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justdictatorshipthings · 4 years

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Do more

There is a tendency in our society to blame other for problems and to not contribute at all to fixing the problem. In the case of climate change, we actually could do more, even if the government doesn’t want to. Complaining is only going to get you so far. So here is a list of ways to help create a better future, rather than running in to problems and trying to fix them. At that point its already too late.

If everyone did at least one of these things, it wouldn’t matter what the government does or doesn’t do.

- Plant trees, and flowers for our bees. The means that there will be even more plants in the long term as bees and butterflies are responsible for propagating plants..There is a lot to be said about what to plant. Things like spider plants take up little space but can photosynthesize a lot more than plants that are much bigger. Australian native plants have high levels of pollen and require little water.

- Use high octane fuel every once in a while to clean you engine to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible. Car maintenance is important for the environment also. A car that isn’t well looked after is much less efficient then the same car that has been looked after. A car is a privilege and it should be seen as such.

- Take public transport more, use your car only when necessary. If you are going to take an Uber, use the option to share your ride when possible. Otherwise everything from electric scooters to bikes are convenient ways of traveling.I like parking a fair distance from where i have to go and walking. It doesn’t make much of a difference but it is healthier for you.

- Recycle, make sure what goes in to the bin is recycled. You don’t have to worry about cleaning it. Its more efficient to let the people in charge of recycling clean it (obviously don’t be lazy and leave a whole pizza in a box). But this only works if they get only materials that can be recycled. So always be sure to not put trash in your recycling.

- Make compost, its so easy, even if you give it to someone else that has a garden. Biodegradable waste won’t return to nature if it ends up in landfill. It will probably be buried in an airtight container to prevent any leaking of hazardous materials. Because people put too much dangerous stuff in their trash.

- Travel less, its good for the economy to take holidays in your own country, your money won’t go as far as in other countries, but it may make your own country a nicer place to be.

- Write letters to companies, governments, or any one that will listen about their irresponsible practices. I think in the case of the plastic bag ban, which has made Coles and Woolworths some $71 million in profit. It shows you that even if there is more money in doing good. Unless we push companies to do it, they won’t.

- Dim your TV, computer screens and everything else. Its amazing how much difference to your energy bill this will make over a year.

- Unplug appliances at the power board. Most people don’t realize those plug packs like that on your phone uses, are always on and using energy even when they aren’t charging your phone. The general rule is, if it has a light, it is also using energy.

- Use less air-conditioning, especially when in the car. It is amazing how much energy it uses. You are better off not having anything connected to the cigarette lighters also unless you are actually charging a device. This won’t make as much difference as the air con though. Even in the most efficient of cars (actually especially in efficient cars) it can double your fuel consumption. Sweating is healthy for you, just not practical in every situation. The same goes for stereos and other electronics connected to your car.

- Turn off your phone when you aren’t using it, so many people leave their phones on at night, if you need it to wake up its one thing. but even then you could put it in to airplane mode (or buy a really efficient alarm clock). Some phones will actually turn on for alarms, which should give you an idea of the fact that nothing is really off these days.

- Always make sure your washing machine is full, never do a small load, the older your washing machine is the more true this is. Few washing machines regulate the power going to the motor, so the consumption is the same for a small load as much as a large one.

- Sponsor animals before they become endangered. This ensures that in an emergency, they will be looked after when it matters. Rather than when its too late. Visit wild life parks that help animals, learn about them. Having a connection to the world around you makes it easier to remember why to care about it.

- Avoid anything smart. When you think about it, smart light bulbs are a light, that is connected to a mini computer running an always on server. While convenient, at times this extra functionality uses more electricity than it will ever save.

- Prepare your shopping in advanced, eat before you do it. That way you will be able to make as few trips to the supermarket as possible. While you are there, avoid anything packaged where possible, buy more veggies and less meat.

- If you can afford to, collect rainwater. Its always handy and its not expensive to set up. In fact concessions should be given to people who do collect their own rain water. Otherwise it just gets wasted. Councils should probably sell rain water collection tanks at pumps at cost. More people would have them if they did this. This would reduce the burden on our water system.

- While there has been a big push for solar, consider wind. Modern wind turbines for homes aren’t that bad looking. Efforts are still being made to make them look like works of futurist art. This will continue. If you live in the bottom half of Australia, you will generate more electricity this way than with solar.

- Avoid streaming where possible, any thing cloud related is also bad. This requires ridiculous amounts of energy, and grows every year. The past few years has seen more data stored than all the other years that came before it combined. This is a waste, in any way you can, avoid using these types of services. Peer 2 peer networks are probably more efficient, because they don’t require the peak demand capacity that cloud services do. An example would be to download your favorite Spotify tracks rather than always streaming them. Watch free to air TV first. Store everything on local hard drives.

- Limit how many pets you have. Where possible source sustainable food for them. Kangaroo meat has to be one of the most sustainable meats in the world. Its very healthy and from my experience all pets love it. You can buy it in bulk and in some cases without packaging.

- There is so much inefficiency in our materialist world. For example horizontal fridges are much more efficient than vertical ones. While it may not be practical for everyone, there is always a more efficient alternative if you can afford it and it suits your needs.

