Small Things You Did Today to Reduce Your Environmental Impact

Love it!!

We got a metal magazine holder from Buy Nothing and I lined it with a thin shawl and it fits just right between the wall and the toilet for our used cloths! And on top of the toilet I have a basket from BN where I put folded ones. My advice is to cut the cloths nice and big (maybe 6x8), I went too small for the initial ones and sometimes have to use two :slight_smile: As I’ve retired old shirts, we have so many cloths now!

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Yay cloth TP club!

I’m going to try rolling my fresh cloths and putting them in my stacked roll style TP holder that sits near the toilet. That way I’ll have the paper tp and cloth TP all in one place :slight_smile:
Since I didn’t have any fabric scraps, I went with a 12 pack of pre-made sewn cloths from Etsy to get me started. I also know if they’re “cute” I’ll be more encouraged to start using them. Ha.

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Awesome, if they’re sewn cloths you can just throw them in with your normal laundry, too! We have so many now (we’re now less reluctant to hang onto holey old shirts forever) that I do a special load for them with towels when we run low, so that they’re easier to manage! :joy:

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Coffee can painted with leftover spray paint for my cloth tp. :roll_of_toilet_paper:

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My friend was kind enough to gift me a bike saddle since the stock one wasn’t really great for long riding periods.

I’ve been biking to work sometimes as well as other places for takeout and then biking home. We’ve been dining al fresco in the backyard and it’s very satisfying getting exercise as well as not burning fossil fuel/paying as much to fill up the gas tank.

N

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I got a latte, a slice of cake, and a savory lunch at my local coffee shop—all in my own reusable containers.

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My friend had his old computer. It’s one of those cool gaming computers replete with modifiable tower and see through glass–LED lighting! I took some of it apart and gave the filters and fans a good cleaning.

I was then able to install the RAM and SSD drives, spare parts he’d be saving around to do a full upgrade after swapping around cables that were causing conflicts with other drives…Also had to unplug so the sole M.2. SSD drive would be recognized by the BIOS.

I used the old keyboard my SO had from her old college computer and a spare monitor from an old setup as well.

It runs pretty well with a clean Windows install booting up on the newer M.2 SSD.

I then played PC Building Simulator on it that I got for free on Epic Games. :joy:

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After years of considering it, I took the plunge and ordered bar shampoo and conditioner. It’s a steep initial investment, which is partly why it took this long. I use Head and Shoulders normally and wasn’t sure if any of the bar options would adequately replace that.

Aaaaand turns out they don’t. At least what I ordered doesn’t. And I don’t want to keep spending $40 trying different brands until I find something that works.

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Ooh! I use the Healy Kiwi from Ethique and it actually does help with dandruff! I won’t say it’s quite as good as Head and Shoulders, but it’s noticeably better than a normal shampoo.

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I’m using some bar shampoo from Dollar Tree that I really like. Can’t imagine they have more than one kind. Comes in a metal tin, costs $1.25 since they’ve raised their prices. Haven’t seen bar conditioner there.

You could probably use the bar a lot of the time and H&S occasionally. That’s a lot less plastic.

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I’m actually using Healy Kiwi! That part seems to be working for dandruff, I think the conditioner (Guardian) needs to be switched. My hair is flat and kind of rough, H&S gives it super silky volume.

@rural - definitely going to use up what I have, luckily (?) I’ve about to be wearing a bike helmet 80% of the time so my hair’s gonna look like crap no matter what.

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That’s fair. My hair definitely has a different texture when I use a regular conditioner vs a bar conditioner, but I also feel like I have to wash it more often when I use bottled products. I’m basically made of corn starch and dry shampoo over here, so I have PLENTY of volume at the moment :slight_smile:

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It hasn’t been long, but it seems like I have the opposite - bottled shampoo keeps my hair nicer for longer, at least compared to this bar conditioner.

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I am currently researching and purchasing packaging for my art prints. The goal is compostable, or if not then recyclable. So far:

  • Cellophane bags made out of real cellulose are still sold! They are compostable. These are to give some protection from accidental water damage.
  • Tissue paper to protect the art from the cellulose, as i am not sure if it would damage the art.
  • 1 piece of thicker card to support the art and keep it flat
  • 1 cardboard envelope to send it in.

My next problem is how to have the art available for people to browse and flick through. Normally these are in plastic packets you can see the art through, but if I have tissue paper around the art you cant see it through the cellophane. Hmm.

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Found out that Westinghouse has a recycling thing, here:

Read a piece from Bosch about reducing food waste, here:
Top 10 tips to avoid food waste | BOSCH?

And am researching other less waste articles.

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Found these folks last night. I will probably read everything here at least once. Some of it I no doubt already do, some probably not?

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It’s not much, but we are buying loose leaf tea and 2Ls of pop. Like @Marcela and allhat I think that the best I can do with clothes is to wear them out completely.

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Managed to use the last bit of shredded pork by making it into ramen. Weird amount left and being pretty tired of it made me worried I wasn’t going to make it through the whole batch!

Been pretty consistently able to use most of the kiddie pool water on the garden after they’re done with it.

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Tamar (edit: corrected name) Adler has a good line in Everylasting Meal that every leftover is the right amount for something. I had a small amount of chopped bell pepper left over from lunch, so it got put into a Cubano inspired potato salad for dinner.

In general I probably get complacent because in comparison to the people I see around us, we are (I think) having less impact, with our car-less life, level of physical products consumed, no AC. And then I lose all moral high ground with our flights and ripping out so much of the main floor. It’s hard to know when replacement is reasonable if you do it before complete failure.

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Scored a second hand nursing pillow this weekend.

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