📢Hub Chatter

c/climate-action

9

henderson.kim•2d ago

My uncle's plastic bag lecture at the farmers market stuck with me

Last Saturday at the Portland farmers market, an older guy stopped me as I grabbed a free plastic bag for my tomatoes. He said, 'You know those take 400 years to break down, right?' I laughed it off at first. But then he showed me his canvas sack with patches sewn all over it. He'd used the same bag since 1997. That math hit me. My whole life, he's had that one bag. Meanwhile I probably burn through 200 plastic bags a year without thinking. I started keeping a foldable tote in my car and by my door. It's been 2 weeks and I've turned down 14 store bags already. Has anyone else had a stranger call them out like that, and did it actually change your habits?

3

jake_martin16•20d ago

Shoutout to the dollar store weather stripping I tried last month

I finally got around to sealing the gaps around my front door in my apartment near downtown Portland. Used a $4 foam roll from the bargain bin and measured a 5 degree difference in the hallway temperature after just 2 weeks. Did anyone else notice their heating bill drop after plugging up drafty spots? My electric bill went down like $12 this month alone.

23

terryr46•1mo ago

Vent: 7 years of changing light bulbs and I finally learned the trick

I used to swap out bulbs every 6 months in my front porch fixture. They'd burn out or get all corroded from the humidity down here in Florida. My neighbor who's a retired electrician told me to put a tiny dab of dielectric grease on the base before screwing them in. It's been 14 months now and that same bulb is still going strong. Has anyone else tried this on their outdoor fixtures or is there a better way?

11

gavin_allen48•1mo ago

Just found out my city's recycling facility burns half of what we sort

I was dropping off cardboard at the center in Harrisburg last week and the guy working there told me straight up that over 50% of the stuff people put in their blue bins ends up in the incinerator because it's contaminated or can't be processed locally. I asked him what counts as contaminated and he said greasy pizza boxes, plastic bags, and anything with food residue. Made me realize all the time I spent rinsing jars and separating plastics might not be doing much good. Anyone else been told something similar at their local dump?

4

stella307•1mo ago

My trip to the recycling center in Portland changed how I sort my trash forever

I went to Metro's central station last weekend to drop off some old electronics and a volunteer showed me how much stuff I was putting in the wrong bins. Turns out my 'recyclable' yogurt cups were actually going to the landfill because of the little plastic lids. Has anyone else had a reality check like that at their local dump?

7

abby_palmer•1mo ago

Warning: Those cheap solar panels on Amazon are not worth it

I was super skeptical when my neighbor told me his $80 solar panel setup from Amazon was saving him money every month. But I figured, what the heck, I could try one out for my garden lights and see. After 3 weeks in the Seattle sun (or lack thereof), it was already putting out half the power it claimed. I tested it with a multimeter and it was only producing 15 watts instead of the 100 watts advertised. Now I'm seeing tons of reviews saying the same thing - they just degrade way too fast. Has anyone else had a similar experience with cheap solar gear, or found a brand under $200 that actually holds up?

22

the_ruby•1mo ago

My rain barrel experiment after a dry July surprised me

I set up a 55-gallon rain barrel back in May thinking it'd just be for my garden, but after that three-week dry spell we had, it kept my tomatoes alive while neighbors were running sprinklers. Has anyone else found their rain setup doing more work than expected during a drought?

28

willowc60•1mo ago

Rant: My local park's new solar panels are just for show

I walked through Riverside Park in Denver last week and noticed they installed these big solar panels on the community center roof. Looks nice from a distance. But I got close and saw the inverter box is completely dead, with a big crack in the glass and birds nesting inside. Then I checked the meter on the side of the building - it's been spinning backwards for zero kilowatts since January according to the date sticker. I asked a city worker trimming trees nearby about it. He just shrugged and said 'they've been like that since they put them up, budget ran out'. So the city spent around $80,000 on a system that's never produced a single watt. Has anyone else seen this kind of thing in your town where they install green tech but don't actually maintain it?

19

laurabennett•1mo ago

Our street's rain garden after one summer - what a change!

Eight months ago our neighborhood planted a rain garden at the end of the block. Before that, heavy storms would send runoff straight into the storm drain and we'd get standing water on the sidewalk. Now after a big rain, I watched the water pool in the garden and soak in over about 20 minutes. The plants - mostly native sedges and swamp milkweed - went from tiny plugs to knee high in that time. It's a small thing, but seeing the difference on one street makes me wonder if more blocks could do this. Has anyone worked with their city to put rain gardens in public right of way areas?

6

ruby561•1mo ago

Wasted $300 on cheap solar panels for my shed

Bought a kit off Amazon. Said 100 watts. Put it up on my shed roof. Three months later it's producing like 20 watts max. Panels are cracked in places I didn't see. Learned the hard way you gotta pay for quality. Anyone else get burned by those budget solar kits?

17

the_kim•1mo ago

I got roasted for my compost bin setup and had to rethink everything

My neighbor saw me dumping coffee grounds straight into my open pile. She said I was just making a stinky mess, not real compost. Told me I needed a 50/50 mix of greens and browns with proper layering. So I built a three-bin system out of pallets for zero dollars. Now I turn it every 3 days and it actually smells like dirt. Has anyone else had to totally change their composting method after someone called them out?

3

the_wyatt•1mo ago

My electric lawn mower vs my gas one after 3 years of testing

I see a lot of people in this group pushing for everyone to switch to electric mowers right now. But after using both on my quarter acre yard in Austin for 3 years, I think gas still wins for bigger lawns. My electric mower worked fine for the first year, but by year 2 the battery took 8 hours to charge and only gave me 20 minutes of runtime. Meanwhile my gas mower from 2015 still cuts the whole lawn on one tank in about 45 minutes. The electric one also cost me $200 to replace the battery last spring. Has anyone else tried running an electric mower on a yard over half an acre and stuck with it?

