Environmentally Conscious Tips

[Z Y G G Y]

For all those people out there that practice some sort of environmentally conscious ways, what are they?

For example, using less plastic. Everything is packaged in it, any tips on how to avoid it?

Any special stores you go to?

Any special products you buy?

 

[Nibiru]

Buy in bulk and reuse the containers to avoid plastic.

Growin' yer own stuff is another good one.

Use simple soaps. I use plain homemade or Dr. Bronners stuff, or some locally made hippie soap. There is no reason a whole bunch of stuff other than saponified oils and essential oil for scent should be in soap. Really, trying to avoid synthetic things as much as possible is good, as most are traceable in some way back to petroleum, so just forming a lifestyle where you try your best to use things that are the product of biological reactions instead of artificial synthesis makes a huge difference. Biological syntheses are more likely to give the water used back to the planet, where a lot of industrial processes are really, really water hungry and use up a lot of water instead of borrowing it, as I like to say.

Going solar is also a good option. If you have a workshop or a a studio or something full of too many high power devices for solar power to work fully, you can still supplement your power supply with solar panels and a battery. Ideally, we shoulod all try to use less energy.

And composting organic waste! If you do the grow yer own thing, this is a must! Build a cistern and harvest rainwater too, that way you can have extra water for your garden that isn't pumped out of a well, lake or river.

And if you see an industry being wasteful, polluting or otherwise neglecting environmental responsibility, do your best to not support it, or try to reform or fight it needed and if you're able.

 

[mr_p]

^ all really good contributions

I would add to the soap situation, don't get soap with Palm Oil in it, this supports one of the most environmentally destructive mono-culture crops on Earth.

there's so man little simple things, like just turning the lights off... my g/f's house mate leaves her light on during the day when she goes to work.... WTF!!

buttttt ...... I'd say the most effective way to be environmentally conscious is to be ecologically conscious.. be aware of how life works in the natural world and find ways to apply this in your life....

recycling is the best example... in a rainforest eco-system, the nutrients have been recycled over and over for millions of years, the recycling process actually inhances the soil and is super resource efficient...

www.storyofstuff.com is a great educational tool and reading anything by Fritjof Capra on his eco-literacy program is a good start

by understanding how life works we can apply this knowledge to benefit the entire living biosphere/ecological system that we are apart of

 

[mr_p]

Sustainable Communities by Fritjof Capra
Five principles of organization that are connected to the basic principles of ecology and can be used as guidelines to build sustainable human communities.

The five principles are:

Interdependence, Recycling, Partnership, Flexibility, Diversity


Interdependence: In ecology, interdependence is the mutual dependence of all life processes on one another. The behaviour of every living member of the eco-system depends on the behavior of many others. In human systems, the success of the whole community depends on the success of its individual members, while the success of each member depends on the success of the community as a whole. A sustainable community is the multiple relationships among its members. Nourishing the community means nourishing those relationships. This aware of principle emphasizes turning our attention from parts to the whole.


Recycling: The cyclical nature of ecological processes is an important principle of ecology. What is waste for one species is food for another. A major clash between economics and ecology derives from the fact that nature is cyclical whereas our industrial systems are linear. Our businesses take resources, transform them into products plus waste, sell the products to consumers, who discard more waste once they have consumed the product. Sustainable communities need to achieve sustainable patterns in consumption and production to mirror the cyclical processes in nature.


Partnership: The cyclical exchange of energy and resources in an ecosystem is sustained by pervasive cooperation and partnership. Partnership - the tendency to associate, establish links, live inside one another, and cooperate - is one of the hallmarks of life. In human communities, partnership means democracy and personal empowerment, because each member of the community plays an important role. As a partnership proceeds, each partner better understands the needs of the other. Both partners learn and change and co‑evolve.


Flexibility: The flexibility of an ecosystem is a consequence of its multiple feedback loops, which tend to bring the system back into balance if there is a deviation from the norm due to changing environmental conditions. In human communities, flexibility means finding the optimal performance level rather than maximizing performance. Stress in a system is caused when one variable is pushed to the extreme (maximized). Flexibility also means finding the dynamic balance between stability and change, order and freedom, tradition and innovation.


