Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Environmentally unfriendly regrets

Crunchy - was back-reading some of your posts and ...

2010-07-03T18:35:34.638-07:00

Crunchy - was back-reading some of your posts and just had to comment on this one re the draino:

About one every few weeks I pour baking soda down the sink, with a wee bit of warm water. Follow by a generous amount of vinegar, and a pot of boiling water. Every so often (few weeks) it keeps the sinks cleaned out and decreased the amout of draino needed. And it's super fun to watch all the bubbles!

Hope that helps!

There are a lot of things we'd like to change/...

2010-06-17T10:24:33.630-07:00

There are a lot of things we'd like to change/upgrade that I don't have much control over, so I don't regret those. However, I made a big mistake when we bought a refrigerator a few years ago! What we really wanted was a SunFrost...they're these super efficient, life time guaranteed, fridges that can be used in a solar powered house, or converted to run on gas (and one day we want to make biogas), but they cost as much as my car. So instead we went to Home Depot which offers a different set of features to choose from and in all the excitement of being able to buy a fridge with a freezer on the bottom (which I love), we bought a fridge that is way too big...and I don't really need a freezer at all since we have an upright freezer in the garage. One day we'll get a SunFrost but we could have done so much better with our "in the meantime" fridge.

I feel your drain pain. I couldn't stand to us...

2010-06-14T12:42:19.118-07:00

I feel your drain pain. I couldn't stand to use Draino any longer so I googled like hell. What finally worked for me was a combo of the vinegar + baking soda, then plunge the clog like hell, repeat until clear. I think also the key is doing it once or twice a month as a preventative. Good luck!

Disposable diapers for my twins and the minivan to...

2010-06-01T07:35:09.922-07:00

Disposable diapers for my twins and the minivan to put my three girls (who all need carseats) in. The plus-side to the minivan, however, is that we rarely drive it and use our Prius for errand-running and other trips that don't involve taking everyone.

There is no plus-side to the diapers. I just can't manage any more laundry.

My house is 4400 square feet. It originally was a...

2010-06-01T06:47:57.001-07:00

My house is 4400 square feet. It originally was about 1400 but we "inherited" my three disabled brothers in 1998 so did a massive add-on and redo. I, in the throes of a crisis, got caught up in it along with my husband. While we definitely needed more room we didn't need this much. Fast forward 10 years and my brothers have all moved to group home (something we did not foresee to happen that quickly - and yes 10 years is quick) and now it's just my husband and I in this large house. We can't sell it now in this market and as we have a small farm I am very unhappy at the prospect of leaving something we have built up over 20 years - including our good soil.

So many! What comes to mind- * Our car gets crap ...

2010-05-31T22:27:48.227-07:00

So many! What comes to mind-

* Our car gets crap gas mileage (subaru forester-20-22mpg). We are a 1-car family so I justify it that way... but not really. I haven't been taking the bus as much as I used to and could.
* The amount of waste I generate in 1 shift as a nurse. Unavoidable for the most part, but I cringe all day long at all the plastic I toss.

Driving everywhere. We live in a small town/rural...

2010-05-31T04:55:48.575-07:00

Driving everywhere. We live in a small town/rural village, in a valley between two small mountains. I just can't wrap my head around riding my bike with the kid trailer loaded with 70 lbs of weight up and down those insane hills to go to the farmer's market. So we drive.

and worse still, plane trips.

To avoid 4 16 hour drives from Nova Scotia to Ontario to deliver and retreive the kids from their summer visit to their dad's we're sending them by plane.

Long hot showers, and my hairdye...oh please dont ...

2010-05-30T18:11:42.154-07:00

Long hot showers, and my hairdye...oh please dont take away my hairdye

I stopped letting my husband use drano, so he unsc...

2010-05-30T00:12:38.066-07:00

I stopped letting my husband use drano, so he unscrews the drain thing and takes it out, and there is always a giant clog of hair he just throws away. Works every time.

My biggest guilt inducer is that I shop online for a lot of clothes, because I hate shopping and malls and driving, and those clothes are always individually wrapped in plastic bags. I hate it. But I hate shopping for clothes more.

Sure I'm a farmer's wife with 2 boys who d...

2010-05-29T13:48:49.835-07:00

Sure I'm a farmer's wife with 2 boys who drives an suv too much, uses plastic (never even thought about straws) and I love shopping. We live in a modern world, and though we strive to change ourselves to break the conventions we have to accept that there are some things that are unavoidable. Sure I have things I don't like, but usually they are tied to affordability, availability, and time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm more environmentally responsible than 95% people in our area. I could go on about all the things we do. I'm just going to keep looking forward instead of backward. Next time, I'll do better!

