AS and the Environment...

[Jamie]

my wife works for the BBC and works From home a lot - the office seems like a right playpen anyway - they all just sit around talking shite all day 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 12/8/2019 at 7:19 PM, FakeConcern said:

Mrs Concern has just showed this article to me...

 

 

SUVs second biggest cause of emissions rise, figures reveal

If SUV drivers were a nation, they would rank seventh in the world for carbon emissions

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/25/suvs-second-biggest-cause-of-emissions-rise-figures-reveal

I bet a fair few Grauniad readers have SUVs.....

[bigstraight6]

Indeed, it’s the gesture posturing thing so beloved of the middle class, being concerned and vocal about climate change while using a huge great troop carrier to take the kids to school.

[barefoot]

I work from home and find that by structuring regular wank breaks into my daily regime, I get tasks finished much quicker. It's a carrot based approach. 

[sierraman]

As much as I moan sometimes I just HAVE to get up and out of the house in a morning. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, barefoot said:

.... by structuring regular wank breaks into my daily regime, I get tasks finished much quicker. It's a carrot based approach. 

Low-hanging fruit?

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

As much as I moan sometimes I just HAVE to get up and out of the house in a morning. 

I have a dog.

[UltraWomble]

On 12/1/2019 at 10:56 PM, FakeConcern said:

is it better to keep things as long as possible, maintaining and repairing as necessary

Yes.

The 

[HMC]

Odd as it sounds but those people that hoard loads of cars and do nothing with them (ie leave them to rot and we all say what a shame) are probably the most environmentally sound as they block people from driving (polluting) with them, yet avoid the material and energy costs of reprocessing mixed waste scrap. They also prevent them being restored and used (more raw material consumption and pollution later ) 

Large numbers of cars frozen in stasis. Once in a while they might flog a few spares from their vast bank that keep another older car from the crusher; and the resultant reprocessing.

Yes IMO basically the hoarders are the most environmentally sound older car people on a purely dispassionate level.

[somewhatfoolish]

On 1/10/2020 at 10:22 AM, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Low-hanging fruit?

I'm pretty sure carrots are vegetables, although being root veg they are quite low down.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

18 hours ago, HMC said:

Odd as it sounds but those people that hoard loads of cars and do nothing with them (ie leave them to rot and we all say what a shame) are probably the most environmentally sound as they block people from driving (polluting) with them, yet avoid the material and energy costs of reprocessing mixed waste scrap. They also prevent them being restored and used (more raw material consumption and pollution later ) 

Large numbers of cars frozen in stasis. Once in a while they might flog a few spares from their vast bank that keep another older car from the crusher; and the resultant reprocessing.

Yes IMO basically the hoarders are the most environmentally sound older car people on a purely dispassionate level.

What about the contamination of the land that the hoarded cars are rotting back into?

[Lacquer Peel]

On 1/10/2020 at 8:25 AM, Tadhg Tiogar said:

I bet a fair few Grauniad readers have SUVs.....

[HMC]

2 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

What about the contamination of the land that the hoarded cars are rotting back into?

I guess it depends how these vehicles are stored in this hypothetical hoard: assuming worst case - a field I assume it depends if fuel and or oil contaminate the water table.  Then how you view other vehicle constituents in their decomposition and if and how that affects the site.  Good point.

[BorniteIdentity]

On 1/10/2020 at 7:48 PM, HMC said:

Odd as it sounds but those people that hoard loads of cars and do nothing with them (ie leave them to rot and we all say what a shame) are probably the most environmentally sound as they block people from driving (polluting) with them, yet avoid the material and energy costs of reprocessing mixed waste scrap. They also prevent them being restored and used (more raw material consumption and pollution later ) 

Large numbers of cars frozen in stasis. Once in a while they might flog a few spares from their vast bank that keep another older car from the crusher; and the resultant reprocessing.

Yes IMO basically the hoarders are the most environmentally sound older car people on a purely dispassionate level.

I also fucking LOVE people who do this - because it makes the mouth breathers on FB so, SO mad.

”Wot a waist m9” 

Makes my day. Sometimes when I want to mix it up I just find a picture of a slightly down at heel Fast Ford and put it on a “spotted” Facebook group. “Won’t sell - messer” and it all kicks off. 

[willswitchengage]

On 1/10/2020 at 7:48 PM, HMC said:

Odd as it sounds but those people that hoard loads of cars and do nothing with them (ie leave them to rot and we all say what a shame) are probably the most environmentally sound as they block people from driving (polluting) with them, yet avoid the material and energy costs of reprocessing mixed waste scrap. They also prevent them being restored and used (more raw material consumption and pollution later ) 

Large numbers of cars frozen in stasis. Once in a while they might flog a few spares from their vast bank that keep another older car from the crusher; and the resultant reprocessing.

Yes IMO basically the hoarders are the most environmentally sound older car people on a purely dispassionate level.

Have you spotted a particular car that you want the owner to put on ebay?

[BorniteIdentity]

Thought I'd bump this thread up as it's pretty interesting and I've started to take a bloody good, long look at my life over the last few months.  

