describes all effects (positive or negative) of the production, consumption and/or disposal of a product, service, policy, or project on the environment.
-1
votes
0answers
34 views
How can alum stone be melted and make custmise shapes? [duplicate]
Greetings
Can we melt Alum and give any shape
5
votes
2answers
120 views
What is an environmentally-conscious replacement for white yogurt?
I am looking for an environmentally conscious replacement for white yogurt. I do have a couple of ideas for foods that could work well, but I have very little clue if they are a better choice from the ...
6
votes
0answers
36 views
What is the maximum sustainable population of the earth?
This question prompted by discussion regarding this answer to a question about vegetarianism.
I recently came across a U.N. review of studies seeking to determine the earth's maximum sustainable ...
3
votes
1answer
82 views
Which type of BBQ grill has less of an environmental footprint, charcoal or propane or what?
Of course buying used vs. new makes a big difference, but in any case, if one is set on purchasing a BBQ grill, is there less environmental impact in the production & use of a charcoal vs. a ...
4
votes
1answer
83 views
What is the environmental impact of meal kit subscriptions (Blue Apron, etc)?
According to Wikipedia, a meal-kit is...
...a subscription service that sends customers pre-portioned food ingredients and recipes for them to prepare homecooked meals.
Well-known examples include ...
5
votes
2answers
78 views
Are the red worms suggested for vermicomposting considered an invasive species?
I'm considering vermicomposting as a next step to hot composting, and plan to release the red worms directly into my garden bed (using a worm bucket), but wanted to check before ordering a batch of ...
3
votes
1answer
49 views
How sustainable is the use of materials such as slate, clam shells and wood for go stones and boards?
I should like to buy some attractive go equipment and am wondering which choices are ethically acceptable, whereby I imagine that sustainability of ecosystems is more or less the only significant ...
4
votes
0answers
50 views
Is delivery of mail to house doors by postal services more sustainable than picking up mail from a central location?
Today there exists more than one mail and parcel services to distribute deliveries. I wonder about sustainability effects, especially when you receive several deliveries a day. When everybody has to ...
2
votes
1answer
43 views
Recycling soda stream cannisters in Australia?
My wife and I have a bunch of random broken things from our previous lives that we're trying to get rid of correctly.
One of them is a few left over soda stream canisters.
Many recycling centers in ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
Use Ebooks or normal books? [duplicate]
Ebooks and normal paper books both contribute to environmental damage in some way.
I want to know, which of those two contributes to less environmental damage, on average?
3
votes
1answer
75 views
How can we all together clean up the vast plastic carpets in our oceans? [closed]
It is mind-boggling to me that there is still so much plastic out in our oceans, floating around for years and ever growing and nothing is being done about it. Governments should work together, ...
3
votes
1answer
46 views
How much is the environmental benefit of organic food offset by its higher economic cost when purchased?
One thing that I do in my life is earn extra money just so I can afford organic food as much as possible.
But in this higher-earning job (which is not organic farming and thus not sustainable ...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
When should I get rid of a product and buy a new more efficient/useful version?
When should I get rid of a product and buy a new more efficient/useful version? The existing product works okay for its primary use case so I don't want to throw it away or recycle it and then spend ...
4
votes
1answer
52 views
How much soya is needed to produce a glass of cow's milk?
Producing soya beans is responsible for some significant amounts of deforestation in tropical areas and relying on soya introduces a demand for transportation in countries where soya is not grown.
I ...
5
votes
1answer
64 views
Why the eco-friendly soy ink is not abundent on the market?
From time to time I see on different papers "Printed with eco-friendly ink," so I assume that it is the soy-based ink. I have read a bit about it, and the opinions about soy-ink being eco-friendly are ...
4
votes
2answers
371 views
Relative merits of 'milkman' glass vs. 'supermarket' plastic milk bottles?
(A question with looking for answers from a UK perspective, preferably)
Does anyone have any pointers to, or have the knowledge to answer, the question of the larger-scale environmental arguments ...