Carbon footprint: Traveling, so far this year we&...

2010-05-29T05:50:28.516-07:00

Carbon footprint:

Traveling, so far this year we've been to New Zealand, Spain and Moab (drove). In a week we're driving down to Santa Fe for a conference (vacation for me :o)). That's a lot of air miles! We do bike to work and live in a bike friendly community. I'm biking to my community garden plot and the farmers market this AM.

I love NZ sauvignon blancs, that's a lot of miles for my wine to travel! If there were comparable American sauvies I'd buy them.

It broke 100F in Tucson, AZ today, and I still bik...

2010-05-28T19:44:07.896-07:00

It broke 100F in Tucson, AZ today, and I still biked to and from work. Regret: driving the other 4 days.

I'll echo the other thoughts on plastic - I'm trying.

I also feel bad about buying something new at Target, but I also feel bad driving around to 5 different second hand stores looking for something specific (which they won't have, so I'd have to make return trips when all I need is a bookshelf).

Lastly: electricity use. I'm doing fine without AC, but ceiling fans, lights and the bf using the dryer and play station doesn't help. I'm turning off the computer now...

Have you tried the "Hey Tom Drain Cannon"...

2010-05-28T19:04:17.173-07:00

Have you tried the "Hey Tom Drain Cannon" from www.flylady.net? THey're clearing them out right now! They have a video on YouTube that's funny.
For mold, I leave my shower curtain open till the tiles are dry. Once in awhile I do a bit of diluted bleach as a spray.
You bought a patio set from Wal-Mart that lasted 3 years? I think that's pretty impressive for Wal-Mart, LOL.

I'm still thinking about my environmental regrets. All that pressure treated wood for our deck? And that I let my husband take the scrap to my dad's acerage to use as fill?

1) Driving. My commute is 2.5 hrs roundtrip betwe...

2010-05-28T15:53:43.479-07:00

1) Driving. My commute is 2.5 hrs roundtrip between home, daycare, and work. All will change next month, but still it's been like this for a year. And my Outback gets 23 mpg.

2) The 25 bag of flour I buy from Costco is from ConAgra (shudders). I can't find organic or even non-evil flour in bulk that doesn't require me to sell my first born. We're on a TIGHT budget, so I suck it up and eat my bread made with devil flour.

Unfortunately my little southern city has no conce...

2010-05-28T13:19:58.725-07:00

Unfortunately my little southern city has no concept of that little trend called public transportation and is entirely too spread out to walk where I need to get, so I'm stuck driving everywhere except the library. We do park in one central location if we're shopping downtown and walk, but it's still a lot of driving. Although I guess compared to most people around here, it's not too bad...about 75 miles a week.

I regret ripping out the clothes line in the back yard when I bought my house...I was 23 and stupid.

Also, being lazy about sewing some reusable veggie bags...I have the stuff, I just haven't done it.

And when I cleaned out my "storage" room, I threw out recyclable stuff because I didn't feel like sorting recycling and trash...though I did keep a thrift store box.

Using straws...

Being on the computer (or lately, Xbox) about 17 hours a day, lol.

Not replacing the little rubber rings in my bath faucets that I've had for over a year...maybe two. I do keep a bucket under the faucet and use it to flush the toilet and water plants, but I sometimes for get to put it back after a bath and that leads to massive guilt on my part.

Oh, yeah, taking baths. I don't take them as much in the summer, but in the winter I take one every week or two. I justify that by staying in for an hour or two until the water is icy...but it's still totally wasteful...and relaxing.

I've got MDF too, although from what I've read, having it in the house isn't as dangerous as manufacturing or cutting it. The sawdust and fumes created pose more of a threat than having a piece in your house. Not that it's safe, but you know...

I've been slowly trying to correct them one by one...switched out all out soaps, shampoos, makeup, etc; got a good reusable coffee mug for starbucks/gas station coffee; composting and recycling *almost* everything; living in a sauna to avoid overusing the AC...

1) Diet Coke. I know, I KNOW! 2) The amount of c...

2010-05-28T10:17:55.246-07:00

1) Diet Coke. I know, I KNOW!

2) The amount of cheap/plastic toys or plastic-encased food I buy for my kids, generally in an attempt to bribe them to behave while I'm shopping or trying to get something done. Talk about a parenting regret cherry to place upon my environmental regret cake.

