c/climate-action

My zero waste week went great until I realized I'd been composting my car keys for 4 days

Found them digging through the bin trying to fish out a moldy avocado, and now my wife won't let me live it down - has anyone else accidentally tossed something important in the compost?

Swapped my gas lawnmower for an electric one last month

I used to spend every Saturday fighting with my old gas mower, smelling fumes and spilling gas on my sneakers. Finally bought a Ryobi electric cordless model for $350 and now I just plug in the battery and go in silence. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed how much quieter your morning routine gets?

Just dropped $300 on a home solar setup and it's already paying off weirdly fast

I spent $300 on a DIY plug-in solar panel kit for my apartment balcony, expecting to see savings maybe in a year. Six weeks later my electric bill dropped by $18, which means I'll break even in about 17 months if this keeps up. Did I get lucky with the sunny season, or has anyone else had solar pay off way quicker than they calculated?

Vent: People keep putting plastic bags in the recycling bin at my office

I work at a small marketing firm in Portland and every day I see someone toss a grocery bag into the mixed recycling. It jams the sorting machine and costs the city extra money to pull out. Has anyone else had luck getting coworkers to actually read the labels on the bins?

Tried to switch my whole house to solar in Phoenix and it took 9 months longer than the sales guy told me

Back in February I finally signed up with a local installer here in Phoenix. They said it would be 6 to 8 weeks tops for permits and install. First problem was the HOA took 3 months just to approve the panel layout because they wanted them hidden from the street. Then the utility company dragged their feet on the net metering agreement for another 4 months. I had to call the city permit office myself twice because the installer kept saying they were waiting but nobody had actually submitted the paperwork. So what was supposed to be a quick spring project turned into me finally flipping the switch in early December. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of lag from their local power company or HOA?

Read that the average EV battery only costs $7k to replace now

I saw a report from a battery recycling plant in Georgia that said replacement packs for a Chevy Bolt are down to $7,000 installed. Five years ago that was closer to $15,000. That's a big drop for anyone worried about buying used electric. Makes me wonder if the whole 'battery replacement is a dealbreaker' argument is fading. Has anyone here actually had to swap a battery on an older EV, and what did it run you?

TIL my "quick" compost bin fix took 4 weekends to actually work

I built a simple compost bin last spring, but it never heated up right. Thought I just needed to add more greens, so I spent a Saturday dumping in grass clippings. That didn't work, so I tried turning it every day for two weekends straight. Finally figured out the bin was too small and had no airflow. Has anyone else dealt with a compost pile that just sits there for months?

I think community solar gardens beat rooftop panels for most people

My neighbor spent $18,000 on rooftop solar last spring and then his roof started leaking six months later. Meanwhile I put $500 into a local community solar garden and got the same 20% electric bill cut without any maintenance headaches. Has anyone else found shared solar programs easier to deal with than owning panels?

Finally got my neighbor on board with composting after 2 years of trying

I've been pushing composting since last spring and she kept saying it was too gross. Last week I showed her my countertop bin with a charcoal filter and she actually said 'ok I'll try it.' Has anyone else had luck winning over the hesitant people in their building?

Threw $200 down the drain on those 'eco-friendly' dryer balls

I bought a set of those wool dryer balls last spring thinking they'd cut my drying time and help the planet. After 6 months of use, my towels were still taking 90 minutes to dry and came out staticky. I finally went back to using vinegar in the rinse cycle and my dryer time dropped by 20 minutes. Anyone else find those balls to be total hype?

Getting my landlord to fix the leaky AC took 4 months, lost 2 window units worth of power

I kept telling my landlord our AC was leaking refrigerant and running nonstop since June. He sent a handyman who just cleaned the coils and called it done. By the time I pushed hard enough for a real HVAC tech in September, we had wasted about 5,000 extra kWh. That's like running two window units 24/7 for those months, all for nothing. The fix was a $40 valve seal that the tech swapped in 20 minutes. Has anyone else dealt with landlords dragging their feet on climate-friendly repairs?

Tried a cargo ebike for my commute vs driving, night and day difference

I spent $1200 on a used RadRunner last month after my car AC died, and it's actually faster getting through downtown Austin traffic. Has anyone else switched to electric bikes for their daily drive and noticed their carbon footprint just vanished?

