31
In India you have to look hard to find toilet paper and if you do it is expensive. They wash themselves after each time the use the toilet (longer). For this purpose, public toilets (train stations, hotels, restaurants) in India sometimes have a (fairly high-power) shower head installed next to them. If you use shower gel for your washing process, the result ...
29
I started using a toilet paper alternative about nine months ago. I was tired of the old plumbing in the house clogging up, and knowing that toilet paper is a cut down tree used so I can wipe my ass, felt very wasteful.
At the same time, we're living in a modern society. I'm a software engineer by trade, so I prefer using technology when I can.
I found ...
24
I agree that it would be harder to live without the washing machine than almost any other labor-saving device.
First, reduce the need. Wool smells less than cotton, which smells less than synthetic materials. You can brush wool clean, instead of washing as often. Leather and fur might be good. Go naked in the summer.
Wear a t-shirt and underpants to absorb ...
15
Personally I use a wire rack over a cookie sheet to drain fried or greasy foods. The oil drips to the pan below and I can pour the oil into a container or dispose of it however I need to.
15
There are plenty of biodegradable anti-fungals.
For example, cetrimide is water-soluble, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and biodegradable. White vinegar also has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties
But that's only part of the solution.
The other part is to stop the mould returning.
To do that, you need to increase the surface temperature of the areas ...
13
Try scrubbing with vinegar. You can try adding baking soda to the vinegar as well.
I've used vinegar with great success to get mold out of clothes by soaking them in a 4:1 water:vinegar mix overnight.
11
Most cats are picky about where they'll go poop. In my experience, if I just switch litters, they won't use the new one. Similarly, if I move the litter box, they may just go on the floor at the old location. So, whatever changes you are working on, go slowly.
Cats can be trained to use a toilet, which will use only drinking water, not litter, which may be ...
10
Yes, there are plenty of suppliers, at least in the UK, that use recycled materials to make their toilet paper.
You could also look for accreditation for sustainable sourcing: there are schemes such as the Forest Stewarship Council that accredit suppliers that meet their criteria for sustainability. Note that some of these accreditation schemes are ...
10
My toothpaste is made from natural materials (mainly clay, small quantities of herb extracts and essential oils) and comes in a (recyclable) aluminium tube. The cap is from recyclable plastic (but of course for plastics, "recycling" means downcycling).
I find this toothpaste marvellous and pretty sustainable (except for the plastic cap). The clay part ...
9
As someone who has hand washed his own clothes, I'd say think again before giving up your washing machine. It is a real pain in the neck, and haunches, and forearms - specially if you're washing jeans! And that was one persons clothes - Washing the clothes of 6-8 people would be a nightmare. It's not that it can't be done, you have to be used to it.
Instead ...
9
Ironically, the better you are at reducing your waste, the less likely you are to succeed at replacing plastic bags for the irreducible portion. My mother throws out actual garbage twice a year - one small plastic bag such as the ones you get from grocery stores, every 6 months. While she always has a reusable shopping bag in her purse, she finds that ...
8
Try planting mullein (verbascum thapsus). It is a pioneer species that will grow in the worst soil conditions and improve the soil over time. It's leaves are large, thick and covered in a soft fuzz which gives them the feel of a high quality 3-ply TP. It also has a number of medicinal uses outside of hygiene. (I would advise against reusing "soiled" leaves ...
8
To add to Terry and Darren's suggestions, I wanted to insist on the fact that modern bidet attachments are available and easily installable on a sitting water toilet without major modification.
This one I found at a "culturally aware" place in Brisbane, Australia (sorry about the bad quality of the photo):
This kind of compact electronic attachment might ...
6
I like to use wire cooling racks, brown paper bags, and cloth dishtowels dedicated to this endeavor would work for draining. Paper towels you do use might be compostable.
6
The Romans of antiquity used a sponge on a stick. The sponge can be washed in a bucket with water and soap or eco friendly detergent.
6
I am surprised no-one has mentioned bidets yet, which in Japan is your high-tech toilet. (Though, it sounds like in India it is a shower!)