5
votes
1answer
132 views
Is heating with candles economically and/or ecologically worthwhile?
Considering my home doesn't have a heating system nor chimneys, I wonder if it's worthwhile to heat using only candles. There are multiple dimensions to consider:
Does it cost less than electric ...
9
votes
2answers
181 views
Should I replace existing inefficient light bulbs?
Similar to this question (except that's about cars), if I can buy more efficient light bulbs than the ones I'm using right now, should I? Or is it better to wait until my current light bulbs expire, ...
2
votes
1answer
81 views
PNG optimization for website and environment impact
PNG images can be optimized in different ways.
Reducing PNG size for websites seems to be a good choice in order to reduce bandwidth usage and data transport (and reduce the impact on environment). ...
4
votes
2answers
184 views
Is there any eco-friendly option for condom?
I am from India and there is no availability of vegan condom. I am a hardcore practitioner of sustainable living and don't wanted to create waste with single-use condom which is definitely resulting ...
5
votes
2answers
187 views
What is the real impact of the new Adidas collection made with recycled plastic bottles?
Adidas has a new collection made with recycled plastic bottles recovered from the oceans.
I have been trying to find the real environmental impact of this collection but it has been difficult to ...
3
votes
0answers
63 views
What is the average net impact of a human on the sustainability of our habitat?
I've been writing an informal essay on the true cost of everything and as per the question asked at the end, I want to approximate the average human's impact on habitat destruction/human ...
5
votes
2answers
97 views
Is it environmentally sensible to clean a paint roller?
I'm currently decorating a room and conscious of how much water it's taking to clean the paint out of a paint roller. At what point does the environmental cost of cleaning exceed the environmental ...
1
vote
0answers
77 views
What are the environmental consequences of shipping food across the Atlantic Ocean [closed]
For a given weight and volume of food requiring refrigeration, how much worse would US manufacturing need to be than Western European manufacturing to environmentally justify purchasing imported food? ...
7
votes
3answers
219 views
One single person's equal share in the world's resources
This question has been intriguing me quite some time. While regulating my own consumption of the world's resources, I keep on wondering:
With the current world population, what would be each single ...
9
votes
6answers
146 views
Does responsible living leave more space to unresponsible living?
It looks to me that the efforts I'm doing to make my living more sustainable are worthless.
Indeed, when some of us make efforts to lower energy consumption, doesn't it only leave harvestable ...
7
votes
1answer
118 views
Ecological wood-burning fireplace
We are in the process of choosing a fireplace for our house (which is being refurbished). Is it possible to have a wood-burning fireplace that doesn't cause any harmful emissions or contribute to smog ...
5
votes
2answers
84 views
Most sustainable type of cream container?
The grocery co-op where I shop offers local, organic cream from three different farms, which use three different types of recyclable containers (all roughly the same volume):
Mini version of clear ...
3
votes
0answers
101 views
How environmentally friendly is palm oil with a certified organic label?
I'm trying to reduce my consumption of palm oil because palm oil production is responsible for deforestation, large forest fires and loss of biodiversity.
The problem is that palm oil is present in ...
3
votes
1answer
84 views
Should we leave all fossil fuels in the ground and not use them?
I get the feeling that there is such a strong backlash against fossil fuels that there is an irrational movement to purge them completely. Maybe because people are transferring their worries about ...
12
votes
3answers
625 views
Most environmentally friendly mode of transport
You often hear "Walk, it's better for the environment", but is that actually true?
If I walk 5 miles instead of taking say a public bus, given that I now will need to replace the energy I spent ...
5
votes
2answers
488 views
If coffee pods are made of aluminium, what are the negative environmental effects?
The boss of Nespresso has called coffee pods an environmental disaster.
One of my friends recently commented:
Coffee pods are the environmental equivalent of beating baby seals to death.
I'm ...
10
votes
2answers
232 views
What to look for in a pair of sustainable shoes?
Let's limit ourselves to "casual sport" shoes (e.g., everyday trainers, casual, etc.) . I have been doing some research online, essentially along two different lines:
sustainability, using http://...
