It’s so expensive to be eco-conscious!

[Anonymous]

I keep getting slammed with ads for these eco laundry detergent sheets. Finally clicked and my they are pricey! Like everything else compared to its mainstream brand. Added all together it’s too much. I feel guilty but just can’t stomach the cost. Is it price gouging or it actually costs that much more?

[Anonymous]

I think in often it costs more, especially because they’re often small businesses. I think the govt needs to start two sales tax tiers (or something else creative) to incentivize people to buy the better option.

[Anonymous]

I think about this all the time. We'd like to compost but getting all the bins can be expensive and I don't know if we have the time to take it to a compost center ourselves, but the services that come to your house can be pricy. A lot of more eco-friendly products are more expensive. I'd like to reduce the amount of red meat we eat, but making filling meals without meat takes more time and the ingredients can be more expensive. I'd like to switch more of our short car trips to walking/biking, but this would work best with an electric-assist cargo bike and they are pricy, too. And on and on.

Some eco-friendly things are more cost-effective though. I try to go hard on those as much as I can. We've really reduced how much we buy in general in the last few years, almost entirely eliminating new clothes (we buy used and try to do so locally whenever possible), new kids gear (buy nothing groups and soliciting hand me downs from friends), books (library and used book stores), and other consumer items. We choose to live in a small home (condo) that is walking distance to a lot of stuff (school, store, public transportation) which reduces our carbon footprint. All that stuff costs less than the less "green" alternatives, for the most part. The main thing it costs is time and effort.

But everyone has their limits. There is only so much we can do. What we really need is the political will to make policy change. Individual choices are nice but I'm not even sure how much they move the needle unless you get many others to make the same choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think about this all the time. We'd like to compost but getting all the bins can be expensive and I don't know if we have the time to take it to a compost center ourselves, but the services that come to your house can be pricy. A lot of more eco-friendly products are more expensive. I'd like to reduce the amount of red meat we eat, but making filling meals without meat takes more time and the ingredients can be more expensive. I'd like to switch more of our short car trips to walking/biking, but this would work best with an electric-assist cargo bike and they are pricy, too. And on and on.

Some eco-friendly things are more cost-effective though. I try to go hard on those as much as I can. We've really reduced how much we buy in general in the last few years, almost entirely eliminating new clothes (we buy used and try to do so locally whenever possible), new kids gear (buy nothing groups and soliciting hand me downs from friends), books (library and used book stores), and other consumer items. We choose to live in a small home (condo) that is walking distance to a lot of stuff (school, store, public transportation) which reduces our carbon footprint. All that stuff costs less than the less "green" alternatives, for the most part. The main thing it costs is time and effort.

But everyone has their limits. There is only so much we can do. What we really need is the political will to make policy change. Individual choices are nice but I'm not even sure how much they move the needle unless you get many others to make the same choices.

And who, pray tell, is going to pay for these “policy changes?”

[Anonymous]

Agreed. We got a plug in electric car during the pandemic and paid a lot for it. I still love it. We almost never need gas. But not sure it was a financially sound move since we had a paid off newish rav 4 we traded in.

I want to get solar panels, but thats so confusing.

Also will change gas fireplace to electric. We’ll keep our gas stove but naybe get an electric kettle.
I grew up vegetarian but my kids and husband eat meat. I need to convert them slowly.

[Anonymous]

I use the sheets because they're convenient, but you can be eco conscious with a cardboard box of Oxyclean powder. The most effective change has to happen at corporate levels - manufacturing, packaging, power plants - and the most effective things we can do individuals are buy less stuff (reduce reuse), eat less meat, and fly less. Compost if you want to but putting food scraps in landfill is not hurting the earth.

[Anonymous]

To 21:50 who mentions red meat, you can make the same filling meals for cheaper with turkey and chicken, which are easier on the planet than beef.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think about this all the time. We'd like to compost but getting all the bins can be expensive and I don't know if we have the time to take it to a compost center ourselves, but the services that come to your house can be pricy. A lot of more eco-friendly products are more expensive. I'd like to reduce the amount of red meat we eat, but making filling meals without meat takes more time and the ingredients can be more expensive. I'd like to switch more of our short car trips to walking/biking, but this would work best with an electric-assist cargo bike and they are pricy, too. And on and on.

Some eco-friendly things are more cost-effective though. I try to go hard on those as much as I can. We've really reduced how much we buy in general in the last few years, almost entirely eliminating new clothes (we buy used and try to do so locally whenever possible), new kids gear (buy nothing groups and soliciting hand me downs from friends), books (library and used book stores), and other consumer items. We choose to live in a small home (condo) that is walking distance to a lot of stuff (school, store, public transportation) which reduces our carbon footprint. All that stuff costs less than the less "green" alternatives, for the most part. The main thing it costs is time and effort.

But everyone has their limits. There is only so much we can do. What we really need is the political will to make policy change. Individual choices are nice but I'm not even sure how much they move the needle unless you get many others to make the same choices.

Do you have a yard?

[Anonymous]

How annoying to invest in our future.

[Anonymous]

Generally sympathize with this complaint, but there's no way that eating beef is cheaper than eating other sources of protein, nearly all of which have less environmental impact.

[Anonymous]

If it makes you feel any better, the laundry sheets, according to consumer reports are absolute garbage when it comes to actually cleaning laundry. So you're not missing out by thinking they're too expensive to switch to.

[Anonymous]

Of course. Try to make you feel guilty into paying more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use the sheets because they're convenient, but you can be eco conscious with a cardboard box of Oxyclean powder. The most effective change has to happen at corporate levels - manufacturing, packaging, power plants - and the most effective things we can do individuals are buy less stuff (reduce reuse), eat less meat, and fly less. Compost if you want to but putting food scraps in landfill is not hurting the earth.

+1. Individuals changing doesn't move the needle much. If all corporations decided to stop using plastic packaging, imagine the type of impact that would make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep getting slammed with ads for these eco laundry detergent sheets. Finally clicked and my they are pricey! Like everything else compared to its mainstream brand. Added all together it’s too much. I feel guilty but just can’t stomach the cost. Is it price gouging or it actually costs that much more?

Laundry sheets?? That is like ground zero for unnecessary thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think about this all the time. We'd like to compost but getting all the bins can be expensive and I don't know if we have the time to take it to a compost center ourselves, but the services that come to your house can be pricy. A lot of more eco-friendly products are more expensive. I'd like to reduce the amount of red meat we eat, but making filling meals without meat takes more time and the ingredients can be more expensive. I'd like to switch more of our short car trips to walking/biking, but this would work best with an electric-assist cargo bike and they are pricy, too. And on and on.

Some eco-friendly things are more cost-effective though. I try to go hard on those as much as I can. We've really reduced how much we buy in general in the last few years, almost entirely eliminating new clothes (we buy used and try to do so locally whenever possible), new kids gear (buy nothing groups and soliciting hand me downs from friends), books (library and used book stores), and other consumer items. We choose to live in a small home (condo) that is walking distance to a lot of stuff (school, store, public transportation) which reduces our carbon footprint. All that stuff costs less than the less "green" alternatives, for the most part. The main thing it costs is time and effort.

But everyone has their limits. There is only so much we can do. What we really need is the political will to make policy change. Individual choices are nice but I'm not even sure how much they move the needle unless you get many others to make the same choices.

Do you have a yard?

Corporations who pollute, obviously! And sometimes it doesn't cost that much. Like corporations were banned from using that chemical that caused holes in the ozone now we don't have to worry about holes in the ozone. That would not have happened if we had just depended on individuals to buy different products.