The "eco sums" will get quite complicated, as you are trading some electricity and water to save a few sheets of paper. If you reduce from say 8 sheets of 1-ply down to 2 sheets, I imagine that is an overall saving: ...
6
You will always put more energy into generating this gas mixture than you will get back by burning it. The second law of thermodynamics (which for this context can simply be thought of as saying that nothing can be 100% efficient) guarantees that. So rather than using energy to split water to produce gas for burning, you would be better off using that same ...
5
Females can certainly reduce their TP use by using cut up cloth to wipe after #1. Using the cut off tops of old cotton socks works really well too. They have a good amount of thickness for absorption. Small cotton cloths & sock tops take up hardly any space in a load of laundry and can be reused over and over. Reduce your use of precious tree fibres, and ...
5
So far the best alternative that I've found is to use a refillable marker. I bought one of these a week ago with a bottle of ink. The marker is not made of plastic (I would say it is made of aluminium) except from the cap, so I have reduced a lot the quantity of plastics used. Also, the ink bottle provides around 10 complete refills making it even cheaper ...
5
Since you don't indicate in which country you're thinking of implementing this plan, I'm going to write from my perspective in the US, considering chain hotels (Marriot, Holiday Inn, Hilton,, etc) that make up the majority of hotels here.
I can think of several ways in which a building constructed as a hotel would have greater environmental costs than a ...
5
The Natural Resources Defense Council commissioned a study in late 2015 to understand the energy consumption from 4K TVs, titled The Big Picture: Ultra High-Definition Televisions Could Add $1 Billion to Viewers' Annual Electric Bills. While this doesn't exactly answer your question as regards the resolution of You-Tube videos, it gives some solid clues.
...
4
I have not found much of an alternative to paper towels, but you could at least try the following:
Drain food that has been deep fried on a wire rack. Only after this use paper towel to soak up excess oil.
I keep paper towel that is soaked in cooking oil and use it as a fire-lighter later on. Of course, that only works if you have a wood-fired stored.
To ...
4
Your point would be very abstract to a really big number of people in the world. My mother bought a washing machine just recently, and she still washes mostly by hand. You probably never saw how hand washing should be done (if you're living in USA that's highly probable, while in East Europe it's hard to imagine). You don't wash like a washing mashine. You ...
4
A tip for drying clothes in-doors without an electric dryer (heat):
I put a fan in the small room where we dry the clothes. The fan uses much less electricity than an electric dryer. It circulates the air in the small space so the clothes dry much quicker. We leave the window open slightly so the humidity can leave the room. Thanks to the moving air this ...
4
It sounds like you're mainly using hay as animal bedding, and possibly for a bit of food for the rabbits? With respect to mulch in the summer, it would make sense to put the used bedding to service as mulch -- it will carry along a bit of extra nutrient enrichment. (Of course, being careful not to use it around crops that would come into contact with manures ...
4
The alternative of toothpaste and toothbrush, that people still use in country parts in India.
Branches of following trees Prosopis juliflora tree and Azadirachta indica tree.
See Wikipedia Azadirachta indica other uses
4
As a retired dentist with 30+ years of practice experience I have some input here. This will be a very controversial statement:
Toothpaste is NOT essential to good oral hygiene!!!
Just routine (thorough and expert) brushing and flossing without any dentifrice is sufficient for plaque removal!
Toothpastes are useful for some reasons:
1 They make B&F ...
4
You must open circuit the panels you're not using, do not short circuit them. Open circuit is fine, the panel just sits there and no current flows. You'll see quite a high voltage on the terminals (it'll be listed on the panel data sheet as "maximum open circuit voltage". If you short the panels you'll get up to "maximum short circuit current" which risks ...
4
Is there a shaving razor that is an alternative to, say, Gillette Mach 3, and does not use plastic ?
I'm an energy consultant - I'm also aware of the environmental impacts of plastic - however; I still have to ask, what is the issue with plastic?
The only thing more sustainable than plastic is SOME wood IF it is carefully cared for.
The carbon embedded in the production of plastic is VERY low compared to say aluminium, stainless etc... Plastic is a great ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
