MARGINAL GAINS : FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD

MARGINAL GAINS : FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Following in the footsteps of @pennsif and his programme #five4theplanet challenge – I’ve made a few changes recently that will have some small impact on making this a better world!

MARGINAL GAINS

I am definitely bought into the idea that just the smallest of steps can cumulatively make significant differences, and this is especially true when the changes become either habitual or trending…….. here is my first #five4theplanet

1. NEW TRAVEL COFFEE MUG

Over the years I have developed a high dependency upon Barista prepared coffee! I guess it is a weakness, but I’m not the only one, coffee shops have expanded massively over the last 15 years in the UK. Until the last week I have usually enjoyed my coffee from disposable convenience cups 5 times a week.

These cups are very hard to recycle as they contain plastic but they don’t need to make them for me anymore now that I have a permanent reusable travel coffee mug. I’ll try and keep it with me at all times!

This very short article here: https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2015/06/the-effects-of-paper-coffee-cups-on-the-environment explains how the amount of power, water, and trees that are used in the production of disposable coffee cups.

Actually, these statistics are alarming:

• 6.5 million trees cut down per year
• enough power for 54,000 homes per year wasted
• 4 billion gallons of water wasted a year

2. SAPLINGS

Around the garden I have found some self-seeded saplings; two cedars, one sycamore and one ash. They have found rather inappropriate places to live! Rather than pull these up for composting these have now been potted up and ready to be transported to a local wood where I will handover to a forester for them to determine a place for them.

Image of Saplings & the trusty Travel Coffee Mug:

3. PORRIDGE IN PLASTIC TUBS

Plastic has entered our world for convenience and plastic is everywhere. I dislike the plastic packaging and will try and cut out more and more foods which are packaged in it.

Most mornings I have skipped breakfast at home in order to pick up a porridge on the go in the city. These porridge breakfasts come in heinous plastic tubs.

Combined with the fact that I am not certain of the health side-effects of food in heating plastic containers – this is a fairly easy convenience I’ve decided to cut out of my life.

I have now substituted the porridge with taking fruit from our fruit bowl instead, and now that seems to be an even more obvious convenient breakfast.

4. 90 SECOND SHOWER

I don’t take baths very often but I do have a daily shower. I hadn’t until recently considered the volume of water used in showers or how much power is being used to heat my shower.

A couple of weeks ago I took a fast shower and timed it for the first time at just over 2 minutes – I did another spot check today and I have this down to 90 seconds – so I’m using 25% less power to heat my shower than I was two weeks ago!

5. AIR DRY CLOTHES

This week the weather has been mixed- all four seasons of weather; sun, rain, wind and cloud. This week I was keen to avoid the use of the tumble dryer – and so this was all about planning – I washed my clothes on Friday night knowing that Saturday was going to be good weather and that the clothes could dry outside in the fresh air and I could save on using the high energy consuming tumble dryer.

These are the first of my marginal gains for the environment documented here……. I’m sure I will be thinking of many more now that I have this in my modus operandi ….

Further Reference:

See Pennsif’s project:
https://steemit.com/five4theplanet/@pennsif/5-things-i-have-done-today-to-help-the-planet-day-014-28-may-19