3) Plastic in general. I buy 80-90% organic and usually local, but still can't escape plastic packaging and haven't made very much of an effort to do so. The recent oil spill in the Gulf Coast has made me feel especially guilty about this.

Plastic baby stuff (hope I offset some of that by ...

2010-05-28T08:03:17.615-07:00

Plastic baby stuff (hope I offset some of that by cloth diapering and breastfeeding!)

Certain junk food

In general, a consumerist mentality that I am desperately trying to rid myself of.

The dog poop, which requires constantly using plas...

2010-05-28T03:58:02.478-07:00

The dog poop, which requires constantly using plastic bags for poop. Haven't found a good, clean alternative yet.

The dog and cat food packaging.

My job, which is fast food, makes me feel terrible because I see first hand how much waste one single restaurant can put out.

Clothing, I love clothing. I can't help myself :( I try to buy secondhand as much as possible, but every now and then my spoiled girly side breaks through.

I think that's enough for now... :)

hard to know where to begin. 1) 4 cans of spray ...

2010-05-27T21:03:59.252-07:00

hard to know where to begin.
1) 4 cans of spray paint used to paint security door last week - realized in the middle that it was wrong.
2)not putting in graywater system in house when remodel and put in all new plumbing
3)not using all green products in building - did use some
4)using too much plastic
5)thanks for the post re tankless water taking so long to get warm. thought there was something wrong with mine. i do catch and resuse some but need to do that more.
those are the main ones

I need to paint several rooms in my house because ...

2010-05-27T19:15:30.210-07:00

I need to paint several rooms in my house because my builder used cheap paint and drywall comes off on damp rag when I wash the walls. I'm considering a VOC paint because some low and now VOC paint jobs only last 2 years. I don't want to be in the same paint situation I'm in now but I'd rather not have the paint off gas and kill us all.

For your drains have you tried a power drum auger? It's a drain snake that fits onto an elelctric drill and really clears drain clogs. Best $20 my husband ever spent! I used to have mildew issues in my bathroom too. Turns out my bathroom exhaust fan met code but was too small to do the job! I switched it out for a larger fan and that did the trick! I wanted an Energy Star rated model but all of those had lights, heat lamps, and other doo dads I didn't need. Not really a regret, that one was more of a eco-rant!

Have you tried tea tree oil for mold? It got rid o...

2010-05-27T18:40:31.055-07:00

Have you tried tea tree oil for mold? It got rid of toxic mold in our house.

My guilt:
I eat out to much in the summer, my husband is a teacher so has summers off and we somehow end up eating out a lot! They are local restaurants and I don't get straws and they use real dishes but still.

I still buy way to much packaged food.

I love organic suckers which are wrapped in plastic in a plastic bag.

Here is the top of my list: - Choosing a daycare t...

2010-05-27T17:23:18.800-07:00

Here is the top of my list:
- Choosing a daycare that is locally convenient but doesn't accept cloth diaper, doesn't feed the kids food that is as healthy as I would like and doesn't really care about the environment.
- Choosing non-organic milk because the organic one smells pretty bad when it stains a shirt.
- Travelling so far for vacation (but it is so much more interesting).
- Being too shy to follow my convictions (accept take away not to bother, accept baby's t-shirt with vinyl drawings when given to me and then using them since I have them!)
- Still secretly enjoy shopping.

My top three: 1. Driving... so... much.... 2. to-g...

2010-05-27T16:34:36.677-07:00

My top three:
1. Driving... so... much....
2. to-go containers
3. waste - (paper, plastic, unknowns, etc. that somehow accumulate in our recycle bin, water waste, electricity waste, etc.)
I think it all comes down to laziness! If I'd plan out my day better, I could bike to work (or ride the bus), bring my own containers 100% of the time, and UBER-control what comes in my house..... or at least that's my excuse...

--Erika

Building way to big of a house, or more to the poi...

2010-05-27T15:37:47.444-07:00

Building way to big of a house, or more to the point using toxic materials to build this house. Thinks like plywood, particle board and carpet.

Using chemical bathroom stuff, all though that's changing but still huge regret.

And having a lawn put in only to wake up 2 years later and rip it out for a garden. I wish we would have realized what's important sooner.

Driving, chemical sunscreen (Anthelios, it works t...

2010-05-27T15:18:05.881-07:00

Driving, chemical sunscreen (Anthelios, it works too well to give it up.......), juice boxes for my son on the way home from childcare. Probably have some more egregious offenses but those are the first that come to mind.