normally behind a paywall. There’s a fair bit to read and digest but am pleased to see there’s some that’s 100% recycled fibre from the UK.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/home-garden/shopping-guide/toilet-paper?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=twitter

I’ve mentioned elsewhere that the govt should allow supermarket delivery vans to use the bus, taxi and cycle lanes.

As for the supermarkets, they still predicate their packaging on families or couples buying their products.
More people live on their own and the portions offered are potentially wasteful.

A lot of the packaging in supermarkets could be optimised for frugality.
Sometimes I buy those 4 portion dipping trays..salsa, sour cream, cheese and chive, guacamole, etc.

Problem is, if you only want to scoff one corner with your nachos, you’ve really got no option, but to open all four corners.

And as for the nachos, it would be nice to see the supermarkets offering them in the same size, but with a perforation down the middle, so that you can choose to eat a whole packet of nachos or just half.

Likewise with packets of gnocchi. Most of the time, one packet is too much for just one person.

It was nice to see the royal family raising awareness of green issues at cop26.

But they’ve got to sort out their own backyard first:

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/royal-family-golden-eagle-trap-photo-illegal-scotland-balmoral-grouse-shooting-a9058466.html

Most of the people who own these estates display an indifference, bordering on contempt for the environment.

They do, however look to the royals for leadership.

The royal family should send out a clear, positive message to us all about the benefits of hemp cultivation.