non-rant....reduce consumption....

[HLAC]

I have a 500.00 water filtration system (and a water softening system because our water hardness is off the charts). I can burn up brita filters easily to the point where using bottled water and recycling the bottles has way less impact than constanly buying new filters. And even with that all the filtration... the tap water still tastes terrible. (it's okay for coffee, tea and if I use water flavorings, but you can still notice it)
I've lived in many locations in several states.. mostly rural and on well water. So it's not like I'm new to this idea of trying to get platable water at home.

I buy almost no corn for human consumption. I haven't bought sugar in years. I buy very little wheat or soybean products. I rarely buy processed food. I didn't use the AC last summer (even when it was 92 degrees in the house), I keep the heat set at 64 degrees. I work from a home office so I have no daily commute. My home is small and over 130 years old. (no new eco-damage there) I have a 50,000 sq foot garden. I give lots of the produce to the local food pantry. I recycle even tho' there is no local recycling.

...and yet, I occasionally will get harrassed by some 'greenie' in a clown car with a holier-than-thou attitude because I have a truck or bottle of water.

I smile sweetly and resist the urge to crush them into a small pile of recyclable plastic and metal.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
It is annoying aint it!!!

GREAT that you are doing your part. THAT is what I meant about personal choices!!

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
But some people are not willing to give those things up, so I was offering a kind of "have your cake and eat it too" solution. Imperfect, but better than nuttin'.

I know. I'm just suggesting that in the long term, we might have to make decisions as a society -- an international society -- that we might not like, for the good of future generations. Some of those decisions will ultimately involve giving up luxuries in order for future generations to have necessities.

(In a pinch, a shop vac works for a leaf blower...stick the hose in the other side...and let it do double duty...Of course, you can only go as far as you have extension cords.)

 

[jasonm11]

Ride a bike, push a mower, make you're kids walk to school once in a while. play hookie form work once a week. read teh news on the internet instead of a daliy paper, or steal you're neighbors paper read it and then use it to start the wood stove to boil nasty water and make good water thru reverse osmosis. I'm only kidding about half this stuff you choose which half

 

[chickaddict]

mom'sfolly :

In response to the $5/gallon rant thread, I thought it might be fun to come up with fun, positive ideas for reducing petroleum consumption.

So instead of ranting, post your ideas.

Don't drink bottled water, use your tap water. The regulations for clean tap water in the US are much stricter than those for bottled water, so drink up.
Pack your lunch.
walk to school
park for fast food, don't do drive throughs

According to DH the mechanic your car would use more gas by shutting it off and restarting it.
Using the drive through would actually save gas.

But since we are treating ourselves to fast food. I say we go to Frankies and forget about saving on gas.​

 

[HLAC]

Roll through stop signs. It takes a lot of gas to get a vehicle moving from a complete stop.


Kidding!!

(but that's my excuse!)

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
ROFL! One of the three times in my life that I have been stopped by police was for doing that. I was 16...out in the boondocks in an area where there were NEVER cops. Seriously. It was the ONLY time I ever saw a cop within miles of there.

One of these days my good charm and a nice smile aren't going to work....

Oh, wait. There was a 4th time & I did get a warning ticket that time -- burned out tail light of all stupid things. ROFL apparently a nice smile didn't work on her.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Getting power companies to change their billing structure would also help. Residential customers generally pay higher rates than corporate customers. Higher consumers get price breaks. If there was a financial incentive for reducing power usage, more companies would set air conditioning and heat to reasonable levels, turn off lights in empty buildings and lighting parking lots to daylight levels. Grocery stores might close cases so that the dairy and frozen food aisles wouldn't be cold enough to require a jacket.

I live in Texas, and everything is air conditioned. In some malls and in most theaters I need a jacket and closed toe shoes. The areas are just so cold.

 

[cheri222]

New Gas furnace, our bill wen from 125 on balanced billing to 14.98. We even had them check to make sure it was accurate. Heat is set at 68. I grow all my own seedlings for the garden and reuse all the old plastic containers to grow in(yogurt and marg). Dh rides a bike to work in the summer. We also picked up a paddle boat last summer, but haven't tried it yet. The salvation army is great! We generally donate then go in and shop. Composting --still do lots even with the chickens. I only give my babies the prime leftovers. Make our own laundry soap. Tried making dishwasher soap and it was nasty so we quit. Make our liquid hand soap from all the leftovers. I love this post, some great ideas.

 

[kla37]

Cutting out the preprocessed foods is really important, IMHO. There is so much energy waste in the production of all of it! And then there's all that packaging! Gardening and getting fresh foods from our local co op is a big part of what we do. If I had room I would raise meat birds too. We would love to go solar, but the cost involved just isn't for us right now.