- Avoid upgrading technology as much as possible. Buy a product that has a long life to begin with. I usually spend a little extra on my computers, not for performance reasons, they are actually pretty slow (aka efficient) computers. But they are made of quality components that last. I use my computers professionally, they are both 6 years old. An upgrade would be me spoiling myself, but the truth is they still give me everything I need. This is a relatively new thing, which is why so many people believe that technology has a shorter lifespan than it does. Chances are if you have a slow computer, it needs to be serviced, such as putting new thermal compound on the fan, removing the dust, or clean installing the operating system. Speed advancements in technology haven’t been happening as much as they used to, in most cases its smaller and more efficient, but not faster.

- A recent MIT study found that buying online is more efficient. When you think about the amount of energy that goes in to the climate control systems of large stores. Then the driving to and from these places. Where possible, buy online, have it shipped using standard (non express shipping). The amount of times i have paid for express and not needed that quickly is ridiculous.

- Use nature to its best advantage. I always have a lot of plants around where i live to help reduce the strain the weather causes on the internal house temperatures. Its annoying that its not a widely accepted concept, but some councils will issue grants for plants on roofs or walls. They are a really good form of insulation from both hot and cold.

- Old heating and cooking systems are pretty efficient, as they served the purpose of both heat and cooking. you can still buy these systems, they have been modernized a bit. Though if more companies made combined heating and cooking appliances, combined washing and toilet facilities, etc. These save a lot of money over time. Even just in commercial premises where this would be more practical.

- Fuck grass. Seriously, that low level turf is an outdated sign of status. The whole point of it was that you had so much space, you could devote it to nothing, that’s how privileged you are. But its so common here. If you were to replace it with big lush native grasses. It would not only look better (because some of them grow up to two meters and look amazing), but it would make an enormous difference to the environment, both in terms of reducing pollution and in the amount of water it uses.

- If you are terrible with plants, a brown thumb as they call it. Plant succulents. All you have to do, is find someone that has one, ask for them to break you off a piece, and stick it in the ground, preferably where it won’t get sunlight all day if you don’t want to have to water them. That’s it, they will grow, if you water them once a week they will grow faster. Its better than nothing and some of the colours and flowers they grow makes them an attractive alternative.

- I don’t have undercover parking, so i throw a cheap tarp over the car. It looks like i am hiding in the jungle from air raids, but the reality is it keeps the car cool so i don’t need to crank up the air-con when i leave. A tarp is much easier than those annoying reflector thing on your windshield. Though if you have the 150$ spare, its worth getting at least 50% window tinting on your car. It usually comes with a life time warranty. It will pay itself off in terms of the car looking new for longer and all by using less air condition.

- Plan your garden beds. Put a water proof material underneath them, then stones above this material. What this does is create a natural reservoir that stores rain water underneath the roots. You will water more than 50% less which is a great productivity gain. There are also ways to create impressive gardens that need to be watered 3 times a year. This is worth researching.

- Start a harvest collective. If you can grow one vegetable better than others, don’t wast your time growing other plants. Just grow that, then encourage your friends to grow something else. You can then share your harvests rather than having to plant lots of different things. Growing at home is good for so many reasons. Also use organic seaweed fertilizers, they are amazing.

- Its amazing how much energy a Sunday roast uses to cook. Then there is the whole thing that the air quality in your home actually hits toxic levels, because fat is essentially a fuel that is burning while your roast cooks. So even if you eat meat, there is ways to do this in a more sustainable fashion.

- This is why i recommend convection ovens, aka air “fryers”. They are just much smaller and efficient electric ovens. They require no time to heat up, and will usually cook items in less time. In probably 80% of cases, if i need to heat up something or cook it from frozen, i can do it in an air “fryer”.

- Natural pools are the best. This is where you use plants and nature to clean your pool rather than using chemicals. Yes its a little more like swimming in a lake, but if its done the right way its actually healthier than swimming in chlorine. Its also good for the environment. Great advancements have been made in this field, you should google it if you are considering a pool, or would like to stop using chemicals on an existing one.

- Eat seasonally. Its not that hard to look for what is cheap. Supermarkets aren’t great at this but green grocers will have more variety. Its important for biodiversity to grow as many different species as possible. So buying different varieties of your favorites is not only healthy for you, but its good for the environment.

- Its sad that due to the industrialization of our agriculture system, fruit and vegetables are grown to look good and last in storage. What they aren’t grown to be is tasty any more, because there is no way you can fake that. This is why i recommend farmers markets and organic, its a lot easier to finish your vegetables when they taste the way nature intended them to. Trust me on this one, we hate fruit and vegetables so much, we see them as a chore, because over the last 100 years we have systematically killed their taste.

- Then of course there is the whole, plants aren’t going to taste as nice as something made in a lab that is designed to maximize the reaction by your taste receptors.This is why you should avoid process foods because their alter your taste buds, and make it harder to enjoy nature. Just like our phones do to our bodies. Just like air condition does to going outside.

I’m sure there are plenty more, please feel free to add any ideas in to the comments section.

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