How YOU help mother earth :)

As a keen environmentalist, I love to hear from friends, family and even complete strangers what things they do to help the earth.
This includes all forms of recycling, planting trees and careful gardening, dietary habits, reducing your carbon footprint by doing various things like taking public transport,etc., to things as creative as making your own compost and using green technology.

I personally spent a year as president of my school's Environmental Committee campaigning and fundraising to bring paper recycling bins into school. I was suprised at the amount of support we got, a lot of people appreciated the effort.

Anyway, this thread isn't meant for discussion of any controversial socio-political topics, just for you to share how you like to give a lil' back to nature.

Plus, I would love to hear about any stories/ideas you hear about/encounter about how others have also helped the earth.

I am a vegetarian, for personal reasons which don't apply to this thread, but also because if everybody were vegetarian, we would be able to feed the entire planet. Did you know that only 2/2billion parts of the sun's energy reaches the earth? That is used by plants for photosynthesis, and when a cow eats that plant, it only gets 10% of the energy. When we eat the cow, we only get 10% of the energy that the COW got! Plus cattle and other animals that we eat produce a LOT of methane and contribute highly to climate change and water pollution. If we went straight to the source and ate plants, we'd eliminate a lot of pollution and have a lot more food to go around. =]

(I realize this is not realistic, but only because people are unwilling to change their lifestyles. Yeah, it's okay, eat meat, you'll die happy in a giant tidalwave. *not scientifically correct, but you get my point*)

I don't buy things that are packaged in plastic, I do ALL of my shopping at my local farmers market and also have a garden in the summer. I refuse to shop at the grocery store because of the obscene amount of waste and packaging, and the fact that you DO NOT know what's in your food! I do NOT like genetically modified foods- Monsanto can go straight to hell. Grapples? Wtf. I'd eat a grape if I wanted something that tasted like a grape...

I also use public transit, bike, or walk on foot, or ride my horses to places whenever possible.

I manage a five acre plot of woods

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Originally Posted by dramasnot6

This includes all forms of recycling, planting trees and careful gardening, dietary habits, reducing your carbon footprint by doing various things like taking public transport,etc., to things as creative as making your own compost and using green technology.

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Good thread subject. :thumbs_up I suppose my main contribution is what I am not doing: I avoid driving whenever I can... I usually ride my Mountain Bike both to work and other places (all year round) as long as I don't need to transport anything big or heavy.

The energy you are not using will always be the most environmentally sound.

Perhaps I should also add that I work with Management systems: Mainly quality management, but also environmental, energy and H&S systems.

/Claes

I just never throw away plastic bags and try to use very little paper . . . my entire Math homework for last year was on one sheet :P

And I yell at people in Hummers.

I really like the idea they had in England, I think it was, of using regular cloth bags which everybody brought with them and reused to bag groceries at the supermarket, rather than throwing away plastic ones every time!!

I save plastic bags, recycle, and try (unsuccessfully) to dissuade my girlfriend from littering in parking lots. She believes that she is not littering because "They have people whose job is to clean the parking lot...."

I use canvas bags for my groceries.

It sickens me that people don't even try or are unwilling to try. We think that this is just our planet, but we forget we share it with billions of other species. We think it's okay to pollute the air, to pollute the oceans, to kill the animals, to build over the land, and a lot of people don't even know what they're doing.

I don't think this thread is hypocritical.

I think it's about people trying their best in a world that doesn't accomodate environmentalism. NOBODY can be completely environmentally friendly, and I accept that. But people try, and kudos to them. It gives me some form of faith in the human race that (Some) people are NOT too cynical, too bitter and too jaded to even try. That some people think it's worth trying to make a difference, and that some people realize how truly DISGUSTING the north american lifestyle is- sure, modern. In my mind modern equates to disgusting, appalling, ugly, wasteful, indulgent and disturbing.

General mod note:
Please keep this discussion at a calm level and respect the fact that other people will have different beliefs than yours. Please refrain for personalising this discussion and discuss what is asked in the original post.

I see that a lot of people use alternative bags, I realised when Whole Foods decided to only provide paper bags,and no plastic, that this was becoming a very popular thing to do. Of course the best thing is to use canvas bags, which is what I do too. I really like it when grocery stores sell canvas bags, and i love how the ones I bought at Fresh Fields give me a 5 cent discount every time I go. It's a great way to market.

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Originally Posted by Wakaba

I save plastic bags, recycle, and try (unsuccessfully) to dissuade my girlfriend from littering in parking lots. She believes that she is not littering because "They have people whose job is to clean the parking lot...."

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I get so annoyed when people use that argument! I mean, it's not just bad for the earth, but inconsiderate towards custodians. It just gives them extra work when it's your responsibility to clean up after yourself.

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Originally Posted by mir

my entire Math homework for last year was on one sheet :P

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:lol: I wish I could say the same! Haha.

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Originally Posted by BeccaT

I am a vegetarian, for personal reasons which don't apply to this thread, but also because if everybody were vegetarian, we would be able to feed the entire planet. Did you know that only 2/2billion parts of the sun's energy reaches the earth? That is used by plants for photosynthesis, and when a cow eats that plant, it only gets 10% of the energy. When we eat the cow, we only get 10% of the energy that the COW got! Plus cattle and other animals that we eat produce a LOT of methane and contribute highly to climate change and water pollution. If we went straight to the source and ate plants, we'd eliminate a lot of pollution and have a lot more food to go around. =]

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That is very cool Becca, and thanks for quoting some really good facts. I became a vegan for primarily environmental reasons, so i get where you are coming from.
It also uses up a LOT more land to raise cattle, when you can farm vegetables with a lot more efficient land usage. I used to have some great stats on that,too...hmm...I will have to fish around for them.

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Originally Posted by papayahed

I use canvas bags for my groceries.

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Same.
I dont really have the money for those "Carbon Coupons" or to buy a brand new electric car. I try to do my part here and there.
I recycle old books, newspapers, and plastics when they fall into my hands.

I am really interested in that new Green car by Chevy, I hope it can be the first car I buy after I learn to drive/

Go recycling! :D

One thing I miss about Michigan is the bottle deposits, not only did it help with recycling but it also helped with littering.

I help mother earth by separating my trash at work. cans in one bin, white paper in another, glass and plastic in another and mixed paper in another.

Newspapers were taken to the recycle bins at the grocery store but I don't subscribe anymore so it doesn't matter.

I also walk, ride my bike as possible (remember that snow is where I live for at least five months), but yeah -- use the car as sparingly as possible.

I also am a real nut for energy-saving appliances and using minimal lighting, and I spread the word, too. Think of the possibilities if your words change even two or three others -- then they go and change two or three others -- keep that line a-going and we have made a difference!

Also, that market shopping is the best idea, for the over-packaging that is done in supermarkets is a crime, really. I bring my own sack to parcel the groceries, which would be any number of canvas bags that I have made (nice and strong!).

I recycle all that the plant here works with (bottles, paper, some plastics, etc.); and keep garbage to the minimum.

Ummm, I think that is pretty much where I am coming from. Keep the planet Green people! :thumbs_up