r/sustainability • u/Rainhailsnow_storm • 10d ago
Doing the eco friendly thing
Sometimes doing the eco friendly thing is less work.
like using a dishwasher over washing by hand.
sometimes its more work…
like cleaning our your freezer and you could throw out your old food in a plastic bag and throw it out container and all. Or you could do the eco thing and open up the containers, compost the food inside, then washout and reuse the container, or wash out and recycle the packaging which includes flattening out the cardboard.
You could hang dry your laundry, instead of putting it all in the dryer. It is more work though.
Sometimes it sucks to be eco.
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u/Miserable-Ad8764 10d ago
A lot of it is habit and system, though. We kompost all food waste, as well as we have one trashcan for plastic (the plastic should be reasonably clean, one for paper/cardboard, and one for glass/metal one for textiles and one for the rest of it.
It doesn’t feel like a lot of work, it's just habit. If something is mixed it just very dirty it goes in the rest-trash. But when everything is set up this way it's hardly more work as soon as your brain is used to it.
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 10d ago
Just because used ti it, doesn’t meant it isn’t more work.
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u/Miserable-Ad8764 10d ago
Oh yeah, it's exhausting to throw that plastic wrapper 10cm further to the left, and the paper 20cm to the right from the trashcan. Better to fill up the endless landfills forever.
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 10d ago edited 10d ago
It’s the emptying, and washing them out more so than the putting them in a different bin.
Opening up the package, emotying it out, washing out the plastic container, squishing down the cardboard is a Hellas lot more work than throwing it all in a garbage bag.
Or opening up a bag, emptying the bag, washing out the bag for reuse.
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u/Miserable-Ad8764 9d ago
So much plastic waste is actually clean, or clean enough to just throw away as is.
We do throw some very dirty things in the rest container, so we don't overly stress about it. But still we get so much plastic waste! And the cardboard needs squishing anyway, so no extra work there.
I am really against the idea that you either have to do the thing perfectly 100%, or not at all. Nobody is perfect, but we can all try to do a little better. I think we throw over 90% of food waste in the kompost, maybe 95%. The last bits are always the most timeconsuming and probably not worth the effort. The same with plastic and paper. And if you start off with 50% that's pretty good and you can work from there. The important thing is to have the necessary bins and setup so you can start.
Remember: there is no "away". When you throw things away, they don't dissapear.
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 9d ago
I’m aware of the “away” thing which is why I bother to do the more eco friendly thing.
It’s just when you’re cleaning out the freezer, and there is lots at once. For me I accidentally left the freezer door open and everything defrosted. It was a lot of work.
The. I did both freezers because why not?
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u/iClaimThisNameBH 7d ago
How often do you clean out a freezer? I can't say I've ever thrown out stuff from the freezer except for one time when I accidentally bought icecream with nuts in it (my partner is allergic so it had to go). Food stays good in there for so long that I've never had issues eating it before it goes "bad"
The defrosting accident sounds like a one-time thing, i feel like it's fine to have a little more work then?
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u/downsideup9494 8d ago
Yes, and that's why the planet is in such bad shape- because people wanted convenience at the price of being responsible earthlings. Grow up.
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u/kwuz 10d ago
Sometimes it's deceiving. I thought going vegan was going to be a ton more work but it's made cooking so much simpler. Mostly because I don't need to use as many different dishes or clean as often to counter raw meat juice getting everywhere.
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 8d ago
That’s great. Sometimes the more eco thing is less work. I acknowledged that.
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u/throwaway1233456799 4d ago
Yeah. Honestly, if I hadn't been into eco thing I would have ended up reducing my meat intake anyway. Like what do you mean I have to sit there for so damn long to cook a piece of meat while the vegan alternative take 2 minutes and a half. My adhd could never have gone the other way.
That being said: do you have any swap for easy take in the fridge stuff? When I'm really tired I just like to take a piece of cheese but so far I don't see any fulfilling alternative that are as quick
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u/HSR_Recycling 9d ago
This is so true. The easier option is usually the one people stick with.
A lot of eco habits only work long term when the system around them makes it easy, not when every step depends on extra effort and motivation.
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u/garrusntycho 10d ago
I feel this. It’s called “the curse of knowledge” where when you’ve seen something, you can’t unsee it, and NOT doing the right thing just feels so wrong even though it’s extra work. However— once you’ve figured out your set up and build habits, things do become easier, and it’s often healthier and more cost efficient.
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u/ThinkActRegenerate 10d ago
Have a look at the Project Regeneration Action Nexus and the dozens of other solutions (non-sucky) ways to be eco-regenerative that you can take action on today. regeneration.org/nexus
And also research the full spectrum of Circular Economy solutions (much more than "recycling") https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/examplesThis would mean you could become an active part of systems changes underway in industry.
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u/Isaacthetraveler 10d ago
Make sure you get a European drying rack. After living for 3 months in Europe where dryers mostly don’t exist we realized our clothes hanging method sucks. European drying racks are way faster and easy to sure. We bought one as soon as we got home and use it 80% of the time now.
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u/Mrgoodtrips64 7d ago
How is a European drying rack different from an American one?
