QOTW: What steps do you take to reduce your carbon footprint?

[DavidC1]

I don't care about BS "carbon" footprints. It's all a lie used for political purposes.

Yes, I care about the planet, and take steps not to pollute, but "carbon" footprint is a stupid reason. 20 years ago we cared about ozone depletion, which was actually a legitimate reason.

If you search for articles 40 years ago they predicted global cooling. Since we only live 70-90 years and die, you can easily fool a generation, since most people don't care anyway.

What about piles of garbage in the ocean the size of texas? What about ozone depletion? What about pollution in general? What about the radiation due to the thousands of nuclear testing done by US and Russia?

Take a look at how much your municipality really recycles. They don't. They just send them off to third world countries and they are suffering for it. Companies like McDonalds/Starbucks don't recycle either. It all goes to garbage and their cups and such are not suitable because they have plastic lining. It's not real recycling. Few weeks/months ago there was an article about McDonald's paper straws not being recyclable. It's FEEL GOOD recycling, that's it. You calm people by using lies to make people feel good and no one cares.

What do you think will happen to the electronics and the chemicals with your electric cars?

Why the hell should we care about stupid "carbon footprint" when we should care about real things?

Hexus, shame on you for propagating political agendas.

[Hoonigan]

im doing nothing till china / india get it under control.

I'm assuming that you're from the UK, and as part of the developed world, I feel we need to lead the way and show the developing nations that alternatives are available. The UK is doing amazingly well in terms of retrieving its energy from renewable sources but there's still a lot of work to do.

[Top_gun]

Ah yes with the parliament that ships everything cross continent twice year to a different one. Just cos. A pretty ridiculous claim to make regardless of which side of the argument you're on.

Hmm, clueless Brexiters having no Plan A to solve climate change. Sounds familiar for everything they do.

[Top_gun]

im doing nothing till china / india get it under control.

The Western world has pretty much outsourced their CO2 emissions to China and India. You are the problem mate.

[DR]

Attempt to avoid plastic - drives me insane the amount of it on consumable products.

Drive an electric car - these nasty people driving these ICE things which pump out nasty toxins... (1) @Zak33

and of course at the office we have a large solar array on the roof to attempt to generate some electric to get the use from the grid down.

[Hoonigan]

These nasty people driving these ICE things which pump out nasty toxins...

I know that you're saying this in jest but there are people who seem to think this way and I have to say, it does somewhat grind my gears.
We've discussed buying an EV to try and reduce our carbon footprint but our driveway is about 50 yards away from the house making overnight charging, the only realistic method of keeping it fuelled up, almost impossible.
Millions up and down the country are in a similar position and I don't see an easy way to resolve this, unless we can all somehow live in a house with a garage large enough for all the vehicles you own.

[Macman]

I know that you're saying this in jest but there are people who seem to think this way and I have to say, it does somewhat grind my gears.
We've discussed buying an EV to try and reduce our carbon footprint but our driveway is about 50 yards away from the house making overnight charging, the only realistic method of keeping it fuelled up, almost impossible.
Millions up and down the country are in a similar position and I don't see an easy way to resolve this, unless we can all somehow live in a house with a garage large enough for all the vehicles you own.

Or have a runway...

[Shane74]

I don't think it makes any difference in the grand scheme of things what I do, Economy is set up for never ending consumption/profits. Needs more people and for those people to live longer and buy more stuff that they don't really need.
Long before all this hippy BS and Greta I have been trying to become self sufficient as much as possible to give a big up yours to the system. The biggest security risk is not terrorism but a reliance on services that can stop or be cut off overnight for whatever reason. How useless have we become in the last few decades if something stops? Basically back to stone age if your power is cut off for example.
House has 21 solar panels(no battery as of yet waiting for prices to drop), Insulated house even under the floor, Thick double glazed windows, Massive water tank in back garden,Fruit trees. One day I'll dump my V8 Sedan for an electric car I can charge at home, But the price needs to drop another 50% and I don't want some weird tear drop looking econo box.
My next AMD pc build will drop my consumption down, Still running a 5 year old Haswell cpu

