How to lower my carbon footprint

[mexicanpotato]

On 4/3/2020 at 2:40 PM, Tanwen said:

Cashew nut production has its own dark side

http://twistedfood.co.uk/the-uncomfortable-truth-behind-how-cashew-nuts-are-made/

I didn't know about cashew, good I only bought a little bag once because they're too expensive

[Karst]

If you need to eat animal protein for health reasons, find a store that sells the local stuff.  Transporting food is a major source of pollution.

 

For candles, you can buy ones that are made out of beeswax.  (It doesn't hurt the bees for the keepers to harvest it.)

 

If you have a garden or a similar area of land, plant a tree there.  If that's not an option, there are nonprofits that can do it for you : https://www.arborday.org/

 

Keep your house colder in the winter (less energy spent on heat) and warmer in the summer (less energy spent on A/C).

 

If doing "home improvement" stuff is an option for you, there are various upgrades that can make your house more efficient.

[nanogretchen4]

Cooking tofu doesn't have to be complicated at all. I'm sure you'll see recipes that tell you to press and marinate your tofu and do lots of steps that take hours. What I usually do is cut the block of tofu into six to eight slices. I put a tablespoon or so of oil in a nonstick skillet. If I'm going to make a stirfry I usually use peanut oil. Vegetable oil, coconut oil, or sesame oil would also work. For most other dishes I use olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper over the oil. Then lay the tofu slices flat in the oil, turn the heat to medium, and leave the tofu alone until it is crisp and golden brown on the bottom. The first side takes a while because a lot of water has to boil out of the tofu before it starts to fry in the oil. You will hear a sizzling sound when the frying starts, then give it a few more minutes before you turn it over. The second side will go faster than the first.

 

Once your tofu slices are golden brown on both sides, you can leave them as is or cut them into strips or cubes. I cut them into strips and eat them cold on top of salads that would otherwise have chicken strips. Occasionally I add the strips to a flavorful sauce, like barbecue sauce, and cook only long enough to heat them. For stirfries I make cubes or small triangles if I'm feeling fancy. I add them to the stirfry at the end and toss them just long enough to heat them and coat them in the sauce.

[lapat67]

@Howard You can make your own canned beans from dry beans: soak them, but them in closed jars, then cook them for 20 minutes in a pressure cooker. If any of the jar lids are not vacuum sealed, eat those first, the others last a long time.

 

@Skycaptain My understanding was that you can't run a plane on hydrogen, because it needs high pressure to liquify hydrogen, meaning heavy containers, and with hydrogen having a relatively low energy content, you can't lift both the fuel tank plus the airplane it's in. Someone from Lotus came to give a talk years ago, suggesting that the fuel of choice would be methanol, because you can make it out of woody biomass, it's liquid at room temperature, and has a higher energy content. You can even mix it with petrol or kerosine, making the transition easier.

 

My reading of The limits to growth and it's sequels is, that there's no solution, we can only make the inevitable disaster smaller. 7.8 billion people can't have even the basics of food, shelter, healthcare and education. Let alone that if not everybody has exactly the same, and you don't want the poor to starve, then the sustainable population becomes even smaller.

[njosnavelin]

Turn the lights off in rooms you aren't using. Turn the water off when washing your hands or brushing your teeth. Turn the water off when washing dishes only turn the water on to rinse and wash.  Water is the most precious resource. We got to care for it.  Set the heat down during the winter months 12-15. Set your air conditioner to 27 during the summer months. If you haven't boughten reusable bags go do it. Stores will usually give you 10 cents off for using it. 

 

These are steps RIGHT NOW that can be done.It doesn't have to be huge or monumental. It is all steps

 

Even with people staying in, carbon dioxide is breaking records

 

 

 

[Acing It]

On 3/31/2020 at 6:28 PM, Laurann said:

Vegetarianism (and especially veganism) is the single biggest thing you could individually do for the planet.

I agree with the sentiment but there is a danger that (some) people will think turning vegan is enough. I would argue with the same validity that the single biggest thing you can do for the planet is have fewer children, even though many people have fewer children now. Contentionally, I think having more children than the number to replace yourself is irresponsible in this day and age. But that's just me.

I think all the efforts we make are valuable (but not enough) in reducing our footprint and at the same time being self-critical in what you do and try and do more. I don't have a choice in not driving to work for instance, but I don't fly out to Spain for the weekend (or at all, really) for a bit of fun. It's not because something is cheap to do because of budget airlines that you should do it, or do more of it (flying).

[nanogretchen4]

Grass fed beef is one thing, but most of the meat Americans can buy cheaply in supermarkets is grain fed. There's no way to argue that grain fed beef is not horrible for the environment. First you take all the carbon emissions and water usage involved in growing the grain. Then instead of feeding the grain to humans you feed cattle many pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. Then you add in all the carbon emissions and water usage involved in raising cattle. So for the average American buying meat at a regular supermarket, eating less meat would be an improvement.