c/climate-action

Spent $250 on a rain barrel setup for my garden in Portland and it paid for itself in 3 months during last summer's drought.

I figured it would take a year or two to break even but with water prices going up and the city restrictions on outdoor use, that barrel saved my tomato plants and my water bill way faster than I thought - anyone else seen a bigger return than expected from a simple setup like that?

2 comments

paige870•1d ago

I finally got my compost bin to stop smelling like rotten eggs

I tried layering browns and greens for six months but the bin still smelled awful last summer. Then I added shredded cardboard from my Amazon boxes every time I put in food scraps and the smell disappeared in three days. Has anyone else figured out a simple fix like this for their bin?

1 comments

dakota_rivera•2d ago

Rant: My neighbor said solar panels are a scam, then his electric bill hit $300 in August

This guy Tom from down the street told me last spring that solar was overpriced garbage and I'd never break even. I went ahead anyway and got a 6kW system for my house in Phoenix, paid $14,000 after the tax credit. Now Tom's got $300 monthly bills in summer and my electric bill is basically zero, plus SRP actually pays me for extra power. Has anyone else had people try to talk them out of solar only to see the numbers work out totally different?

2 comments

sethc12•3d ago

Finally got my neighborhood composting bin full for the first time this week

I started a backyard compost pile back in April and it's been mostly kitchen scraps and dead leaves, but I finally filled a 55 gallon bin on Tuesday after my neighbor brought over her grass clippings. The pile actually heated up to 140 degrees for two days, which felt like a real win after months of just soggy mess. Has anyone else had a hard time getting enough brown material to balance out all the green waste?.

2 comments

sage_perry•3d ago

Just figured out I've been overwatering my native garden for 2 years

I was treating my drought-tolerant plants like regular veggies and wondered why everything was rotting. A ranger at the Santa Monica mountains told me most native plants only need water once a month in summer, has anyone else made this mistake with their climate-friendly yard?

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ray_webb6•5d ago

Dropped $200 on a smart thermostat last winter

Figured out after three months that just turning the heat down by 2 degrees saved me $40 on the gas bill alone. Anyone else find a small change that actually paid off quick?

2 comments

mason361•6d ago

Installed a rain barrel last spring and ended up with more mosquitoes than water saved

I thought putting a rain barrel under my downspout in Portland would be a simple way to cut my water bill. After three months I noticed the barrel was breeding mosquitoes like crazy because I didn't seal the screen properly. I used a cheap 50 gallon plastic barrel from a garden store and the lid never fit tight. Now I'm wondering if the hassle of treating the water and cleaning the filter is worth the 200 gallons a month I'm saving. Has anyone else dealt with mosquito problems from rain collection and found a fix that actually works?

2 comments

jordan653•7d ago

Picked native shrubs over a privacy fence and it worked out better than I expected

Last spring I had to decide between planting a row of arborvitae or putting up a wooden fence along my backyard property line. I went with a mix of ninebark and serviceberry bushes instead, figuring they'd help the bugs and birds more. Two years in, they're already taller than I thought they'd be and I've spotted goldfinches and butterflies I never saw before. The only downside is it took a full season before they started looking good, but my neighbor actually copied the idea for her own yard. Anyone else tried replacing hardscapes with plants and seen a difference?

2 comments

johnfoster•7d ago

My neighbor laughed when I talked about swapping my lawn for native plants

I live outside of Denver and last spring I tore up my front yard grass to put in prairie flowers and shrubs. My neighbor Bill said I was nuts and that it would look like a weed patch by July. He told me to just keep the lawn and use a weed killer instead. Well after two months the plants took off and I had bees and butterflies all over. Bill's lawn was brown by August from the drought while mine stayed green with no extra water. I saved about $40 a month on my water bill compared to last year. Has anyone else had neighbors push back on climate friendly changes like this?

2 comments

spencer_johnson22•8d ago

I finally realized my recycling habits were actually making things worse

For like 5 years I was tossing soft plastics in the curbside bin, thinking I was doing good. Then a guy at the local transfer station in Austin told me they just get sent to landfill anyway because our facility can't process them. Anyone else find out they've been recycling wrong their whole life?

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river182•8d ago

Switched from paper towels to reusable cloth wipes for cleaning

At my place in Portland I ran through a roll a week. Then I grabbed 20 bar mop towels from Costco for $15. Now I just toss em in the wash with hot water and vinegar. Way less trash. Anyone else cut down on single use stuff around the house?

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felix_jones•12d ago

My big climate blind spot was grass lawns. A drought in June 2022 tipped me off.

I used to think a nice green lawn was just... normal. Part of having a house. Then we had that bad drought two summers ago and my lawn went brown no matter how much I watered it. My neighbor across the street let his go completely dormant and it came back fine after rain. Meanwhile I was dumping hundreds of gallons a week on something that just wanted to sleep. Made me realize how much water and gas I was burning for basically a carpet. Anyone else have a 'lawn moment' where they questioned the whole thing?

