What do you do to be sustainable in your own life?

[mrsbrown]

I was at a work function last night, and I was asked that question.  It's really hard to come up with the list when you're on the spot like that and I've been haunted by all the things I left out, so I've written them down here.  I've used the headings I use at work to make it easier to remember everything.

Indoor environment quality
I only use low VOC indoor house paint
I don't use commercial cleaning chemicals
I wear mostly natural fibres
Our kitchen cabinets are reused and don't emit VOC's

Energy
The energy audit and management plan I worked out a few years ago reduced our electricity consumption by about 7kWh a day (the same as we would generate from solar panels)
I installed a low flow shower head, which reduces our hot water consumption
We heat only the lounge room and kitchen
We have a temperature display in the loungeroom which helps us to turn down the heater more often
We often go to bed  early to read our laptops at night, and turn off the heater.
My dishwasher and washing machine were chosen for their energy performance.
I turn off lights all the time and encourage my housemates to do the same.
We have almost only compact fluorescent lighting
I have tracked our electricity consumption for the past 3 years
I have installed draft stoppers on many doors between the heated and unheated zones.

Water
My dishwasher and washing machine were chosen for their water performance.
I installed a low flow shower head
Dishes are scraped before putting in the dishwasher, no rinsing.
I have a rainwater tank
I only water the vegies, without a hose.

Transport
We don't own a car
We use bicycles or our feet to go shopping
I travel to work by public transport or bicycle
We shop locally
I have trained my children to use bicycles for transport
I encourage others to carpool where possible
I catch public transport for most work meetings
I encourage my work mates to catch public transport to meetings
We buy food in season (aka cheap and local)

Waste
Our food waste is composted
We avoid buying food with packaging
We recycle plastics, steel, glass etc
We don't use plastic bags as bin liners
we haven't bought a new tv 'cos the old one still works
we recycle our e-waste
I take home food waste from SCA feasts and compost it
We minimise our plastic bag intake - I always carry a shopping bag, we have reusable vegie bags and some of our shopping bags are 10 years old.
We repair stuff

Emissions
I designed, made and maintained (with help) composting toilets for Surveying Expedition.
We make our own laundry soap (without borax)
We don't use chlorine based cleaners


Yes, I'm indulging in some conspicuous conservation.

Comments

[sootysmudge.livejournal.com]

That's a really impressive list. I think l'll try and make my own list using similar headings and post it to my LJ too.

[sjkasabi]

Also:

Energy
You use a northfacing room as the main living space in winter
You open the doors a lot to get a really good through draft in summer
You use a lot of old stuff instead of replacing it, thus avoiding the energy cost of making new stuff
You mostly line dry clothes

And Also

[armourer]

We also

Dual flush toilet.
Try to buy second hand things.
Hard rubbish picker.
Rarely buy new books or music. Just from Op shops.
Buy used clothes when I desire to.
Don't Buy the newspaper
Don't use tea bags - we have teapots or infusers
Mostly cook food from bulk, raw ingredients and food with simple packaging.
Grow some of our own vegies
Reduce ubiquitous commercial consumption by buying stuff from the Gleadell Street Market. (A fruit and vege market).

Re: And Also

[sjkasabi]

Yes, I think mrsbrown should push the thing where you almost never buy brand new stuff harder. Making new stuff uses heaps of energy and raw materials, while old stuff just goes to landfill (though I see this as not as bad as many. That's because I fully expect to see landfills re-opened and mined for their now-sufficiently-valuable quantities of metals and plastics before I actually die). If mrsbrown needs it to sound sexy for work purposes she can talk about retro chic and stuff.

Also:
no one in the house blowdries their hair regularly (or indeed uses commercial shampoos etc) I thought of that because I just managed to blow dry my hair for the first time in a month!

[hometime]

You could add in that you used cloth nappies.
And that you pass things like kids clothing and equipment onto other people when you have finished with it.

[armourer]

Mow the lawn with a push mower!