Conservation and the environment

[dania]

I've had lots of thoughts on this lately, well actually my whole life I've had thoughts on this.  Here's my latest:

*Cereal boxes, waffle boxes, pretty much every box of food everywhere except for pasta, has a plastic liner inside of it.  I don't have to throw it away, heck no!  I can dump out the crumbs, maybe throw some water and soap in there, splash it around, let it dry for a bit, and I can use those things for packaging material.  Or maybe as a stuffing for a child's toy (apparently babies love that crunchy sound). 

*I don't have to drain my dishwater since I'm using Eco Dishmate, I found out that it's safe to use this wastewater for plants.  Graywater is fine for plants that you don't eat!  Yessss!

What else can we do?  I'm not bragging here, let's share information.  Maybe there's more stuff I could be doing besides biking, bringing my own bags everywhere, r/r/r, etc.  Even though I feel like I'm way beyond turning off the faucet while brushing my teeth (I remember a specific Sesame Street cartoon-vignette where it showed the pond draining and the fish getting really scared as the kid brushed their teeth), I still feel like I could do more reducing. 

[harris]

i reuse milk jugs for putting peach tea and juice in and old jars as cups.

[erika]

I tend to forget to bring my own grocery bags to the store, so I use the resulting disposable grocery bags as packing material.

I also have tried to stop using paper towels for cleaning and I use cut up t-shirts instead. They make perfect rags. (Socks are good if you need something absorbent.)

[harris]

I also have tried to stop using paper towels for cleaning and I use cut up t-shirts instead. They make perfect rags. (Socks are good if you need something absorbent.)

why not use an actual rag?

[dania]

When you say "actual rag", I assume you're talking about maxi pads. 

[harris]

haha no, i think dish towels are less than a dollar a piece. or maybe for a set at your local dollar store.

[dania]

But doesn't that go against the whole conservation thing?  We need ways to reuse stuff, not consume more stuff. 
(Most things at dollar stores are made in China, by the way... )

[erika]

Exactly. My point is I don't buy rags, I just use cloth/clothes I already have. Stuff I wouldn't give to goodwill, I mean.

Denim can make a good scrubby material for balconies and stuff like that.

[harris]

gotcha

[buffcoat]

I wash myself with a rag on a stick.

(RESTRAINED APPLAUSE)

http://ragonastick.ytmnd.com/

[yesno]

probably the bestvthing you could do to help the environment is install some kind of facebook widget. That, or maybe a bumper sticker.

[Sarah]

Probably the single most useful thing anyone can do is to stop driving.  I seem to remember you're a bicycling type, so you're probably okay on that score.

[masterofsparks]

I also have tried to stop using paper towels for cleaning and I use cut up t-shirts instead. They make perfect rags. (Socks are good if you need something absorbent.)

why not use an actual rag?

They go for like 2 cents at Pep Boys.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Unplug your cell phone charger when you're not using it.  I'm no scientist, but according to my Credo phone bill (the source of all my scientific knowledge), current is actually lost into the atmosphere when a charger is left in the socket.

I know it's small, but every little bit helps. 

If you want something larger: Buy a pre-owned car instead of a new one.  The manufacturing of a car is a filthy activity: You need to drive your hybrid for several years to offset the carbon emissions that came out of the building of the car.  If you buy pre-owned, that's one less car that needs to be built.  I did not get that information from my Credo statement, thank you very much. I got it from the Benny Hill Show.

[erika]

I also have tried to stop using paper towels for cleaning and I use cut up t-shirts instead. They make perfect rags. (Socks are good if you need something absorbent.)

why not use an actual rag?

They go for like 2 cents at Pep Boys.

Yeah but that produces more waste. If I use something I already have then I'm not producing more stuff, right? (What is up with you guys and the rags? Didn't you ever use old t-shirts or sheets to clean stuff up?)

I also wash out ziploc bags sometimes and re-use them. I tried to stop using them but they're actually a good way to preserve food (aka not waste food) so instead I try to reuse them at least twice if I can.