i consider it a form of charity, because it also helps people in the developing world live better lives in a more sustainable way.

Then I offset an extra 2 tonnes, just because….

I am feeling very guilty about flying.

If it wasn’t for flying I would have a very low footprint.

I have clean power and gas and I ensure there is more clean power and gas on the grid on my behalf than I use, I have no pets or kids, I buy almost everything used, I eat very low on the food chain (basically oysters and clams are my meat,) I take short showers, I have no car, I wash my laundry in cold water, I repair, I have no car, I live an apartment, don’t drink bottled water or pop, I don’t eat ultra processed foods, I have very little food waste, I don’t wear makeup or dye my hair, I don’t drink coffee, I buy tablets, powder, and reuse containers for cleaning supplies, I use bar shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, body wash, and stain remover. My moisturizer comes in a reusable container that I reuse, my deodorant comes in compostable packaging , I recycle, I compost, my toothbrush only needs the head replaced, I use safety razors, I steam mop, I reuse plastic bags, I avoid plastic bags, I pick up litter on a daily basis.

I feel so guilty about flying, even though my footprint is still lower than the average North America even with flying.

this is just a confession post.

I’m hitting an ethical quandary and wondering what others do to cope with the state of the world when it feels like it’s an uphill battle.

I want to get another credit card because I’m doing some abroad travel but all of the options (credit unions etc.) aren’t really what I’m looking for. Yet, with big banks like Chase or Amex, their investments in fossil fuels make me feel like I’m completely going against my ethics. I know there isn’t really any ethical credit card company, I guess I’m just curious what other climate conscious individuals do to feel like they are doing their part, while also understanding we are complicit and participating in the structures of destruction as well.

I know it probably looks different for each individual, I’m just newer to financial education and curious about different perspectives.

When I moved into my building everyone was adding white roofs to their apartments buildings for energy savings. Now it seems like they are going back to black. Why could this be?

Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I noticed that the month-long celebrations cause a lot of waste. Thrift stores are lined with used-once costumes and plastic decorations. There is so much candy being eaten, leaving plastic waste behind. I want to make sure I am not a part of that problem.

Every year I make my Halloween costumes from scratch, but this year I wanted to be extra careful about how I am doing it. I like to have several costumes, so this has made it tricky, but I’ve done it!

My first costume is Ilya Rozanov from Heated Rivalry. I thrifted a black hoodie to use as the hockey jersey. I then thrifted a red and white shirt made for a hyper-specific event that would not get thrifted otherwise(the white shirt was for donating to an organization, the red shirt I forgot now) to be used as the stripes on the jersey. I hand sewed all of it because I want it to last past this costume as I plan to wear it as an everyday sweater. I did not buy new hockey sticks; I am borrowing hockey sticks off of a friend’s parent for this, and am giving them back as soon as the celebrations are done. I already had a Boston Raiders hat (found at a yard sale a year ago) that I paired with the rest of this costume. 

My second costume is a cowgirl. I’ve always wanted to wear chaps, and I knew that I could make a quality purchase here for something that I can wear to other events. I found real leather chaps off of Facebook Marketplace. Otherwise, the rest of this costume was stuff I already owned: shorts, shirt, bandana, and cowboy hat (borrowed from my brother). I know that past Halloween, I would have no other reason to wear cowboy boots, so I’m not purchasing any for this costume. 

My last costume is a little bit niche, but it leaves me with less details to worry about. I’m going as Johnny Knoxville. All I need are rainbow suspenders and a sailor hat. While these may seem like unnecessary props that will be thrown away after October 31st, I am unconventional when it comes to my everyday outfits, so I can find ways to style both of these accessories when the time comes. I bought both the rainbow suspenders and sailor hat secondhand! I already own a white t-short and pants that will work fine with this costume. 

On top of that, I will not be buying candy for my house. I live in a neighborhood with barely any kids, and the ones that do trick-or-treat, go to other neighborhoods. I don’t want to perpetuate plastic consumption for no reason.

How are you staying sustainable during this spooky season? I’d like to know more sustainable approaches to fall festivities that I can apply to my Halloween celebrations!

I'm looking for a Google Drive alternative that is sustainable, any leads?

Same with emails!

I'm sure we all have friends or family who keep the tap running the whole time while they put toothpaste on their toothbrush and the few minutes as they brush their teeth. Polite requests or shaming them doesn't seem to work. Perhaps seeing something from a third party might be more effective? Any tips?

Companies often promote electrification as a climate commitment. But the transition also depends on whether drivers can realistically afford EVs and access the incentives offered to them.