[Saracen999]

I don't think it makes any difference in the grand scheme of things what I do, Economy is set up for never ending consumption/profits. Needs more people and for those people to live longer and buy more stuff that they don't really need.
Long before all this hippy BS and Greta I have been trying to become self sufficient as much as possible to give a big up yours to the system. The biggest security risk is not terrorism but a reliance on services that can stop or be cut off overnight for whatever reason. How useless have we become in the last few decades if something stops? Basically back to stone age if your power is cut off for example.
House has 21 solar panels(no battery as of yet waiting for prices to drop), Insulated house even under the floor, Thick double glazed windows, Massive water tank in back garden,Fruit trees. One day I'll dump my V8 Sedan for an electric car I can charge at home, But the price needs to drop another 50% and I don't want some weird tear drop looking econo box.
My next AMD pc build will drop my consumption down, Still running a 5 year old Haswell cpu

In the grand scheme you're right, it doesn't matter what you, or me, or any of us here do.

But look at that the other way round

Over how nany people's actions do you have control, or even influence? We can only really each be responsible for ourselves.

I do what I reasonaby can. That varies from big to small. Big? Absolutely no unecessary flying. And be tough defining "necessary".

Small? Only put enough water in the kettle for one (or two if the wife wants one) cups of tea/coffee, and set the kettle to turn off at about 80 degrees.

Heating only what I need and only to the temp I need, makes a TINY difference. But I do it 6 or 8 tines a day, So over 50 years, that's about 130,000 lots of "tiny".

Now imagjne 5 billion people doing similar.

That one bloody enormous colkection of "tiny" savings, that won't happen unless we each do littke things,

And I can no doubt multiply that by ..... loads .... if I apply that to loads of tiny, little inconsequential things. Working out ways to cut food waste. Making tgat quick dash to the shops on foot, not un the car. Sharing car journeys to work with a co-worker rather than both driving when we live mins apart. Eating a bit less meat by eating better quality meat. Go veggie a couple of times a week. Replace one cuppa per day with a glass of water.

And so on,

Now if I alone do that, at a minimum it means I'm a bit smaller a part of the problem than if I don't, but if billions of us do it ....?

It's not a solution to the problem, but it has the potential to significantly reduce the problem.

None of the hundreds of little things are really a sacrifice. Some or many even make sense anyway. But at least I'm less a part of thd probkdm than otherwise and the only difference I can make is in the decisions I make.

Doing even a little is better than not doing it. It's a start.

[Hoonigan]

Small? Only put enough water in the kettle for one (or two if the wife wants one) cups of tea/coffee, and set the kettle to turn off at about 80 degrees.

I'm glad you've mentioned this one. My grandma was awful for filling the kettle up several times a day, using a single cup's worth of water then pouring the rest down the sink before she filled it again because she doesn't like boiling water twice.

We finally got her convinced to stop doing that by adding up how much it was costing her in both time and money; she isn't bothered about the environment in the slightest "because she'll be dead before it happens". There's Tippex marks up the side of the kettle's window for how many people she's making a cuppa for.

[Saracen999]

@Hoonigan

It's sometimes surprising how some "older people" get stuckmin their ways. Yet, I'd class mysrlf as an older person, too. I've had to do more or less the same as you and try to explain that it requires a certain amount of energy to heat 1 litre of water by 1 degree. So, if you reduce the amount of water, you similarly reduce the amount of energy needed. Reduce the number of degrees you heat it by, and again, you reduce energy needed. And you're paying for that energy. Reduce your usage and not only do you reduce the amount of energy, but the amount you pay on your bill. That last bit is often where the penny drops.