Diversity: A diverse ecosystem is more resilient to change because it contains many different species with overlapping functions that can partially replace one another if something goes wrong in one part of the system. In human communities, ethnic and cultural diversity enable many different relationships and many different approaches to exist. In a diverse community, information and ideas flow freely through the entire network, and the diversity of interpretations and learning styles ‑ even the diversity of mistakes ‑ will enrich the entire community.

 

[jam uh weezy]

Instead of using 'thow-away' things, try replacing it with something reusable. For example, Hemp coffee filters, those fabric grocery bags, paper dishes are ridiculous, imo. Just try to be as wasteless as possible, even if you use Ziploc baggies, wash em out and re-use those....so sad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

Also ride a bike/walk/use the bus more often.

Buy in bulk and reuse the containers to avoid plastic.

Growin' yer own stuff is another good one.

Use simple soaps. I use plain homemade or Dr. Bronners stuff, or some locally made hippie soap. There is no reason a whole bunch of stuff other than saponified oils and essential oil for scent should be in soap. Really, trying to avoid synthetic things as much as possible is good, as most are traceable in some way back to petroleum, so just forming a lifestyle where you try your best to use things that are the product of biological reactions instead of artificial synthesis makes a huge difference. Biological syntheses are more likely to give the water used back to the planet, where a lot of industrial processes are really, really water hungry and use up a lot of water instead of borrowing it, as I like to say.

Going solar is also a good option. If you have a workshop or a a studio or something full of too many high power devices for solar power to work fully, you can still supplement your power supply with solar panels and a battery. Ideally, we shoulod all try to use less energy.

And composting organic waste! If you do the grow yer own thing, this is a must! Build a cistern and harvest rainwater too, that way you can have extra water for your garden that isn't pumped out of a well, lake or river.

And if you see an industry being wasteful, polluting or otherwise neglecting environmental responsibility, do your best to not support it, or try to reform or fight it needed and if you're able.

HAHA, i had to use my roomies' Dr. Bonners Soap the other day. DAMN that stuff leaves a nice little tingle all over your body. It feels like getting punched with sand coated brass knuckles in your eyes tho!

Very good suggestions. More and more people down here are converting to solar, I see new ones up all the time. It doesn't make since not too, and they pay for themselves in time.

 

[safety]

I wash and reuse tin foil instead of throwing it away.

 

[Z Y G G Y]

I will be moving soon and it probably will be a place where I can have my own garden. That would save up on buying tons of plastic. I mean you can't buy raspberries w/o plastic.

Also, having solar energy panels in my future house is definitely one of my goals. I want to make myself as self sufficient in the future as I can, so I don't need much from the outside.

 

[RigaCrypto]

I wash and reuse tin foil instead of throwing it away.

Yeah me too, it gets clogged all the time with the mind control rays the Government is sending

Speaking of soap, you can make your own. All you need is lye, lard and Ph strips, my grandmother used to make it in her yard. I'm sure you can find recipes on the net. You can also blend it with the oils and fragrances of your choice. Also, you can slim up in the process. Remember Fight Club?
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/ss/sscpsoap.htm

 

[Nibiru]

Lard makes shitty soap, in my opinion. It tends to block pores, and smells unpleasant (to me) needing way too much fragrance to compensate. Coconut oil is by far one of the best fats to base your soap off of. It's a nice firm fat that gives a good hardness to your soap. You use it as the primary oil, and then use in lesser amounts olive oil, jojoba oil, cocoa butter and maybe some refined hemp oil which are all nice to the skin. There is a trick called superfatting, where you add an amount of oil to the soap that doesn't react fully with the lye (this is called saponification), leaving a small amount of un-saponified oil in the finished soap. This is especially good to do with olive oil, since olive oil has this quality of healing dry skin, letting moisture get into the skin but not out.

 

[Dtergent]

Sustainable Communities by Fritjof Capra
Five principles of organization that are connected to the basic principles of ecology and can be used as guidelines to build sustainable human communities.

The five principles are:

Interdependence, Recycling, Partnership, Flexibility, Diversity

This says a lot, thanks.

Will post some of thoughts in a bit.

 

[jackie jones]

Clear up litter.

 

[Nibiru]

Ooh! That's a really good one. I sometimes carry bags to fill on my way back home when I go out. I also clean up garbage every time I am at a sort of public outdoor event, whether it's my job to or not.