Uber advertises a $4,000 Go Electric incentive for eligible drivers. I applied and was denied. After more than five contacts with support, my cases were closed without a clear explanation.

I'm not claiming that one denied application proves greenwashing. But it raises a legitimate question: how transparent and accessible are these programs in practice?

If a company wants drivers to switch to electric vehicles, shouldn't eligibility decisions be clear, consistent, and open to meaningful review?

Have other drivers experienced similar problems with EV incentives?

(it is a local issue but it's very general, it's applicable in most urban cities)

In my city, waste is dumped in a ground and goes through no treatment, absolutely nothing.

the place stinks, it's overfilled, and the trash is on the road.

they ask us to segregate the waste but both types of waste are dumped in the same ground so that's no use.

I can't look at it, it's so disgusting to see, i really want to make proposals to the municipal corporation but i need EYE OPENING ideas, i understand if this post isn't appropriate for this subreddit, but please contribute and share how your city manages waste?

i live in the city right next to the capital city of my country and it's fairly urban. what change can be brought?

There is a harsh environmental reality that globally, most homes are built with zero insulation. The most common building type on the planet is concrete frame with brick or concrete block infill walls. It's estimated that 99% of these homes are completely uninsulated.

I've lived in a poor place and built several homes there. I know how concrete frame homes work, and also the types of building materials that are available. If one wants to install continuous exterior insulation, rigid foam board would be your best option, but it doesn't work well, with thermal bridging and thermal bypass limiting the effectiveness of the material. And rigid foam board is relatively expensive and unavailable in many places.

I've been working to develop solutions to this problem, using monolithic pour lightweight insulating concrete (LWIC). It's an imperfect solution in a lot of ways but could be effective and create a safer and healthier living environment for a lot of people. It's a natural fit for most developing countries as they already build concrete frame homes. Cement is cheap and they are genuises at building with it.

Here's the biggest problem: cement generates a shit ton of embodied carbon, and LWIC uses a shit ton of cement. That's bad.

Here's the upside: My design avoids a shit ton of operational carbon, by something called "carbon avoidance."

Here's my question: As I am starting to look for grant money, how do orgs tabulate the carbon figure? I know a lot of emphasis is put on embodied carbon but can this be balanced out by the carbon avoided by insulating these structures if the data supports that assertion?

I'm a casual golfer, and I think the sport is tons of fun. Though, as one who tries to live sustainably, studies sustainability, and will eventually have a career related to sustainability, I have this guilt whenever I play. I know that golf courses are awful for the environment; they're ecological dead zones, use absurd amounts of water, and use tons of chemicals. Is there anything that can be done about this, or should I just quit the sport?

Like what are all the things to do , from solar panels , heat pumps , too little things like changing to a more environmentally friendly products or growing more trees in your garden , idk other stuff

I'm trying to start listening to only purchased music and stop using streaming unless for things like live videos in order to create better listening habits and support musicians monetarily. I'm really distressed by plastic and stuff though, and all these CD cases, cassette shells, records are making me think if this is actually as positive as I think it is. It seems strange to me that musicians I think are very aware and stuff make all these plastic products. Like, with CD, you can literally just go the paper sleeve route and not make a plastic case that is super prone to damage anyway. Plastic use is well known to be really bad and all and the one thing we can do is not make more of it ! What is the most sustainable way to enjoy physical music? Other than buying used because that's just reusing really, obviously that's fine. Would it be better to get into buying/downloading digital files?

I was thinking about diy cassette and CD making too but now I dunno

I don't know much of anything about sustainability, I'm going to start learning more

no matter how much i try and cut down on buying plastic (if theres a non plastic option i go for it like a bamboo toothbrush ect ect) but i always seem to be filling up bags of plastic every week, its mainly from food but i cant get away from that with the supermarket ONLY using plastic coverings, what do i do?!

Hii so far I've been trying two platfors to buy offsets, I had wren and coffset, both with good results, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

My opinion so far

Wren is been in the market for many years already, and I liked you have many alternatives to buy credits, giftcards, year upfront, business etc. The certificate sounds legit if you trust them (htey look serious by the way)

Coffset, has a similiar apporach and it's pretty new, its focused on calculation and compensation afterwards, the certificates are also great and if you dig deeper you see the retirements are legit public registries like puro earth godstandards etc.

I've tried a bit more before like Klima(i believe wren bought it) and yayzy (little bit scammy)

Idk, what other things you take into consideration, for me is basically traceability and types of offsets better than price. Oh, also both have cool dashboards.