c/climate-action

Showerthought: My kid asked why we still buy bottled water for soccer games.

He pointed out we already have 24 reusable bottles in the garage, and that one comment made me realize how much plastic waste was just habit. Anyone have a good system for managing team drinks without the single-use bottles?

Question about the $500 I put into a home energy audit last fall

The guy found a ton of air leaks around my windows and doors (which I never would have spotted myself). After sealing them up with some basic caulk and weather stripping, my heating bill dropped by almost 30% this winter. Has anyone else done an audit and been surprised by what they found?

Showerthought: My old neighborhood block party used to be a sea of plastic cups

Honestly, we tried using compostable ones last year and only about half ended up in the green bin, the rest got mixed in with trash. Has anyone else found a good way to get a whole group to actually sort stuff right?

Showerthought: I realized my 'green' lawn was actually a huge water waste after seeing the bill jump $80 this summer.

I was watering my Kentucky bluegrass for an hour every other day until my neighbor, a retired botanist, pointed out that a single patch of clover uses 75% less water and helps the bees.

PSA: My old gas mower died last week and I borrowed my neighbor's electric one

Honestly, it was so much quieter and easier, I'm never going back. Has anyone else switched and found a good model under $400?

My town's new composting pickup vs. my own backyard bin

Our city in Oregon started a curbside compost program last month for $8 extra on the utility bill. I had to choose between paying for that or just keeping my own backyard bin. I went with the city pickup because they take meat and dairy, which my bin can't handle. It's been three weeks and my trash bag is half the size, but I'm still not sure if the cost is worth it for a single person. Anyone else try a new service like this and have thoughts?

Tried to get my apartment building to switch to LED bulbs in the common areas and it turned into a whole thing.

The creek behind my house looks completely different now

When I moved here in 2018, the creek was mostly dry and choked with trash. Our neighborhood group organized cleanups and planted native shrubs along the banks, and after about three years, the water flows all year and we see birds again. Has anyone else seen a local spot come back to life like this?

Question about the push for all electric cars in my town

At our city council meeting last Tuesday, they voted to ban new gas stations, but when I asked where the extra power for all these cars would come from, the mayor just said 'the grid will handle it' which seems like a huge oversight for a plan that affects 15,000 people.

Update: I switched from a gas mower to a push reel for my yard in Denver

My old mower died last spring, and I had to choose between a new $400 gas model or a $120 manual push reel. I went with the reel, and my 1/4 acre lot takes 45 minutes now, but it's quiet and smells like cut grass. Anyone else make a switch like this and have tips for keeping the blades sharp?

I chose to replace my gas mower with an electric one this spring, even though it cost $50 more upfront. The quiet is nice, but I'm not sure about the battery life yet.

I thought those 'green' laundry strips were just overpriced marketing, but after using Earth Breeze for 3 months, my electric bill dropped $12.

I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but I was totally skeptical until I saw the actual numbers and realized how much less energy my washer uses without heavy liquid detergent, so has anyone else tried a switch that actually saved money?

I finally tried to build my own rain barrel system from scratch

I spent about $80 on plastic barrels, connectors, and a spigot kit I found online. The whole thing leaked like crazy for two weeks straight, and I lost probably 300 gallons of water before I gave up and bought a proper one. My neighbor saw the mess and just shook his head. Has anyone else tried a DIY setup and found a kit that actually works without the hassle?

Appreciation post: My town's new bike lanes vs the old bus route debate

Our city council spent $50,000 on a study comparing adding protected bike lanes downtown to just increasing bus frequency on one main road. The data showed the bike lanes would cut more emissions long-term because they got way more people out of cars for good, not just for one trip. Which do you think is a better use of limited funds for a small city, infrastructure that changes habits or improving existing public transit?

My whole block's power went out for a day and it made me realize how much we waste

We had to cook everything in the fridge on the grill, used candles, and talked to neighbors instead of watching TV, which showed me how much energy our normal 'standby' life uses without us even noticing, so has anyone else had an outage that changed their habits?

My compost pile was a cold, wet mess for almost two months

I followed a basic guide online and just threw all my food scraps and yard waste together, expecting it to heat up. It never did, it just sat there soggy and gross. I finally figured out the problem was the balance, or really the lack of it. I had way too many wet greens like vegetable peels and not nearly enough dry browns like leaves or shredded paper. After I spent a weekend gathering and shredding a bunch of cardboard and dried leaves to mix in, it finally started working properly about a week later. Has anyone else had to completely rebuild their compost because the mix was off?

Rant: I used to blast the AC all summer in Phoenix, but my $300 electric bill last July was the wake-up call.

Now I keep it at 78 degrees and use fans, which cut my bill almost in half and feels fine once you get used to it. Anyone have other cheap tricks for staying cool without cranking the AC?

Just read a report on old fridges and the numbers are wild

I was looking at an energy audit guide from my local utility company. It said a fridge from the 1990s can use over 1,000 kWh a year. A new, efficient one uses about 400. That's a huge drop I never really thought about. It made me check the sticker on my own kitchen fridge. It's from 2005. I guess the small wins really do add up over time. Has anyone else done a simple check like this and been surprised?

Vent: I keep hearing people say planting a tree is the best thing you can do for the planet

I volunteered with a city reforestation project in Tacoma for two years. We planted hundreds of saplings, but the real work was the three years of watering and invasive species removal after. People buy a sapling, stick it in the ground, and call it a day. Without that follow-up care, most of them just die. Has anyone else seen a local project fail because of this?

The week my neighbor and I finally got our street to try a 'no mow May'

It was last spring, and I convinced the guy next door to leave his lawnmower in the shed for the whole month. By the second week, we had five other houses on our block in Ohio joining in. The best part was seeing all the clover and little flowers popping up where there was just plain grass before. Has anyone else tried something like this and did you get any pushback from a homeowners' association?

My old neighborhood block party used to be all about grilling and plastic cups

We tried to make it zero waste last year and the big problem was finding a local farm that would take our food scraps for compost. I called around for what felt like ages, maybe two months, before a place in the next county over finally said yes. It took way longer than I thought to just figure out where the waste would go. Has anyone else had a hard time setting up composting for a big group event?

I tried to fix my old bike instead of buying a new one

The chain kept slipping and I thought it would be a quick 30 minute fix. It turned into a three hour project because I had to learn how to adjust the derailleur limits from a YouTube video. I felt so proud when I finally got it rolling smoothly again! Has anyone else saved something from the landfill with a simple repair?

I used to think recycling my plastic bottles was enough, but a friend in Portland pointed out my old SUV was the real problem.

My town's power went out for a full day during a heatwave

It was 102 degrees in Phoenix last Thursday, and our whole block lost electricity from noon until midnight. We had to use a battery pack to keep a fan going and ended up talking with neighbors outside instead of blasting the AC. What's your backup plan for staying cool without cranking the power?

My neighbor in Flagstaff taught me about the old fire patterns

I was helping an older guy, Frank, clear some brush from his property line last spring. He pointed to a stand of ponderosa pines and said, 'See the spacing? That's from the low burns we had before they started putting every fire out. Now the fuel load is triple what it was in '85.' It stuck with me because he wasn't just talking theory, he was showing me the actual trees. Has anyone else had a local show them a clear sign of how the land has changed?