I'm trying to save our planet

Giving up meat and dairy is the single biggest thing any individual can do, even cutting down a bit is better than nothing. A leg of lamb is equivalent to a transatlantic flight in terms of carbon emissions.

Given up flying, it makes a massive, massive difference to your individual carbon footprint. We also use the car just once a week for our big supermarket shop and rely on public transport, bikes or walking the rest of the time. We do our share of recycling etc but its a drop in the ocean compared to the flying.

I agree MissAdventure! We wash away our natural oils and then replace them with manufactured ones. We can’t get that dirty in one day to justify all these showers.

I don't think we would need hand and body creams if people weren't so obsessed with showering and bathing to within an inch of their lives every day.

Our body, as a rule, does an excellent job of producing what it needs to keep us healthy.

Don’t feel sorry for London cabbies. I was late for an appointment recently when cab drivers blocked a bridge and Whitehall. I think they were protesting about Uber. And not for the first time.

I have been making an effort for a few years now.
I only buy loose veg, never, ever buy wipes in any shape, i have stopped buying 'crap', and recycle clothing etc.,

I am a bit miffed at having to pay out a fair amount of money each year to have garden waste taken away though.
Yes, I can and do, have compost bins, but still have a fair amount to dispose of, so pay my local council to collect.

Just found out they not only charge me to collect, but also sell the treated matter as compost and make even more! Cheeky buggers ?

So should we not be using baby lotion either? Every baby rubbed with baby lotion is bathed at some point afterwards and that water goes down the drain. What about hand creams, body lotion etc? Where do we draw the line?

Oh! ?

Have you seen the chemicals in baby lotion?! All going into the water system.

?

Never thought I'd be writing about bum wipes, ha ha but we keep baby lotion (decanted into a pump dispenser) in the loo. We make our own wipes, as and when needed, with loo paper and the lotion. Definitely flushable.

What will we live on in the meantime though?
My income depends on me going to work.
No work, no money.

I'm sorry for anyone who loses income - but how will we earn when the air is unbreathable and the water undrinkable?

Just don't glue yourself to a road or chain yourself to a vehicle in the hope of stopping ordinary people going about their business. I felt so sorry for the London cabbie interviewed for TV news the other day saying he "might as well go home" as he wouldn't be able to earn anything that day. We can all do our bit as madam says but to impose yourself on others is so selfish

I haven’t bought new clothes for thirty years...always second hand. The fashion industry one of the big problems in terms of damaging the planet. Only buy second hand furniture and books as well. Make our own compost, don’t buy veg in bags, avoid eating much meat or fish...trying to become vegan. Walk rather than drive.

aepgirl, you missed it but I did say earlier that I won't be buying wipes again and the botty ones (Andrex) are definitely not flushed away.

I think it's up to the supermarkets to insist their suppliers provide produce in paper bags or loose.

I agree with the blister packs debacle. I recently bought a car freshener which was double-blistered! Won't be buying that again.

I'll also try vinegar as a bug killer, it sounds like a wonder product!

Soap bars, shampoo bars, avoid, if possible, single use plastic. If a car is essential then do more than one thing on every trip.

When our recycling scheme began, about 8 years ago, the Council held a roadshow and I made a point about the blister packs. I was told that the system could cope with these composite items. Not all schemes are the same though.

Agree about the blister packs.

White wine vinegar is a good weed killer. Spray on the leaves in dry weather.

The old lady down the road has carers coming in. They invariably put the clinical waste in her paper & plastic recycle bucket.

Stansgran China may be the worst polluter but it's also well ahead on renewables.

A report earlier this year:

The continuing growth in renewable energy around the world is set to boost the power of China while undermining the influence of major oil exporters such as Russia and Middle East states like Saudi Arabia, according to a new report on the geopolitical implications of the changing energy landscape.

With a leading position in renewable energy output as well as in related technologies such as electric vehicles, Beijing now finds itself in an influential position which other countries may struggle to counter.

“No country has put itself in a better position to become the world’s renewable energy superpower than China,” says the report, which was issued by the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation – a group chaired by a former president of Iceland, Olafur Grimsson.

My pet gripe is the blister packs that all medications come in....even over the counter ones! None of them are recyclable.
What can’t you buy paracetamol in a little glass bottle? Between my husband and myself we take at least eight lots of tablets - all in blister packs.

I sort of feel it's all pointless until China gets the message. Google the WEF map of the most polluted rivers.
I do my best on the home front . I have always used loads of face flannels and have a fresh one each use . Never use the washing machine ,dishwasher unless for a full load. There are plenty of places where you can pay to balance your carbon footprint by planting trees and I prefer buying a tree to mark a grandchild's birth or birthday than a load of plastic tat. I make cloth bags for a hospital shop to sell. But until China stops chucking plastic into the Yangtze what is the point?

Nana Sam, why not give up ‘wipes’ completely. They all contain substances which don’t help our skin or our planet. What’s wrong with a flannel / cloth and hot, soapy water?

Nanasam
Well done for the rethink.?

The man from Dyno rod told me the big culprit in most sewer blockages is the wet wipes, botty wipes, bathroom cleaner wipes family that often get flushed & contrary to advertising do not degrade. We don't use them. We bought a garden composter and two slim line water butts with a connector via our local council - delivered to our house and cheaper than most, the butts fill from a single garage roof. Choice of size & style. We follow the instructions and have been pleasantly surprised what we can put in there. I've put two raised Vege growing beds into a sunny corner of the back garden and put crushed eggshells on the surface with a stone chip surround & the snails tend to avoid so I don't use any pesticides at all. I had lots of garden peas, french & runner beans, Tom's, spring onions, small variety carrots, lettuce this year. I grow herbs in pots & in the flower bed too & grew tasty spuds in fold away bags (you don't need a garden if you use containers). I've made dried lavender & rose petal pot pourri & home made lavender bags to put off moths in stored things by reusing little see through bags that once held gifts. We re use gift bags etc. Use newspaper to polish windows, wash & re use zip lock bags, I've always recycled & my three kids now do so. I recently bought some sheepswool balls to put in the dryer, apparently they have same effect as the sheets but I try and hang clothes out weather permitting. I know I can do more but I do what I can now. thanks for your good ideas.