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Things you are doing individually to lower you and your family's carbon footprint - and did they work out?


tantric superman

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Not sure if this is the right place.  Feel free to move ("Help"?)  I'm interested in personal experience with things you do and how they are working out that, whether with beneficence aforethought or not, lowers your carbon footprint.  I'm not doing anything in that regard, but am interested in an electric car, solar panels, and figuring out the best way to maintain the lawn (okay, water use talk is okay too).  I've got an old house with single pane windows (or they aren't triple glazed or some such) so I need to get off my ass. 

Not really wanting to debate anything, just wanting to know your experience with products/methods which lower your carbon output.  So, things like, I own a Tesla and own a Chevy Bolt, and here is why the Tesla is superior, or, there are two companies in Dallas that do solar panels, and one of them sucks, etc. 

So just ornery, surly thoughts on some of this stuff.  Sort of see it as a "cutting the cable" kind of thread. 

 

 

 

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we dont consciously and meticulously go out of our way to reduce carbon footprint, but we do the simple stuff cause they are easy and/or simply make sense. 

have tesla - really really good car regardless of drivetrain. 

recycle plastics, glass, metals, paper, because municipality has the facilities for it.

compost - cuz its sorta fun.

garden hose goes through underground pump - not sure how 'green' that is.

would consider solar if it was easy and available locally.

i used to fly like a mofo tho and have zero reservations against that.

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Recycle and compost

Put in energy efficient bulbs

Vegetarian diet/less meat

Replaced 1/2 of the windows in my home with triple pane. Eventually will finish the rest. 

Drive a hybrid (negligible I know) but more impactful now that I'm able to work from home full time till next early next year. And I'm prob gonna go remote 50% of the time now and I live 15minutes away from the office. 

About to have solar panels and a battery wall installed. 

Moving forward when I fly—I'm gonna start buying personal carbon offsets. 

Edited by YChang
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I use energy efficient bulbs now, because the old ones aren’t available. They cost more, and they require more energy to make up front, but they’re supposed to last long enough to overcome that. Unfortunately, my experience is that they don’t last as long as the old bulbs. 

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Installed solar panels two years ago. With a rebate from local utility company, plus tax credit, plus elec bill being practically zero, It'll be paid off in less than 10 years, then all profit. Reduced carbon footprint is a bonus.

Drive a Honda civic econobox whenever possible- only drive the truck when I need to. Wife's car is a little less carbon friendly though, but we got a really good deal on it (neighbor's wife died and he sold it to us at a steal). 3 car family means more insurance, but I do the oil changes and such myself, so not that much more expensive. Also, all cars and truck were bought used. Next car we buy will be all electric (at least I hope so).

In the process of changing out window/window pains to more energy efficient. I'm doing that myself, so its a work in process.

Don't use a clothes dryer most of the time, there are exceptions. One of my daughter's chores is to hang up laundry outside. On a breezy day, most stuff dries in like 10 minutes. When our washer shat the bed some years ago, we bought a low water use new one.

Collect rainwater and use it to water garden and trees. That doesn't cover all the watering needs, but it does save a significant amount of water.

I'll probably have to get a new water heater in the next handful of years- it will be as energy efficient as possible.

Compost, used in the garden.

 

Finally, I probably turn off 10 lights in the house for every one I turn on. Wife and daughter don't seem to understand that lights can also be turned off in addition to being turned on.

 

edit: piss outside and recycle

 

 

Edited by High Plains Drifter
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my wife tries to mix in a vegetarian dinner once or twice a week.  it's hard because they are so unsatisfying that I feel like I have to eat more afterward.

 

we looked at solar panels but our house is oriented at about 45 degrees off north, so we are the worst possible orientation if they are flat on our roof.  i don't really want to have them sticking up at odd angles.  We skipped that one.

 

got the tesla and in-garage charger.  that is awesome because i don't ever go to the gas station any more.  wake up with a full 'tank' every morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Things we've done as a family:

- We are a one car household. I bike the kids to daycare on our electric cargo bike (Tern GSD). My husband and I also bike to work. We chose to live in the loop in Houston so we can walk to the grocery store and restaurants. 

- I take all of our veggie and fruit scraps/used coffee beans to a nearby park that has a compost bin.

- We buy most of our produce from the farmer's market. I try not to cook too many beef and pork based meals and instead use chicken as the main protein. The next step is to do vegetarian meals but it's been hard for me to get creative in that area. 