Compared my backyard compost pile to the municipal green bin service my neighbor uses

My pile took 8 months to break down kitchen scraps while their bins got hauled away every week and came back as fresh soil in 3 months through the city program, so now I'm wondering if I should just pay the $35 a year fee and save the hassle - has anyone else made the switch and regretted losing that DIY satisfaction?

Found out that 40% of food waste happens at home, not restaurants or farms

I was reading a report from the NRDC website last weekend and it really surprised me. I always assumed grocery stores and restaurants were the big problem, but apparently households in the US throw away way more. Like personally I waste a lot of produce because I buy too much on sale and then forget about it. Has anyone else looked into their own kitchen waste and found something that made them change a habit?

Discovered my compost bin works better if I stop overthinking it

I spent a year trying to get the perfect green-brown ratio in my backyard bin, even bought a $30 thermometer to check the temp every day. Then my neighbor Steve laughed and said he just chucks everything in and stirs it once a month. So I copied him for 6 weeks and my compost is actually breaking down faster than ever. Anyone else have a climate-friendly habit that got simpler the less you fussed with it?

Warning: Overheard a city planner talking about the broken seawall in Galveston

I was at a coffee shop in Houston last Tuesday and overheard a guy from the city's engineering office say the Galveston seawall has about 15 years left if we get more storms like Hurricane Harvey. He mentioned it was originally built in 1902 and it can't handle the sea level rise we're seeing now. Made me think we need to push for serious flood infrastructure funding before it's too late. Anyone know what the Army Corps of Engineers is actually doing about it?

Tried planting oak trees along my driveway 8 years ago and now I'm dealing with roots cracking the concrete

I planted 5 oaks back in 2016 thinking they'd give nice shade in 20 years. Fast forward to now, two of them have roots pushing up the asphalt near my garage in Portland. Learned the hard way that oak roots spread way wider than the canopy, so keep them at least 30 feet from any hard surfaces. Has anyone else had this happen with fast growing trees they planted?

Traded my gas mower for a push reel mower 3 summers back

My lawn is only a quarter acre so I figured why not try it. First month was rough because the grass got too tall and I had to double cut, but now I just mow every 5 days and it's fine. Has anyone else made the switch and stuck with it or did you go back to gas?

My neighbor said I should skip the electric car and just bike more

She told me last spring that a $400 e-bike would cut my car trips better than a new EV, and after 8 months I've actually sold my second car and only drive twice a week now... Has anyone else found that smaller changes beat the big expensive upgrades?

Met a guy at the recycling center who changed how I sort my plastic

I was dropping off my usual haphazard pile of containers last month at the King Street facility when this older guy in a truck sighed and pulled out two bottles I'd missed. He said those black plastic trays go in the trash because the sensors can't see them, which I had no clue about after 5 years of recycling. Now I check every single number before tossing it in the bin. Anyone else run into weird sorting rules at their local center?

Finally got my first rain barrel installed after 4 months of procrastinating

I mean, I bought the kit back in May and it just sat in my garage until last weekend. The downspout diverter took me like 3 hours to figure out because the instructions were terrible. But now it's actually working and I collected about 60 gallons from one storm here in Portland. Anyone else find these projects take way longer than you expect?

Installing solar panels took me 6 months longer than I planned

I decided to put solar panels on my house in Austin back in January. Between waiting for the permit from the city, finding an installer who actually showed up, and dealing with HOA paperwork, it took until July to get them turned on. The whole process was supposed to take 8 weeks according to the first company I talked to. Has anyone else run into crazy delays getting solar or other green upgrades done in your area?

Update: Our community garden's compost pile caught fire last Tuesday and I actually salvaged most of it

I was at the Elm Street lot turning the pile around noon when I saw smoke, so I grabbed a shovel and spent 45 minutes separating the burnt bits from the good stuff, and now we've got about 60 pounds of usable compost for the fall planting.

Solar panels on my garage roof cut my electric bill by 60% in 3 months flat

I installed a 5kW system from a local company in Denver last October and my monthly bill dropped from $180 to $72. Has anyone else seen bigger savings with a different setup in a colder climate?

I finally got my neighbor to swap out their gas leaf blower for an electric one