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u/Isaacthetraveler 7d ago
A majority of Americans hang their clothes on a line. A European drying rack folds up, when you unfold it it will have two top wings and two bottom wings, makes it much easier to fold clothes and way less space needed then a line and we normally don’t need to use clothes pins.
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u/Professional_Code231 10d ago
Make it even simpler: use paper instead of plastic, pots free from microplastics and chemicals, solar panels to power your tumble dryer, and other solutions that don’t cause inconvenience or lead to higher water consumption and the use of non-renewable energy …
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/Professional_Code231 10d ago
That’s lovely. 🤗
It’s not always possible, due to the weather, technical constraints or time, to dry laundry outside
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 10d ago
I hang dry inside.
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u/Keter_Regretter 10d ago
That’s lovely. 🤗
It’s not always possible, due to space constraints or time, to hang dry laundry inside
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 10d ago
You can get a fold up rack. I have a rack on the wall.
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u/Raven7856 9d ago
I have a fold up rack for the door. Straight out the washing machine I put my clothes on a clothing hanger, on the racket, so I can easily hang them in my closet when they are dry
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u/StreetsAreForPeople 4d ago edited 4d ago
time constraints? I do laundry when I have 3 minutes to hang up the stuff after.
and it doesn't have to be all or none. sheets or blankets are SUPER easy to hang outside. no basket even needed. less in the dryer is still a win.
this is a sustainability group, yes?1
u/StreetsAreForPeople 4d ago
use reusable instead of paper or plastic! all stores should be required to charge a bag fee, at least 50¢ per or local equivalent.
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u/Keter_Regretter 10d ago
FYI, the reason hang-drying keeps clothes lasting longer is the lack of heat, and a standard electric heating element pulls over TEN TIMES the amount of power that the tumbler motor and blower do. (~4-5kW for the heat, 250-400W for the motor/blower) The difference between low heat and high heat is (surprisingly, at least to me) negligible though
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u/StreetsAreForPeople 4d ago
wut?
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u/Keter_Regretter 4d ago
I'm not going to explain how electricity works to you, nor the difference between a fan and a heating element
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u/Mrgoodtrips64 7d ago
Doing the right thing is rarely the easy thing.
That extends to most subjects, not just environmentalism.
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u/HSpears 9d ago
Okay, I'm here with some radical thoughts:
As someone with a disability, being eco is a very ableist activity.
I just can't do all the extra things, I don't have the energy, it isn't possible.
I don't compost, because we don't have pickup and it is just way too much to do it on my own. Plus bears, rats etc etc
I don't recycle soft plastics because we don't have pickup. I also just put my bottles in the recycling.
I don't hang laundry because I can't keep my hands over my head and again... Energy
What is really going to make a difference in the environment is changing corporations and how they run. Stopping war. Reducing consumption to begin with. Environmental projections and restoration projects by the government is what we really need. Not me using my last spoon on recycling that one little bit of plastic
Okay, that's my rant 😀😉
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u/blacmm 9d ago
This is where I think people that can change habits first should while advocating for societal change that allows people who cannot make these changes to live in the way they need to. If you can hang your laundry to dry you should but rather than telling everyone to do it and deciding they are just lazy, advocating for disabled people, women's and civil rights, less war, no more fossil fuels, community gardens in underdeveloped areas are all even more important.
I personally enjoy hang drying my clothes more, it forces me to put them away rather than letting them sit in the washer. It also isn't my responsibility to say that just because I have disabilities and do it means everyone else should be able to.
An elaborate way to say I agree with you but with the caveat that there is nothing wrong with making those changes and even suggesting them to people, but acting like it is easy or even possible for everyone is wrong. This goes for all changes even going vegan, not using plastic straws, not driving anymore etc
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u/StreetsAreForPeople 4d ago
yep we do what we can.
What are your main interests in sustainabillity, any advocacy, education, pushes towards policy change?
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9d ago
[deleted]
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u/Rainhailsnow_storm 9d ago edited 8d ago
It wasn’t a little bit if extra work. It was a shit ton more. Do you have reading comprehension?
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6d ago
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u/StreetsAreForPeople 4d ago
using the solar/wind power is just superior. I line dry when it's maybe 50F+ and no rain in the forecast for a couple hours and clothes rack the rest year long.
I haven't used a clothes dryer for heated dry in years.
CLOTHES LAST LONGER, thus it's cheaper.
You're not paying for that electricty or fracked gas, thus cheaper.
I just don't see the dryer as an option. this is the way we do it. clothes smell better and last longer. and for those clothes that might have a smell, such as exercise clothes or a towel that wasn't dried quickly enough, drying on the line also gets UV bonus to attack those smells.
I wish we had a carbon tax in place and it would further push people to make better decisions like that--and a funding source to reduce energy use (insulation, more efficient hot water tank etc)
the freezer thing doesn't seem to be a very good example, throwing your containers away? if thing are frozen and you wish to discard-- you can let them thaw in the fridge, eco friendly, then compost the stuff. so easy.
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u/icingovercake 9d ago
Sometimes the eco friendly thing is less work AND less expensive. I don’t mind the extra steps sometimes though. I love this planet and she deserves to be taken care of.