Thread: Happy Earth Day. What do you do to reduce consumption and waste?

70 miles to the gal.

Common sense and moderation. That's how I view my "conservation" activities. I believe the earth is subject to Man rather than Man being subject to earth. I don't believe, as does the United Nations, that Man is merely equal to or no "better" than any other animal species. I don't willfully pollute.

I'm not a conspiracy guy by any stretch. I do think there's an undercurrent which to the benefit of the undercurrent is manifested in the form of increasingly radical environmentalism. Please follow this analogy:

Imagine you owned two separate businesses:

1) A large factory in which byproducts of the production process were an array of pollutants. The products you manufacture, however are very profitable for you. You're OK with the pollutants as such. Your factory is located in an area or a country where you are not regulated and no one seems to raise an issue with the pollution your factory creates.

2) You own a mobile home park in which you lease small lots to people who park their own mobile homes there or build small shacks there. Your mobile home park happens to be on a stunningly beautiful parcel of land. You've owned it for generations and have over time and through the present added continually to the size of this park by acquiring more and more land. Your only problem as you see it with this business is the tenants living on your land. They disgust you. In your opinion, they live like animals. In your opinion they're no better than animals. They're so far removed from "your world" that you've grown to hate them. Long ago, you'd have to admit you "needed" them and the profit you gained from them to build your empire; however, for quite some time, if they were gone and off your land, you'd now view that as a benefit rather than a liability. Your hatred for them has become so strong over time and through generations that you find yourself thinking over time "if I had my way and I could get away with it, I'd pay someone to exterminate "those people" like the vermin I think they are. Given that there are laws, strict and burdensome in your opinion against seizing your land back from them and making them go away, the best you can do is create a relentless ad campaign with the purpose of getting them to live in a way that impacts your land as minimally as possible and also to do whatever you can to discourage them from reproducing.

Weird analogies? I think shaming humans into feeling guilty about being carbon emitters with every breath they exhale and thereby feeling guilty or contributing to a "problem" by simply being alive is coming from somewhere. If you think you own the world, the masses are just squatters and despicable ones at that.

ChrisL

Happy earth day! Thanks to gugi for reminding me of this, the earth's holiest day. And when I say holiest, I'm talking about the ozone layer of course. I have been unable to calculate my contribution to destroying the earth this year, as nature.org has taken down or removed their calculator But I can promise I have done everything I am willing to do these past twelve months to help save this planet from boiling off into outer space. ChrisL: If you have anymore weird analogies this year that would be splendid. It would be like falling into a pile of ice cream on a hot day. Which there is no shortage of (hot days, that is)

Please feel free to lament here the impending doom of the planet or at least brag about what great or small part you've done to help delay the destruction of this pale blue dot by some negligibly small amount of time

Happy earth day 2014!

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Honestly I never much thought about it, but reading through here I realize that I am pretty green and trust me I don't try, nor really care


We live on the Grid, Barely ie; we get Electricity, and we have a Landline because cell phones don't work here at the ranch
We have a well, we have a septic system.
We use Propane
We use Wood Heat also, We have plenty of tress and we allow the new ones to grow all they want they plant themselves, in this area the term "Save a Tree" translates to lose several jobs and a way of life. Not a popular concept in timber country.
I work from home so our fuel consumption is half of a normal couple
Have no kids, want no kids
We have a Natural Log Home which is pretty darn efficient.
We use some of the stupid light blubs, especially on lights that are on near 24/7, it is cheaper
We have a garden, we don't compost, that would draw in bears, coons, and skunks.

All this is stuff we do for no other reason other then it is convenient for us living in the boonies.. To impose a hardship on my life to "Save the Earth" for future generations is an alien concept to me. I leave that idea to people that have kids.

Prius LOL those are speedbumps we drive over in the winter, here you either own a 4x4 or you stay home 6 months out of the year

I recycled a milk jug & some plastic today.
I bought some natural insect repellant at Wal Mart, instead of the DEET variety.
I shot this morning at an indoor range, so the lead would not end up in the ground.

Pretty much the same thing I do everyday; recycle, don't let my vehicle unnecessarily idle, turn off lights when not using them, when showering I turn the water on and wet down, turn it off and lather up, turn it back on and rinse (same thing when washing my hands or brushing my teeth), when using the toilet I go by the adage of "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" In other words, I don't flush the toilet every time I take a leak.

My 9 year old son said "Today's Earth Day, isn't it?" I told him every day is Earth Day and explained what I meant by it. About half an hour later a city bus that runs on alternative fuel drove by with the
slogan "Every Day is Earth Day" On it .

John

Just walked home from work.
This weekend I am moving to a home that is @ 5 min walk from my office.

Holly Maddux hates Earth Day.

I have been recycling and have gotten my garbage down to about 6 bags a month. An those I am able to put in my parents garbage can so I don't have to pay for garbage service.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I shot this morning at an indoor range, so the lead would not end up in the ground.

Where did the lead come from in the first place, I wonder?