7
votes
1answer
218 views
What is the environmental impact of toilet paper processed at a water treatment plant?
After toilet paper is flushed down a toilet and it goes to a water treatment plant, what happens next?
Does it decompose, if so what gasses are released? Is the carbon sequestered in any significant ...
8
votes
2answers
125 views
How to choose a more sustainable vacation option?
Background
In general, for a given transportation medium, modes of transport that are more densely populated are more efficient than those that are more sparsely populated. For example, it is not a ...
20
votes
5answers
5k views
Why don't toilets use saltwater?
My question is in the header. It would seem to be a major environmental benefit if toilets used saltwater in stead of potable fresh water, right?
4
votes
0answers
43 views
Any sustainability difference between anionic/cationic/nonionic detergents?
Are any of these three types of detergents more or less damaging to manufacture and/or use or dispose of than the others?
I realise these are rather broad classes, but this is usually the only detail ...
4
votes
1answer
191 views
How did the people living on Easter Island go extinct?
According to a professor in this article on phys.org it's because the population exploded when they wiped out all the forests. What caused the population explosion? Was it the development of a new ...
3
votes
1answer
66 views
What is palm oil mostly used for?
What percentage of total world production of palm oil is used for fuel, and what is used for food and cosmetics?
I am asking this because there seems to be more awareness in the media of palm oil use ...
9
votes
3answers
134 views
What is the environmental cost of encrypting your communications?
I am concerned by people's privacy in the Internet age, and the security that communication software and services offer, which is why I try to promote encryption in different everyday activities (...
14
votes
3answers
2k views
Are plastic cups more environmental friendly than ceramic mugs?
Many years ago I read that plastic cups, like this:
are more environmental friendly than ceramic mugs, like this:
This is rather counter-intuitive. If I remember correctly, I believe the argument ...
5
votes
1answer
55 views
What is life cycle assessment best used for?
What is the best use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? Can it be used for eco-products? Can it be used for products like phones and computers?
4
votes
1answer
239 views
How do the environmental impacts of sky lantern and firework displays compare?
http://theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/31/sky-lanterns
and http://bbc.com/news/magazine-23129276 are critical about use of lanterns which float into the sky using hot air ...
8
votes
1answer
924 views
Which is the most sustainable type of pencil?
Which type of pencil is the most sustainable one?
Wooden pencil
Automatic (propelling) pencil/Clutch pencil
The types I'm referring to:
I've read related questions about comparing pens and ...
14
votes
2answers
289 views
Is buying online more sustainable than in local shop next door?
I was planning to buy a toy. I can buy it online and in local shop next door. Price is (including shipping in case of online shop) more or less the same. Is one more sustainable than the other?
5
votes
2answers
148 views
What is the impact of switching to smart metering?
Is there some way to estimate the environmental impact on overall carbon emissions of a community switching from normal to smart meters, with all the integrated solutions(monitoring, for instance)?
I ...
4
votes
1answer
924 views
Environmental impact of toner versus ink cartridges?
I'm trying to decide what type of printer to buy. I've read a number of posts on the web where people claim that laser printers are more durable than ink-jet printers. Some people say this is because ...
13
votes
6answers
561 views
Are there any more sustainable alternatives to conventional commercial toothpaste?
Are there any sustainable (and useful) alternatives to toothpaste?
I've tried so far this kind of tooth tabs and I'm also aware of the existence of tooth powder but I haven't tried it yet. I liked ...
10
votes
3answers
733 views
Is an electric shaver more sustainable than water-based shaving ? And how to determine so for one's context?
I have tried both, a low-cost electric shaver and a medium-cost regular razor for water-based shaving.
Water and Electricity, are both, equally important factors to be considered for sustainable ...
20
votes
4answers
381 views
Is Linux more sustainable than Windows?
One of the many advantages of GNU/Linux systems, and probably *NIX in general, is that they can run on older and lesser hardware than the children of Microsoft can, i.e. has lower "system requirements"...
