Have Environment Issues Caused a Change in Your Behaviour?

[Edrof]

The recent increase in media attention towards environmental problems has changed my outlook on my daily life quite a lot.

I always recycled but now I'm more stringent with myself and I'm becoming far more resentful of the throwaway culture we have naturally developed. This especially comes to the fore at birthdays and Christmas when I look at the millions of toys my children have and ponder what else I can get them (that they won't play with once the week's out). Parents of GD, what have you done in this case? I'm thinking of switching to monetary gifts.

The largest impact has been buying antiques, though. Collecting weaponry has long put me into that world but I never really noticed, until recently, the rest of the stuff on offer and I'm quite kicking myself after decking the house out in sterile Ikea. I can get amazing craftsmanship, character, and a huge dose of history for less than what the high streets ask in most cases but it's also the ultimate in recycling. The lack of sweatshops is also a bonus.

How about you chaps?

 

[NoobCannon]

Ive been buying a load of avocados based on the brexit thread. Does that count?

 

[StriderX]

Just tired of seeing the mess on a saturday morning because drunk ******** think its funny to just throw their food and plastic on the ground. I would have to be comatose before i dropped my crappy kebab on the curb, i really don't get why people think it's acceptable.

 

[Dis86]

A lot more stringent about recycling. I've always felt uncomfortable at just throwing things away anyway but actually feel strong guilt at landfilling.
Making sure I cut down what I'm using and pushing others to do the same. Another big one has been largely removing red meat from my diet. Both health, moral and environmental reasons for that.

 

[Rroff]

i really don't get why people think it's acceptable.

Eh too many humans seem one step away from animal and can barely see beyond the end of their nose let alone see or care about the bigger picture.

 

[gord]

I downgraded from a 3.2l to a 3l turbo straight-six.

In all seriousness though, not really. I always try to be frugal and considerate with my behaviour. I recycle a reasonable amount and upcycle where I can (including old Ikea!). I've got a solar panel on the house, which isn't major but it's something. I'll move to an electric car in about 5 years when the infrastructure is more established.

 

[keylion]

Just tired of seeing the mess on a saturday morning because drunk ******** think its funny to just throw their food and plastic on the ground. I would have to be comatose before i dropped my crappy kebab on the curb, i really don't get why people think it's acceptable.

I agree with this, totally unacceptable.

 

[CosmicClown]

No
Because Im not easily influenced by what the media tell me.

Yeah blame the poor man for destroying the planet when corporations have done most of the damage....

IE Deforestation
Oil spills in oceans
Plastic being dumped
Dangerous chemicals being disposed of in bodies of water (As a recent example a corp was recently found to of been disposing anti depressant medication into water and making the fishes act loopy)

 

[200sols]

No
Because Im not easily influenced by what the media tell me.

Yeah blame the poor man for destroying the planet when corporations have done most of the damage....

IE Deforestation
Oil spills in oceans
Plastic being dumped
Dangerous chemicals being disposed of in bodies of water (As a recent example a corp was recently found to of been disposing anti depressant medication into water and making the fishes act loopy)

I wondered how long before we got some whataboutism, thats what these threads always descend into.

 

[Hades]

I am more fucussed on recycling. I try to use less plastic. I turn more lights off, etc.

 

[Minusorange]

Yes but I need the supermarkets and manufacturers to change their packaging more than I can change my behaviour, everything I buy is covered in plastic and it annoys me because I know how terrible plastic is but there's relatively minimal alternatives offered where I shop

 

[Semple]

A lot more stringent about recycling. I've always felt uncomfortable at just throwing things away anyway but actually feel strong guilt at landfilling.
Making sure I cut down what I'm using and pushing others to do the same. Another big one has been largely removing red meat from my diet. Both health, moral and environmental reasons for that.

Anything that can be recycled will go into recycling. I'd like to start recycling more of our food waste / compostables when we've moved, currently we don't really have the room for a 3rd bin in the flat.

The GF has also gone down the route of removing red meat from her diet, whilst i've not fully adopted the same approach, i certainly have reduced my intake as well. If we go out for something to eat i'll certainly consider a burger, but when cooking at home, it's not worth the effort of making two separate meals just so i can eat red meat.

Also when we move and have a garden, i'd like to start growing produce. The one thing that definitely annoys me is that certain salad vegetables such as rocket are purchased in a massive bag, you use maybe a handful of it, stick it back in the fridge and several days later when you'd like to use it again, it's gone all manky. At least with growing produce you can pick what you need when you need it.

Would also love to have solar panels installed, but with the parts and installation costs still relatively high (even with a generous FIT offset) they're still fairly expensive. I'm hoping to see the parts costs for these plummet in the next 5 years.

 

[Semple]

Yes but I need the supermarkets and manufacturers to change their packaging more than I can change my behaviour, everything I buy is covered in plastic and it annoys me because I know how terrible plastic is but there's relatively minimal alternatives offered where I shop

Do you buy loose fruit and veg? That's quite a big behaviour that can be changed for the good.

Another thing that always annoys me is when you purchase multipack things - not just crisps, but things like chocolate bars etc. They're individually wrapped, and then wrapped as a multipack. I can understand that the individual items might need the plastic/foil wrapping to stay fresh, but to group them into a multipack they should be using paper/card/recyclable materials.

 

[413x]

Yes.

Less meat.
Always buy loose fruit.
Always recycle, but I'm not convinced recycling really gets recycled most of the time
Stopped buying crap at Christmas and birthdays. Family are used to it now.

I hate all the plastic junk toys they sell at the beach. All that's crap should be banned. It'll never happen though. Convinced we will kill the planet before it can be saved. Glad I'm not having kids to inherit it

Having kids is the absolute worst thing you can do for the planet.
Those who don't have kids but also want them make the biggest sacrifice. I myself don't want them.

 

[weathmatth]

I know deep down i should take more notice about my personal impact to the environment, but then on the other hand i think why bother when you have whole countries like Brazil that clearly don't give a ****.

 

[sideways14a]

None, i simply dont care.

 

[Dis86]

I know deep down i should take more notice about my personal impact to the environment, but then on the other hand i think why bother when you have whole countries like Brazil that clearly don't give a ****.

Because if every individual thought like that we'd have another whole country not giving a crap.

 

[200sols]

I know deep down i should take more notice about my personal impact to the environment, but then on the other hand i think why bother when you have whole countries like Brazil that clearly don't give a ****

More whataboutism. Make the change and others will follow.

 

[Conscript]

A lot more stringent about recycling. I've always felt uncomfortable at just throwing things away anyway but actually feel strong guilt at landfilling.
Making sure I cut down what I'm using and pushing others to do the same. Another big one has been largely removing red meat from my diet. Both health, moral and environmental reasons for that.

This. I have started to pay more attention to separating plastics and paper/card out for recycling, although it seems to be a minefield as to what can and cant be recycled.

Where possible I try and cut down on unnecessary plastic use too. Whenever I buy lunch, if I get offered a plastic fork, and a bag to go with it to carry it on the 2 minute walk back to my office, I tell them to keep it, as all I'll end up doing is binning it. Sounds silly I guess, but it's little things like that which I pay more attention to now.

 

[Semple]

This. I have started to pay more attention to separating plastics and paper/card out for recycling, although it seems to be a minefield as to what can and cant be recycled.

Yeah this definitely needs to be made more clearer. And councils need to stop being lazy with specific plastic that they'll only accept.

Frankly i think there should at least be a law passed to outline which recyclable plastics can be used, and at least that way all councils have to take it for recycling.