Earth Day 2017

[Becky]

Today is Earth Day

It's a good excuse to think about the things we can do to look after our home planet - after all, it's the only one we've got! With an ever increasing population and limited resources we all need to do our bit.

So what can you do? Here are some easy changes you can make.

Eat less meat. Animals requires more resources than plants, so if we all ate a bit less meat our resources would go further.

Plant native plants. Plants that are not native to an area tend to require more resources to help grow than native plants, and can damage local ecosystems. @JBtheExplorer is a strong advocate of planting native plants. Plus bees will thank you for it, and where would we be without them?

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Everyone knows this one, but it's worth reminding ourselves every so often.

If you've got any other handy tips feel free to share them here!

 

[zigs]

Eat less meat - I only eat fish, not land animals.

Plant native plants - I do that along with some more exotic veg.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. - Compost everything, and turn these....

Into these...

Scrap value is £4.20 a kilo at the moment

 

[LIcenter]

I'd like to add one to your excellent list, Becky. This is the time of year when all our yard toys come out of their winter hibernation. One wouldn't think it, but all of these machines are huge polluters. So instead of just pulling them out, and pouring some fuel in. Please make sure you do some simple maintenance procedures before putting them to task. Clean,or replace the air filter,and sparkplug, along with an oil change, followed up with sharpened blades.

 

[zigs]

Oh, my laptop, internet, telly and lights all run off the sun and wind too

Yesterday was the first day since the industrial revolution that the UK wasn't powered by coal

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...coal-free-day-since-the-industrial-revolution

 

[vette-kid]

They just installed 3 huge solar plants in our area, enough to power 18k homes annually. One will just about power our entire town

I'll admit to being a meat eater, but mostly fish chicken and turkey. It's just better for you, although I indulge in a steak once in a while.

I'm not the greenest person around, but we try not to be too wasteful.

 

[Beverly]

Oh yes, i would like to add one to your list Becky. What a good topic! Every house should have at least one rain barrel to capture water for use in the garden, etc. It doesn't have to be fancy. People here say "we don't have a water problem". But the planet has a problem and we are part of the planet (last time i checked). I used to think water barrels would be unsightly, i used to think they would attract mosquitoes, but they aren't and they don't with some preventative measures. I saw an image on TV a couple of times of a small house with a clay tiled roof and the rain pouring down and there was a rain barrel perfectly situated to catch the water and i thought it was one of the most beautiful images i have seen, the kind of image that stays with a person always.

 

[zigs]

I got a girt rain barrel

 

[vette-kid]

I would actually lI've to do a reason barrel, and to compost some of our waste. A large garden to grow our own food would be awesome too...time unfortunately disagrees

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Planting native plants makes a world of difference for the wildlife around you. Native plants also filter chemicals out of rain water, which helps clean up our rivers, ponds, and lakes.

Here's just a few of the creatures that use the habitat I've created for them. I'm looking forward to photographing many, many more over the spring and summer, as well as years to come.

 

[marlingardener]

We've been recycling, reusing, and reducing for years, simply because it makes good common sense. We harvest rain water, make compost, plant native plants and give wildlife a habitat (except for grasshoppers, with whom we are at war), and have vegetable gardens that help support five families.

We eat a lot of fish and chicken/turkey and pork, and very little beef. We haven't figured out why, in the middle of cow country, we can't get a good cut of tender beef. Where is the good beef going? Besides that, we often have vegetarian dinners, simply because we have good things from the garden, and want to enjoy them at their peak.

I'd add one idea to Becky's excellent post--try to keep your footprint on the earth as small as possible. We are part of the planet, but we shouldn't act as if we are the "owners."

 

[Beverly]

What is a girt rain barrel @zigs?

 

[vette-kid]

What is a girt rain barrel @zigs?

I think zigs and i had the same problem. Keyboard not reading our minds! Appearantely you can only edit in a certain window after posting.

 

[Beverly]

@vette-kid...silly keyboards, how can they be so clueless? It is very easy to edit. Under your post there are options Edit Delete and something else, but you only have so much time to do these functions. I think it is 5 minutes, then the options disappear. I got the general idea of what you were saying, but i still would like to know what a girt rain barrel is (@zigs,?). It could be a kind of rain barrel that i do not know about and not necessarily a keyboard error.

According to Wiki, a girt is:
In architecture or structural engineering, a girt is a horizontal structural member in a framed wall. Girts provide lateral support to the wall panel, primarily, to resist wind loads. May also be known as a sheeting rail. A comparable element in roof construction is a purlin.

 

[zigs]

What is a girt rain barrel @zigs?

Sorry, i'd had a few bottles of wine last night. Girt is a westcountry word meaning big or huge

Made a half kilo mold for recycling lead yesterday

 

[Becky]

Some great suggestions, thanks for all the contributions everyone!

Unfortunately at some point in my life I expect that water will become a valuable commodity, and demand will exceed supply in many more areas as time goes on. We all need to do everything we can to try and mitigate this problem, if not for our sake's then for future generations.

Rice is a particularly thirsty crop - potatoes require far less water by comparison, so that's an easy swap to make.