It started with me trying to simplify.  I literally have too much stuff.  Whatever I have, I generally have too many of them.  Microphones in my home studio?  Too many.  Cars on my driveway?  Too many.  Clothes, too many.  So I started sticking stuff at the end of my driveway saying "Free to a good or even crap home".  It was great to see so much useable stuff not end up in the ground.

Now, as I look at the jobs I need to do around the house, I'm looking at ways of minimising impact.  I need to make two service doors to my garage, and will do this from reclaimed wood.  It won't look perfect and that's exactly the point.  I appreciate that I'm hardly Robinson Crusoe here, but once upon a time I'd just have bought new ones.

For an entire generation or three, all we've known is consumerism.  We make ourselves feel better - and even reinforce our so called 'place' in life - buy buying stuff.  Now, none of us can single handedly fix the problems this planet faces.  There'll be 10 Billion people by the year 2050.  But the little stuff makes you feel a bit better, makes you feel good for beating the system, and you start to build a life that has a story.  

  I once went an entire year without buying anything new other than food, underwear and bog roll - it was simultaneously difficult and easy.  I think I might do it again.

[MikeR]

I have a pile of unwanted bricks , sandstone bricks , drain tubes , flower pots and a couple of parking cones piled in my front garden that are providing a refuge

for many insects that now find life difficult thanks to the paved over front gardens ...etc

in the back we have a pile of roofing tiles doing the same .......

however we have noticed since the clearing of the field over the back for new builds we have had far less flies in the house during the harvesting ....not even the little fiddly ones have turned up this year .

 

[chris667]

We're doing a lot of building work on our home this year.

As there are builders walking all over the place, I've not done any garden maintenance.

The increase in wildlife that has taken refuge here is a real sight.

Keeping my hedges untidy from now on.

I have never been into a neat bush, I prefer something big and messy.

[ETCHY]

One of the big things we need to do to help the environment is fix things. Instead of buying shiny new shit imported from god knows where, fix what you have. That way stuff also doesn't go into landfill or have to be recycled (there's an environmental impact with recycling too)

Trouble is a lot of new stuff ain't made to be fixed easily and also a lot of folk (despite often being really vocal about the "environment"), still want shiny new shit or want you to continue to buy shiny new shit..

[Dyslexic Viking]

I'm not an environmentalist myself but I do my part. I have a very low material consumption. Have never used a plane and do what I can. My main car a 2017 Hyundai i10 eco is one of the most environmentally friendly fossil cars ever made and I will keep it alive as long as possible hoping for at least 20+ years. And then I have older cars as a hobby. I always try and buy quality in everything I buy and try and fix things and keep it alive for as long as possible. Also buys a lot of used things like furniture. I also have a slightly old-fashioned and frugal mindset that is the cause of much of this. Have taken some climate calculators and I have well below average Europeans in emissions something I am happy with.

[BorniteIdentity]

19 minutes ago, ETCHY said:

One of the big things we need to do to help the environment is fix things. Instead of buying shiny new shit imported from god knows where, fix what you have. That way stuff also doesn't go into landfill or have to be recycled (there's an environmental impact with recycling too)

Trouble is a lot of new stuff ain't made to be fixed easily and also a lot of folk (despite often being really vocal about the "environment"), still want shiny new shit or want you to continue to buy shiny new shit..

There's a good thread over on TDW called - from memory - "Not from c*nt*ng China" and is a good list of people who make stuff...with their hands... here in Great Britain.  I bought a couple of T shirts from a fella in Wales and they're really nice actually!

This built in obsolescence must be dealt with though.  The amount of toasters and kettles we go through is absurd; I'd say a one of each every two years.  If someone sold me something modular then I'd gladly buy it.  My headphones, for example, are completely modular.  You can buy everything separately - headband, muffs, liners, leads, the lot.  Why can't I buy other stuff like that?  

What I am pleased to see is 'Pop up repair shops' starting to appear, where you can take stuff along and people with the expertise have a go.  We have one here in our village; largely doing clothes repairs and alterations but there's also a guy who knows his onions with "stuff".  I'm going to ask the lady to make me a jumper this year out of Lavenham Blue wool (from my beloved Suffolk buh) because - well - wtf not?!  Better than some old shit coming from the Far East.

[New POD]

34 minutes ago, MikeR said:

I have a pile of unwanted bricks , sandstone bricks , drain tubes , flower pots and a couple of parking cones piled in my front garden that are providing a refuge

for many insects that now find life difficult thanks to the paved over front gardens ...etc

in the back we have a pile of roofing tiles doing the same .......

however we have noticed since the clearing of the field over the back for new builds we have had far less flies in the house during the harvesting ....not even the little fiddly ones have turned up this year .

 

Those flies ? Thet have moved into my new kitchen.

Our street, 24, 1966 whimpey built semis, has had 2 years of renovation on one house followed by another. Barely one house untouched i reckon. 

The old bloke Fred, died, and his relatives had 6 skips. The builder that bought it has had 3 skips plus a lorry to remove the front garden. 

