my attempts at saving water

VacuumLand – Vintage & Modern Vacuum Enthusiasts

Help Support VacuumLand:

Unsustainable

We are all (to a greater or lesser extent) enjoying a thoroughly unsustainable lifestyle. we are quite literally 'Eating the future'. We have used the vast majority of 300 million years' worth of fossil fuels in the last 300 years, and have probably created 3 million years worth of pollution in the same time. I truly feel sorry for future generations, one reason (among others) why I've never had children.

It is up to each one of us to do what we can to reduce waste. Perhaps it's time for a return to that wartime mentality of "Is your ....... really necessary??"

With great sadness

Dave T
 
Dave, I'm completely with you on the wasteful front. I hate being wasteful. All paper, plastic, cans, tins, glass and old clothes are shoes in my house are recycled without fail. Everything that goes in my bin is biodegradable. Mostly food left overs and things like potato peelings and paper wrappers.

Thankfully, times have moved on and we now have appliances like washing machines and dishwashers that use far less energy and water than washing by hand. I never run the dishwasher until it's full, and I don't do half loads in the washer.

When I lived with my Mum, I used to drive her mad going round switching everything off at the wall - the TV, phone and laptop chargers, computers, lights etc.

I'm also a member of the green team at work - we meet every few months to discuss new ways in which we can be more enviromentally friendly and also keep out outgoing costs down as a business. Not only is being greener kinder to our environment, it's saves money! I'm always telling my colleagues off for leaving PC monitors on, not turning air con and lights in meeting rooms off before leaving them, running the dishwasher full and on eco cycles etc.

The only thing I'm guilty of is using the tumble dryer too much, but I don't have any outside space at home to hang washing out, otherwise I wouldn't use it as much.
 
Its all Doom and Gloom

The trouble is that its not just us in the developed world that need to stop consuming so many resources - the third world and in particular India and China are so overpopulated now that most of the resources now seem to be going to China as it becomes a Global Superpower. Unless India starts using methods of Birth Control, the Indians will just keep growing in number and consuming more and more of the scarce resources. This is not racist either, its a fact. Man cannot keep breeding willy-nilly with no thought of the consequences, or like the dinosaurs before us, we will be the masters of our own destruction, through our own greed and selfishness. Its no good doing all this here, if they wont do it in other countries - it will take a Global effort, one that I just don't think will ever happen.
 
Sorry Chris ...

... but I think that these "water saving" appliances are total bullshit.

You need WATER to get things clean. Common sense tells you that if you use less water, they will be less clean.

When I outfit my new home, I'll be looking to install three VINTAGE, restored washing machines instead of these dreadful "water saving" machines on the market.
 
Re:My attempts at saving water

Water is as precious as our life is,we should preserve it rather wasting it.We should also take steps to make others aware about the significance of water.
 
I don't think ...

... that washing things PROPERLY is "wasting" water.

And keep in mind, we live in a closed ecosystem. Water never "goes" anywhere. It's recycled into the ecosystem.
 
Matt, it's different over here as everybody uses front loaders.

There is no argument that front loaders use less water. I'm not trying to get into yet another debate about FL vs TL as there is no right or wrong answer, it's all what works for an individual. But the design of the frontloader, with the clothes being agitated around eachother rather than around a cental agitator and the water being thrown over the clothes and through the fibres of the fabric, rather than the clothes being pulled through the water undeniabley uses less water than a TL anyway and means that good results can still be achieved by using less water.

I would have also said that the right balance of detergent, agitation and water are what count towards actual washing results, rather than the amount of water being used. You could use all the water in the world, but if you don't have the right detergent and the washing is not agitated enough, or equally is agitated too much and gets damaged, it still won't wash well. Personally, I'd rather have a lower water level with the other 2 factors (detergent and agitation) equally considered, rather than a high water level and no thought to anything else.
 
I'm using a modern Miele W562 at the moment and it washes better than any machine I've ever had, including a 1979 Zanussi.

Each to their own I guess.

Water aside, Matt, what are you like for recycling? Do you have recycling bins that are collected like garbage waste or do you have to take recycling to a plant yourself?
 
I live in New York ...

... if they didn't collect recycling NO ONE would do it.

Especially since the vast majority of New Yorkers don't own vehicles in which to tow refuse to recycling plants.
 
Good point, Matt. Over here, until about 10 years ago, if you wanted to recycle you had to drive to a recycling centre. Most were located next to supermarkets and local household waste sites (the tip, dump or whatever you want to call it). But it was still annoying to have to do.

I think probably 90% of houses have a recycling bin now. Mine is emptied every 2 weeks, so it's easy to recycle these days. There are certainly no excuses not to.
 
However... not all areas in the UK act on recycling as much or as thorough.

Having just returned from London staying with my best mate in Letchworth, it was the first garden city and the council there are excellent with their eco-saving. They have three to four bins allocated to each household where one bin is used for plastics, another bin for cardboard, another bin for general refuse and one brown bin for any garden waste.

However! If you have a tree in your garden you're not allowed to take it out of the earth for fear of your neighbours or the council spotting it and thus charging you because of the heritage trust and for the fact that you're not allowed to take out a tree regardless of whether it was in the garden before you bought the property or one you've planted yourself.

Compared to most areas in Scotland, out in the sticks where I am, you have one basic recycling bin where everything cardboard and paper wise gets chucked in. All other refuse including garden waste can be put in the general bin.
 
I think ...

... rather than a bigger push for recycling, we as a society should be doing more to prevent waste in the first place.

Today's blasted "compact fluorescent" light bulbs now come in THREE LAYERS of hard-shell plastic (the WORST for the environment). AND they need special care and energy to dispose of. As opposed to the old light bulbs that were just glass and metal, encased in a light cardboard sleeve.