Some older people do get very, and I mean very set in their ways. And I understand why. As you get older, things you used to take for granted (physically) you find you can no longer do, or at least, no longer do the same way. You start to make adjustments, plans, develop ways that might seem weird but work for you. maybe thinking slows down and becomes more rigid too. An elder member of my family has developed some quite rigorous routines - 12.30 mean lunch, and not 12.25 or 12.30. Try to do lunch at 1.00PM and it throws her routine right off. It seems weird, but it works for her, and gets her through the day.

Getting something like that changed takes real effort, and some battles aren't worth fighting. So she has her lunch at 12.30 and we have ours when (and if) we want it.

Maybe your grandma was raised and is used to an environment where the cost of heating water wasn't quite so direct and linear, like on a hot plate on an Aga range cooker? Maybe it's just a ,ong established habit.

But I've had to explain the kettle thing to some surprisingly young people, too

I also mentioned xeting the kettle to turn off at 80 or 85 degrees. We can set it much lower than that too, for more 'delicate' uses like some teas, and sauces. Not many kettles do that and those that do tend not to be cheap. Whether buying a kettle that will makes economuc sense is much more questionable and, frankly. I very much doubt it. I'm on my second such kettle and, to be fair, it is more about reducing energy usage and pdrsonal comvenience than money-saving. I wanted this feature so I paid what it cost. Got a damned good kettle in the process though. Perfectly balanced, though, and never, ever drips. I think it s spout-shape related.

But this sort of micro technique related to so, so many things.

We like to have several differrnt cheeses, like cheddar, red leicester, one or two more and, of course, parmesan. But we don't use huge amounts and, if not careful, some start to go mouldy. Immediately that happen trim the mould off and grate the remainder (fine grate for parmesan, coarse for most others), stick in a plastic clip-top box and freeze Works perfectly for cheese sauces, cheese on toast or toasted sarnies etc, and with the parmesan, sprinkle on relevant pastas, salads etc.

Similarly, use half a veg for a meal? We often need half a suede, or celeriac, or parsnips etc. Chop the rest and freeze. Drop them in a slow-cooked stew/casserole type dish, and they're fine. Carrots not used and starting to look manky? Chop into cubes and freeze, for that stew, or fine-chop, freeze and use in a bolognaise base.

Ditto for onions. I almost always have a small box of medium-chopped and another of fine-chopped onions in the freezer. Oh, garlic too.

Want fresh herbs but no garden space? I do grow many of my own, but alternatively, buy a fresh supermarket plant, use some but before the plant dies (and most supermarket plants do), harvest them, chop up, pack into an ice-cube tray, top with water and freeze.

Which reminds me. Freezers. Use them properly. Don't just buy frozen stuff and dump it in and forget it. Label and date everything, use oldest first.

Which brings me to batch-cooking. Especially if you are time poor, cook (or part-cook) and freeze. You end up with cost-effective meals, you know exactly what's in them, and they're great time and effort savers too. Also, it allows you to shop more effectively, buying in larger quantities, and wasting very little or nothing.

Use curry pastes (like Pataks)? Find they dry out and go off? Tamp the paste down in the jar, then cover with a thin layer of a neutral oil, like sunflower or rapeseed. The oil keeps air out and, voila, jars last months. Also, when doing a curry, you now have a wonderfully pre-flavoured oil to start frying with.

There are so, so many little things like this that, individually, won't save the planet but, put together, can significantly reduce waste, cut your food bill and leave anyone normally buying supermarket "meals" both saving a ruddy fortune and eating far more healthily.

And if we all did these types of things, it would have a significant impact. Not enough, but enough to be worth doing and they save money, time, are convenient and improve most people's diet quality.


One more thing we, as a nation, ought to be doing much better at - teach people, especially kids, to cook. The more you understand even basics, the less you'll waste, and the less processed supermarket junk you eat.

[Macman]

In the grand scheme you're right, it doesn't matter what you, or me, or any of us here do.

But look at that the other way round

Over how nany people's actions do you have control, or even influence? We can only really each be responsible for ourselves.