- I shop at consignment shops to get used clothes 

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1 hour ago, whithou said:

Things we've done as a family:

- We are a one car household. I bike the kids to daycare on our electric cargo bike (Tern GSD). My husband and I also bike to work. We chose to live in the loop in Houston so we can walk to the grocery store and restaurants. 

- I take all of our veggie and fruit scraps/used coffee beans to a nearby park that has a compost bin.

- We buy most of our produce from the farmer's market. I try not to cook too many beef and pork based meals and instead use chicken as the main protein. The next step is to do vegetarian meals but it's been hard for me to get creative in that area. 

- I shop at consignment shops to get used clothes 

Bike to work in Houston.  Damn.  Sweat must not be an issue.

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We switched to having more vegetarian meals during the week and only really eating meat when going out or for special occasions. The meals do tend to result in being more hungry after, though. 

Also bought electric lawncare equipment. It's actually worked a lot better than expected and charging is typically a breeze. 

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3 hours ago, Bevo said:

Sometimes I pee in my backyard.

I was too late to edit, but I only answered part of the question. I forgot to answer, "How did it work out"?

Generally, it works out fine. Morning wood can be a problem especially on those hungover, sleep-in weekends when the neighbors' kids are playing in the backyard. Leaning back so you don't hit yourself in the chin can be a bitch.

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1 hour ago, Don Johnson said:

Bike to work in Houston.  Damn.  Sweat must not be an issue.

I leave at 6AM when it's still dark out and go at a leisurely pace so I'm not too sweaty when I get to the hospital. Wearing breathable scrubs helps too. My husband on the other hand is a sweaty mess when he gets to work but they have showers that he's able to use. 

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The vast majority of the red meat we eat is from hunting - venison and as assortment of Axis, Blackbuck, and Elk.  Beef is usually sourced from a friend who's family has a cattle ranch.  

Gardening at scale is next.  The small one I have now is solely peppers and herbs.  

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Installed LED lights when we moved into the house 6 years ago.

Replaced our old windows that were leaking.

Wife got a Tesla last year.

Next year we’re installing solar panels.

We recycle as much as we can, despite knowing that the only thing worth recycling these days is aluminum cans. 

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1) Recycle (though not sure that it's real and not just dumping it in Malaysian land fills)

2) Try to use the water filter from the fridge as much as possible and not go through as much single serving waters. Cut back on the ozarka waters that way, but still buy the smart water/electrolyte waters in personal bottles every two weeks.

3) Electric lawn mower, etc. This has been the suckiest because the batteries suck and and the lawn mower is lame and sucks.

4) Spent a ton of money on energy efficient, triple pane windows or whatever in every room in the house including the sun room. Seriously it was way more than you'd think-- like a new car purchase.

5) Thought about solar, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet

6) Drive two gas guzzlers now, but for our third vehicle we are planning to buy next spring (transitioning a 2017 pick up that's paid off to more of a work truck and keep it for a kid who is about to be driving) I paid a $100 to be on the list to buy a Ford eLightning Truck or whatever. So thinking about that, at least.

7) Shop at Whole Foods and Sprouts for fruits and veggies, which is kinda like going to a Farmer's market instead of a Target or something like that, right? The experience feels like it, at least, from what I imagine being at a Farmer's Market would be like.

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6 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Electric lawn mower, etc. This has been the suckiest because the batteries suck and and the lawn mower is lame and sucks.

Don't know about brand, but I've been using an emower for maybe 7--8 years and I never will go back.  Sorry your battery sucks.

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I’m cautious about going eclectic car because of infrastructure. Even typing this, I realize I never drive long distances, so I really don’t know what’s holding me back. 
 

Just bought my first electric lawnmower and I fucking love it. Don’t have to worry about buying gas, it’s quiet as shit, and it works great. I need to buy an electric trimmer and blower. 
 

I want solar but I ain’t dropping 15K on it. Waiting for it to come down below 10K

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58 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Don't know about brand, but I've been using an emower for maybe 7--8 years and I never will go back.  Sorry your battery sucks.

Yea, probably a result of buying a cheap smaller one last summer when there were shortages. Good to know there are good electric ones, I probably should look into getting a better one then.

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3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

You Tesla drivers sure about that carbon footprint reduction?  There's a reason Tesla doesn't report its carbon emissions.  Cool cars, though.  Might be our next purchase.

A lot of it is accounting tricks on either side, whoever is making the argument.  but what ultimately made me think the future is better with them is that the grid can use more diverse sources for energy and I expect that to improve.  

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