Years ago we all got milk deliveries in resusable (not just recyclable, but RESUSABLE) milk jugs. Today we throw away HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of plastic milk jugs. Same goes for soft drinks that used to be sold in returnable (and refundable) glass jars.

Years ago our tap water was safe enough to drink. It was unthinkable to BUY water at the store. Today, with so many dangerous chemicals put right into our water (fluoride being the among the worst), we're forced to buy water in -- more plastic containers. (Although I invested in a Berkey water filtration system, which I highly recommend ... uses no energy (gravity fed) and filters out EVERYTHING short of reverse osmosis. No more plastic water jugs!!)

Years ago our delivered goods were packaged not in earth-choking styrofoam peanuts, but shredded newspaper or straw.

Decades ago, 90% of the food we consumed was all-natural and grown within 25 miles from our homes, and didn't need to be heavily packaged in layers of plastic.

And of course, as we all know on this vacuum board, years ago just about everything was made to last, or at least made to be repaired, not just tossed in a landfill.

And THE single biggest problem in our landfills today: DISPOSABLE DIAPERS. Years ago mothers weren't afraid to get their hands dirty by laundering cloth diapers. Today's moms clearly can't be bothered. At the expense, of course, of the environment. If you're a woman who uses disposable diapers don't EVEN talk to me about MY "carbon footprint"!!!

I think we as a society need to seriously rethink the direction we're going in.
 
You seem to have an answer for everything.

And yet it was the U.S that gave the world a lot of ideas for a throwaway society as well as having a few GREAT ideas. Disposable diapers for starters! I know this as a FACT.

When I was born in 1974, the UK still had terry cotton nappies that had to be washed. My mother being career minded was beside herself having to wash, dry, wash, dry. As I have said before in previous posts, where my town is in Scotland was once home to many Americans and a naval base, of which a film featuring Harvey Keitel was a leading character in. (Down Where the Buffalo Go).

Here is where I first got to sample Baskin & Robbins ice cream, Hersheys chocolate and Animal Crackers! But I also got to observe as a young child, American appliances like U.S Hoover vacuums, massive American cars and loads of great things that we never considered then, throwaway. The moment my mother was introduced to Snugglers and disposable diapers, life became very easy!

When I think back to my childhood, we were very spoilt having the U.S Navy base in our town. But then we were also introduced to many things that UK buyers weren't accustomed that we didn't think at that time were disposable or reusable - the brown sack bags for example for holding groceries in - we never had that in the UK - we relied on oil based disposable plastic bags, that still today, supermarkets are still using, even if some are being charged each time to take one.
 
Cloth vs Paper diapers debate

Has been going on as long as there has been disposable diapers.
One environmental group, I don't remember which, did a study on what the impact of paper vs cloth had on the environment.

With disposable diapers the paper lining actually bio degrades, along with the contents. The plastic outer covering, now more of a water resistant paper degrades too in time. Though initially they create additional tonnage in the waste stream. In the end they are rather benign.

Cloth diapers are indeed recycled. With lots of water, detergent, bleaching agents be it chlorine or other are used in the process along with energy. The energy used for washing and drying. Or even if you line dry there is still the time consumption of taking them out, hanging them up, then bringing them in then folding.

Not only are disposables "throw away" easier to use, more hygienic to the wearer and user, less leakage; but they actually have less impact on the environment by not releasing the detergents and water usage.

Now if you factor in the processing of the disposable to begin with, which kills a few hundred trees (mostly farmed) the processing of the tree into the paper product, bleaching the paper, manufacturing and transportation.

Remembering now that cloth diapers begins with cotton being farmed, harvested, processed, bleached, spun into thread, woven manufactured, shipped. In the end the whole process is basically a wash as both are more equal than different.

Cost:
You buy disposables on a recurrent basis whereas you buy cloth once or twice. In the end with chemicals, energy etc. Their costs come out about the same.
[this post was last edited: 7/30/2013-09:40]
 
Nar...

"You seem to have an answer for everything."

It's not easy being right all the time, trust me!

Look, I'm not trying to make this a US vs UK thing. I believe that most of the good ideas have come from the US, as well as most of the BAD ideas. But this is mostly because of our sheer size, geographically and population-wise; we just have more "stuff" going on here.

I've always thought it absurd for people to compare the US with individual European countries; our geographic size, as well as the size and diversity of our population makes it much more appropriate to compare the US to the European continent as a whole.
 
Thing is, though - you're not right. I don't think any body is where eco savings are concerned.

Everyone has an opinion and I'm thankful that I got to join this forum though clearly U.S and Canada based. What we can do here is share experiences, debates and at times take advantage of the info displayed and collected.

However, because other countries take other routes, UK and others don't always want to follow on. It annoys me sometimes when I visit other countries, Holland for example where their tube system is infinitely better than the one in London, to other areas of cost saving exercises that actually work. The UK as a country appear to me that they don't want to move with the times, or rather want to feel as if they can lead rather than follow the rest of the EU, U.S and Asia.
 

Similar threads

panasonicvac
National Laundry Day
Replies
1
Views
16
gottahaveahoove
gottahaveahoove
huskyvacs
1960s vacuum found in radioactive waste at nuclear plant
Replies
8
Views
108
cheesewonton
C
G
For Sale: Kirby white & tan cord
Replies
1
Views
68
dysonman1
dysonman1
justjunque
My first of this era Electrolux!
Replies
15
Views
280
human
human
rainbowd4c
This is how my love of Rainbow started.
Replies
0
Views
146
rainbowd4c
rainbowd4c

Latest posts

Back
Top