Sustainable Living Stack Exchange
Sustainable Living Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
13
votes
2 answers

How many times do you need to use a cheap re-usable bag to offset its impact?

An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal argues that many re-usable grocery bags are made using more oil than old-fashioned "single-use" plastic grocery bags. This makes sense, as quite a bit more material is required to make a sufficiently sturdy bag,…
LShaver
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2 answers

Should I raise my own animals, or support a local farm?

This winter we raised two hogs. We don't have too much land, and don't grow the grains that would be required for fully feeding them from products grown on our hobby farm. My question is whether it is more sustainable to raise animals myself, or…
Noel
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3 answers

Is leaving the fridge door open for, say, 10 seconds a "big deal"?

To use an example, say I need to take out a carton of milk from the fridge, add some milk to my tea, then put the carton of milk back. There are two methods: Method A: Open fridge door. Take out milk. Close fridge door. Add milk to tea. Open…
user1631
13
votes
2 answers

When to buy new, when to keep the old?

How can I calculate if it makes sense from a resource-conservation perspective to purchase a new, more energy efficient appliance, and when it makes sense to use an old appliance until it is beyond repair? Are there appliances that are commonly…
DudeOnRock
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10 answers

How do I set myself up to not have to mow the lawn?

In the next few years, I will likely be getting my first home, and I don't want to mow the lawn. I see this as a large waste of time, as well as a source of waste in buying a lawnmower, fertilizer, gas, oil, and having a negative effect on the…
Will
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2 answers

How difficult is it to build your own dry, self-composting toilet?

I live in the country and have space on the north-side of my house where it doesn't get too hot in the summer. I think this could be a good place to implant a water-less or dry toilet. I read here and there of guys who work with electricity to dry…
J. Chomel
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3 answers

What countries favour people who want to live a sustainable lifestyle?

I want to pursue an independent lifestyle growing my own food, using solar panels etc. but I live in Spain and the legislation here doesn't favour this, buying terrain in a rural area and being allowed to build a house using alternative materials is…
xkcbdz
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1 answer

Is plastic food packaging 100% reusable?

There is the prominent argument that we should buy food without plastic packaging because plastic is made of oil and thus bad. I'm wondering, however, what if the plastic packaging remains in the system to 100%? Then, all plastic packaging…
orschiro
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1 answer

Co-firing fossil fuels use in waste incineration

I know from shop talk among previous colleagues that waste incinerators often need natural gas to sustain firing. AFAIK this is mostly because mixed household wastes have a high moisture content, making them a bad fuel. However, I found no data on…
mart
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2 answers

Dealing with seeds in a compost pile

We have moderately sized (under or around 0.5 m3) backyard composter. It is of simple cubic form with hatches at the bottom where the ready stuff is being taken out. Mostly food scraps go in there, but we also add garden waste, whether brown or…
theUg
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3 answers

What is the relationship between recycling and sustainability?

What are the sound reasons (let's put aside the unsound reasons) why increasing recycling is taken to improve sustainability (or equivalently to reduce unsustainability)? Are there real-world circumstances whereby increasing recycling might worsen…
410 gone
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How do white roofs cause global warming?

Another user asked the question, and I think the question is important enough to deserve it's own post. I've heard that white roofs drive away clouds and cause global warming. How can this be?
Sophit
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4 answers

How are pollution and sustainability related?

In discussing "green" policies, the words "sustainability" and "pollution" are occasionally mixed together, as if they were antonyms. My gut feeling is that something that is polluting is by definition not sustainable, but I don't have a very clear…
gerrit
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6 answers

Older biodiesel vehicle or newer but used hybrid, which is actually more sustainable?

I've heard a lot of back and forth on this issue, but when purchasing our next vehicle which is actually the better way to go? For us, we cannot go fully electric at this point due to drive times, and there is no good public transit close to our…
Noel
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2 answers

How to keep warm with limited use of fire?

The general rule for keeping warm in wilderness in cold climate is to make fire, as big as possible. While being effective, it's not sustainable in longer perspective because it is depleting natural resources very quick. It is also not always…
Danubian Sailor
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