Next door but one either side, had skips earlier in the year. We've had a skip for the old kitchen, and next door had a skip for a new bathroom. Within a week of each other. There's a house at the end of the cul-de-sac that has been gutted, and had 4 skips and 2 lorries for the side garden where they are building an extension. 

I reckon the rest of the road had had another 10 skips since lockdown began. 

I managed to Give a cooker and a freezer away, and sell a fridge. 

Someone in a white van took the broken washing machine. 

I'm looking at the use if my omega over the last 5 years and reckon, I could have leased a new 5 seat car to do those 70K, FOR LESS than the cost of the difference in fuel I could have saved. 

I have repaired a tumble dryer, and fixed up an old bike, whilst taking another to the tip. 

 

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

The whole environmental movement focuses on the wrong things. Had we all gone back to a lifestyle that we had back in time with low material consumption sensible purchases and quality in the things we bought, it would have helped a lot. I well remember my grandparents first fridge it lasted for over 40 years and could have been fixed.

[loserone]

3 minutes ago, New POD said:

We've had a skip for the old kitchen,

I managed to Give a cooker and a freezer away, and sell a fridge. 

Someone in a white van took the broken washing machine. 

Our place had just had a new kitchen "fitted" when we moved in.   We sold it on facebook and I used two 140 year old 2x3s from the wall in our old house to make a stand for a 100+ year old sink we bought for a fiver ten years ago.  Spent some of the rest of the money we got for the old kitchen on a fridge and a second hand welsh dresser, plus some timber from which I made a farmhouse style table and some worktop, and one IKEA wall cabinet.   When that fails I'll remake it from actual wood.

 

The old kitchen had been put in the shed and was damp and ruined.  No solid wood anywhere.  I loaded it up into the pug and took it to tip in one go.

 

 

The thread on TDW is dangereaux.  I nearly dropped £200 at Netherton Foundry.

[BorniteIdentity]

8 minutes ago, loserone said:

I used two 140 year old 2x3s from the wall in our old house to make a stand for a 100+ year old sink we bought for a fiver ten years ago.  Spent some of the rest of the money we got for the old kitchen on a fridge and a second hand welsh dresser, plus some timber from which I made a farmhouse style table and some worktop, and one IKEA wall cabinet.   When that fails I'll remake it from actual wood.

That's how you make a home, Ladies and Gents.

[loserone]

Yeah, but I'm using a 31 year old carb fed 205 as the only car* for a family of five, with three under 5.   Think of the unburned fuel!

 

*12 miles from a takeaway, 2 miles from a small shop, 20 miles from a supermarket, 25 miles from a hospital.

[Rust Collector]

2 hours ago, MikeR said:

I have a pile of unwanted bricks , sandstone bricks , drain tubes , flower pots and a couple of parking cones piled in my front garden that are providing a refuge

for many insects that now find life difficult thanks to the paved over front gardens ...etc

in the back we have a pile of roofing tiles doing the same .......

however we have noticed since the clearing of the field over the back for new builds we have had far less flies in the house during the harvesting ....not even the little fiddly ones have turned up this year .

 

I'm lazy and messy by nature, so clearing up after a job is the worst part for me and so often I delay doing it until it absolutely cannot be avoided 😅 Last summer I replaced the felt on the roof of the shed, what was left of the old stuff and some offcuts from the new stuff was thrown down from the roof to the floor next to a trailer chassis (that I absolutely definitely will get round to finishing but just not today 😅) into a small pile ready for cleanup. I didn't have enough to warrant a tip run and the trailer is in a secluded corner by my pallet composter monstrosity, so I left it for a day when I had more stuff to load up to make the trip worthwhile. This summer I was having a tidy up, and reckoned I should probably move the trailer to trim the triffids that were growing through it. I picked up the felt which was still waiting for the tip run and was greeted by one large slow worm and several small ones. The felt went back down and I've left that corner be, I'm assuming they like it as the sun heats the felt and works like a heat pad for them, and the long grass and wild plants mean there's plenty of insects for them to eat there. We've also stopped cutting back the parts of the garden we don't use and let the wild plants do their things along the borders, it all seems to have found some balance now and like you say the difference in fauna is incredible. My neighbours probably think I'm a pikey when they peer over my fence and see stuff like that, but the wildlife seems to like it and I like having wildlife around more than I like having neighbours/doing gardening and tidying so I shan't be changing how we maintain the garden any time soon! 😆

[mintwth]

2 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

The amount of toasters and kettles we go through is absurd

The old style dualit toasters are fairly modular, there's not much in them that can't be replaced/fixed if/when it breaks. 

[bezzabsa]

Pushbikes.......why do I see scrapmen with virtually new pushbikes thrown on the back? are they truly this throwaway??

Yet at the same time due to covid folk were selling bikes at £50-£500, yet scrapmen were still carting round piles of bikes!!

[chris667]

On 1/10/2020 at 8:34 AM, bigstraight6 said:

Indeed, it’s the gesture posturing thing so beloved of the middle class, being concerned and vocal about climate change while using a huge great troop carrier to take the kids to school.