I do what I reasonaby can. That varies from big to small. Big? Absolutely no unecessary flying. And be tough defining "necessary".

Small? Only put enough water in the kettle for one (or two if the wife wants one) cups of tea/coffee, and set the kettle to turn off at about 80 degrees.

Heating only what I need and only to the temp I need, makes a TINY difference. But I do it 6 or 8 tines a day, So over 50 years, that's about 130,000 lots of "tiny".

Now imagjne 5 billion people doing similar.

That one bloody enormous colkection of "tiny" savings, that won't happen unless we each do littke things,

And I can no doubt multiply that by ..... loads .... if I apply that to loads of tiny, little inconsequential things. Working out ways to cut food waste. Making tgat quick dash to the shops on foot, not un the car. Sharing car journeys to work with a co-worker rather than both driving when we live mins apart. Eating a bit less meat by eating better quality meat. Go veggie a couple of times a week. Replace one cuppa per day with a glass of water.

And so on,

Now if I alone do that, at a minimum it means I'm a bit smaller a part of the problem than if I don't, but if billions of us do it ....?

It's not a solution to the problem, but it has the potential to significantly reduce the problem.

None of the hundreds of little things are really a sacrifice. Some or many even make sense anyway. But at least I'm less a part of thd probkdm than otherwise and the only difference I can make is in the decisions I make.

Doing even a little is better than not doing it. It's a start.

"It's not a solution to the problem, but it has the potential to significantly reduce the problem."

Spot on.

[Saracen999]

"It's not a solution to the problem, but it has the potential to significantly reduce the problem."

Spot on.

No one factor, or issue, or nation, is.

But everything that helps, helps.

And these things help, and probably save money in the process.

All these types of things are but a few steps on a long road, but at least it's the right road, even if motivated by self-interest.

The bigger steps won't be so painless, or cheap, but we gotta start somewhere.

[tonkei]

Using lower power hardware and only using the car when leaving town & even then, only when the train isn't a realistic solution.

[albert89]

It must be a slow Tech news week. Climate
change or global warming is a scam. And
since Australia has embraced this scam
everything that uses electricity has gone
up dramatically in price inc electricity
itself to being the highest in the world !
I just hope HEXUS has not gone woke.

[Rad77]

Which brings me to batch-cooking. Especially if you are time poor, cook (or part-cook) and freeze. You end up with cost-effective meals, you know exactly what's in them, and they're great time and effort savers too. Also, it allows you to shop more effectively, buying in larger quantities, and wasting very little or nothing.

Big +1 on this. I'm usually cooking just for myself, so it is far more efficient/economical in every way to cook quantities for three or four people and freeze the spare portions individually.

Saves loads of time spent prepping/cooking - I can cook on just one or two evenings a week but still have home cooked food to eat most days. Making four portions takes only little longer than making one and uses much the same energy to cook.

It greatly reduces the time spent shopping for food as you can just do one big shop every few weeks and generally the ingredients will be cheaper in larger packs.

It's quite hard to use fresh produce when cooking for one, as a lot of stuff will go off before you can use it, but by batch cooking you can buy more but use it up quickly. Only the finished meal needs storing. I find that this works best for meals that are of the sauce+base type (ie. curries, pasta sauces) or one pot (stews, soups, casserole, risotto).

And eating home cooked food is almost always far cheaper than chilled/frozen ready meals.

Only real downside is you need some freezer space.

As for the original "what steps..." question:
I recycle/reuse everything I can (to the point where I am taking mixed plastics to another local authority area that still processes them), I'm on a 100% renewable electricity tariff and using mostly LED bulbs with a few CFL, I avoid flying, don't eat any meat and almost no dairy, try to source locally and am hoping to get an electric car in a year's time.

Still plenty of room for improvement but it's a factor in every big purchase or lifestyle choice that I make now. I don't have kids by choice but nevertheless would like to leave a habitable planet behind me for those that follow.