2 comments

parker_bell•14d ago

Overheard a guy at the bus stop say solar panels don't work in cloudy places

I bit my tongue but Germany gets way less sun than Seattle and they're still cranking out solar like crazy so that argument just doesn't hold up, has anyone else run into this myth and how do you shut it down politely?

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sean_murray•16d ago

PSA: Noticed my monthly power bill dropped $30 after swapping 12 bulbs to LED

Last month I finally replaced all the old incandescent bulbs in my apartment with LEDs. I live in Portland and my electric bill has been creeping up every summer. After the swap, I saw a $30 decrease on my latest bill without changing my habits. Has anyone else noticed similar savings from just switching bulbs?

2 comments

the_anthony•16d ago

That time a solar installer told me I didn't need to clean my panels at all

Guy from a local company in Phoenix said rain would wash them off and I was wasting money on cleaning. After two years without a wash, my electricity output dropped by nearly 15% according to my monitoring app. I finally climbed up there with a hose and squeegee and got back to normal. Anyone else get bad advice from pros who should know better?

2 comments

hunt.rowan•17d ago

Why does nobody talk about how bad plastic bags are for recycling trucks

Was behind a recycling truck last Tuesday on Main Street. Saw bags of plastic just flying out the back. The driver told me they jam the sorting machines constantly. Has anyone else noticed this problem in their town?

2 comments

faith_lopez48•19d ago

My electric lawnmower vs the gas one my neighbor swears by

Tried my neighbor's gas mower last Saturday because mine was charging. The noise alone made me want to rip my ears off, plus I smelled like a gas station for hours. Has anyone else noticed how much quieter electric mowers are for early morning cuts before the sun gets brutal?

2 comments

hugo50•21d ago

Finally admitted my worm bin idea was actually legit after 3 months of zero waste kitchen scraps.

I was sure composting with red wigglers in a plastic tub would just turn into a smelly mess in my garage, but after 92 days I've got rich dirt and no fruit flies at all. Anyone else find a method they were dead wrong about?

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jakewhite•24d ago

My neighbor in Phoenix showed me why she waters at 3am

Last summer I complained to my neighbor Carol about my skyrocketing water bill from watering my lawn at noon. She laughed and said she only waters between 3 and 5am when evaporation is almost zero. She showed me her setup with a simple $20 timer from Home Depot and her bill was $40 less than mine that month. Has anyone else found that shifting watering times actually made a real dent in their utility costs?

2 comments

hall.ruby•24d ago

Appreciation post: That $250 smart thermostat that paid for itself in 9 months

I finally swapped out my old furnace thermostat for a smart one last winter. It cost me $250 including installation, but my gas bill dropped from $180 a month to around $110. I set it to drop the heat way down when I'm at the shop or asleep, and it just learns my schedule. The savings really added up fast through the cold months here in Cleveland. Anybody else see big savings after making that switch?

2 comments

nathan_bailey•24d ago

Blew $200 on cheap solar panels from Amazon that barely worked

I bought two 100 watt panels off Amazon for like $180 total last summer. Thought I was saving big for my backyard setup. They put out maybe 40 watts each on a sunny day in Phoenix. After three months one just stopped working completely. I ended up buying a proper Renogy panel for $150 that actually does 100 watts. Anyone else get burned by those cheap Amazon solar kits?

2 comments

mason.paige•25d ago

Had a chat with a retiree at the bus stop that stuck with me

I was waiting for the 42 bus last Tuesday and an older guy named Frank started talking about how he used to refill his own glass milk bottles in the 70s... no plastic, no waste. He pointed at the recycling bin on the corner and said "we've been trying to fix what we broke for 50 years." Made me wonder if we're ever gonna get back to that kind of simple system... has anyone else met someone who made them rethink their daily habits?

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stone.evan•28d ago

Found out my old fridge was using more power than my AC unit

I was looking at my utility bill last month and noticed the fridge was pulling 18 kWh a day. I looked it up online and found out fridges from before 2001 can use triple the energy of new ones. Has anyone else checked their fridge's power usage with a plug-in meter?

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west.alice•28d ago

Swapped to a programmable thermostat and saw my electric bill drop $18 in one month

I switched out my old dial thermostat for a $30 programmable one from Home Depot last month. It automatically turns the heat down while I'm at work and warms up right before I get home. Anyone else notice a quick change in their bills after making this switch?

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ivan211•29d ago

Found a weird backyard trick that cut my electric bill by $40 a month

I live in Phoenix and my AC was running nonstop during summer. My buddy told me to plant a row of tall bushes along the west side of my house to shade the wall. I thought he was messing with me but I grabbed some $5 privacy shrubs from the nursery. Now my AC kicks on half as much and my neighbor asked if I started a hedge business. Has anyone else tried landscaping as a climate hack?

3 comments