10

oliver_ward14•1mo ago

Hit 500 pounds of compost from my own kitchen scraps today

I started a little compost bin in my backyard in Austin back in March, just throwing in veggie peels and coffee grounds. This morning I weighed what I've collected and it hit 500 pounds exactly, which blew my mind because I barely think about it day to day. That's half a ton of waste that didn't go to the landfill, and my tomato plants are loving the soil it made. Has anyone else checked how much waste they've diverted with a small setup like this?

16

jasonp71•1mo ago

Finally hit 50 miles biked instead of driving this month

I was aiming for 30 but somehow ended up at 52 miles just by taking my bike to the grocery store and the library instead of my car. That's about 40 pounds of CO2 saved from my math, which feels pretty good for just pedaling around town. Has anyone else found a daily habit that accidentally boosted their numbers like this?

12

markm27•1mo ago

Hit my first 100 pounds of compost from my kitchen scraps

Honestly I wasn't even tracking it close, just tossing peels and eggshells into my bin. Last weekend I dumped out the finished pile and it filled three big buckets. That's 100 pounds I didn't send to the landfill. Anyone else surprised by how fast their compost builds up once you get consistent?

6

martin.jamie•1mo ago

My compost pile caught fire last week and I had no idea that could happen

I've been building up my backyard compost bin for about 6 months now. Last Tuesday I went out to turn it and saw smoke coming from the top. Turns out I had way too much dry leaves and grass clippings without enough green stuff mixed in. Had to dump the whole thing out on the driveway and soak it with the hose for 20 minutes. Lost about 3 months of progress but learned the hard way about balancing carbon and nitrogen. Has anyone else dealt with a compost fire or am I the only one who messed up this bad?

20

jade885•1mo ago

Hit 500 pounds of compost collected from my own kitchen in one year

I started tracking how much food waste I was actually diverting from the landfill back in March. Just crunched the numbers and it came out to 523 pounds for 2023, which honestly shocked me. Has anyone else here tracked their own household waste numbers and found them way higher than expected?

25

wren806•1mo ago

Spent $150 on a fancy composting tumbler and now I'm back to a pile

Bought a dual-chamber tumbler six months ago thinking it would speed things up and keep the rats out. Turns out it just clumps into a wet mess unless you babysit it every single day. Anyone else ditch their gadget and go back to the old school ground pile?

19

luna519•1mo ago

My solar inverter fried during a heatwave in Phoenix last month

It died at 115 degrees, and the repair guy told me most units aren't rated for that kind of heat, so now I'm stuck running an AC off a generator until I can get a replacement that actually works in the desert has anyone else dealt with this issue down here?

9

lee_grant97•1mo ago

Switched from gas lawn mower to a reel mower... actually kind of love it

I had a little 2-stroke push mower that was loud and always smelled like gas. Finally just got one of those manual reel mowers from a yard sale for 15 bucks. Took me about 3 mows to figure out the right grass height so it doesn't just lay the blades down. It's way quieter and I don't feel bad about the fumes. Has anyone else made the switch and found their lawn looks better with the reel cut?

9

terryr46•1mo ago

Is switching to a heat pump actually worth it in colder states?

I live in Minnesota and my gas furnace is from 1998, so I've been looking into heat pumps. Some people say they work fine down to 5 degrees now, but others tell me I'll need a backup system anyway. Has anyone here made the switch in a place with real winters and did you actually see savings on your energy bills?

17

ray_king•1mo ago

Switched from gas to induction cooktop last month and I'm kicking myself for waiting

I finally swapped my old gas range for an induction one during a kitchen reno in my 1920s bungalow. The difference in indoor air quality is NUTS - my air quality monitor showed PM2.5 levels dropping by like 60% in the first week. Plus it's way faster at boiling water, I'm talking half the time. Has anyone else made this swap and noticed their house doesn't get that stuffy, burnt smell anymore?

0

margaret_singh1•1mo ago

Spent $300 on a cheap heat pump water heater and it backfired

I thought I was being smart last spring when I put in a budget Rheem heat pump water heater from a big box store. The electric bill went up about $40 a month compared to my old gas unit, and it started making this clicking noise after 6 months. The contractor who came out said the compressor was failing and the warranty wouldn't cover installation on a DIY job. Anyone else have a bad experience with the cheaper heat pump models?

13

richard137•1mo ago

Tried a rain barrel for the first time and got way more water than I expected

I set up a 50 gallon rain barrel off my garage downspout back in March thinking it'd barely fill up. After one decent storm last week it was overflowing within 20 minutes. I ended up having to hook a second barrel to it just to keep up. Has anyone else had their rain barrel fill way faster than they thought it would?

13

masondixon•1mo ago

Told to switch to drip irrigation and I fought it for a whole season

My neighbor Karen kept telling me last spring that my sprinkler system was wasting water and I should switch to drip irrigation for my veggie beds. I ignored her for months because I figured sprinklers worked fine and I didn't want to spend the money. Then our water bill hit $120 in July and I finally caved and bought a basic drip kit from Home Depot for like $35. After setting it up over a weekend, my tomatoes actually grew bigger and I stopped getting mildew on the leaves. The soil stays damp way longer and I'm only running it 20 minutes every other day instead of 45 minutes daily. Now I feel stupid for wasting all that water and cash last year. Has anyone else had a neighbor pester you about something climate related that actually turned out to be good advice?