c/climate-action

Tbh, I just picked a heat pump over a new gas furnace for my house in Portland and the install was a nightmare.

A walk on the Oregon coast changed how I see 'natural' places

I visited Cannon Beach last week, a place I've gone for years to clear my head. This time, I really looked at the famous Haystack Rock. The park service signs talk about protecting the tide pools, but what got me was seeing the rock's base. The whole area around it is covered in a thick, black, tar-like goop. A volunteer told me it's from natural oil seeps, which have always been there, but the warming water and changing currents are making it spread more. I always thought of that beach as a pure, untouched spot, but it's actually changing right in front of us, and not in a slow way. It made me realize that even the places we set aside to protect are not safe from the bigger changes happening. It's not just about far-off glaciers. Has anyone else noticed a place they love changing in a clear, physical way like that?

My friend roasted my recycling bin setup

She came over, pointed at my single kitchen bin, and said 'You're just making more work for yourself, separate it at the source!' So I got two small bins for under the sink, one for paper and one for cans. What's the one eco-habit someone had to point out to you?

My electric bill in Phoenix dropped by $40 last month after I finally sealed the windows with that foam tape.

I spent a Tuesday afternoon doing it, and now I'm thinking about all the other little leaks in the house... has anyone else done a full home energy audit themselves?

Just realized my neighbor's quiet electric mower wasn't about being lazy, it was about the bees.

He told me over the fence last Saturday that his clover patch was finally getting pollinated again after he switched from his gas mower, because the noise and fumes weren't scaring them off anymore.

I got my whole block to stop using leaf blowers by starting a 'loudest rake' competition.

My friend said a heat pump would cut my heating bill in half, but my electric company says different

My buddy in Portland told me to replace my old gas furnace with a heat pump last fall, promising I'd see my heating costs drop by at least 50%. I went ahead and got one installed for about $8,000. Now, after a full winter, my bill is only about 20% lower, and the electric company says my rate went up. I feel like the tech is good for cutting emissions, but the savings story seems oversold unless you have solar. Has anyone else run the numbers and found the real cost benefit isn't as big as they claim?

My neighbor said his new SUV was 'green' because it gets 22 mpg

I was grabbing my mail yesterday and he was showing it off. He was totally serious, saying it was better for the planet than his old truck. It just hit me how messed up the marketing is, making people think a slight improvement is the same as real action. Has anyone else had a conversation like that that just left you shaking your head?

My rain barrel setup gave out in a big storm yesterday

I had it hooked up to my garage gutter for months, but the connector piece cracked right at the base during that heavy rain. Water just poured out all over the driveway instead of filling the barrel. I'm thinking I need a sturdier plastic or maybe a metal fitting. Has anyone found a good way to make these connections last longer?

Talking to my niece about her school's 'green team' made me realize something

She said they're focusing on 'adaptation' because the adults keep failing at 'prevention', which hit different coming from a 10-year-old. Has anyone else heard kids framing it that bluntly?

A talk with my uncle in Phoenix about his new electric truck

He was really proud of his new F-150 Lightning, saying it cut his fuel bill by about $150 a month. But then he mentioned he had to get a whole new home charger installed, which cost nearly $2,000. It got me thinking, for regular folks, is the upfront cost of going electric still too high, even with the long-term savings? Has anyone else run into this kind of sticker shock?

My cousin said my compost pile was basically just a wet leaf pile

I was super proud of my backyard compost setup, thinking I was doing a great thing. Then my cousin, who works on a farm, came over last month and just poked it with a stick. She said, 'River, this is anaerobic. It's all wet leaves and grass. You need way more brown stuff, like cardboard or dry straw, or it just turns to slime.' I felt a bit called out, but she was right. I started shredding my junk mail and old pizza boxes to mix in. After about three weeks, the whole pile heated up properly and stopped smelling weird. It made me realize a small action can be totally wrong if you don't know the basics. Has anyone else had a simple tip totally fix their home composting?

Vent: My $40 'smart' thermostat decided the perfect indoor climate is a tropical 85 degrees... in February.

I came home to a house that felt like a sauna and my heating bill was double the usual. Has anyone else had a gadget rebel against the whole energy-saving mission?

I finally looked at my electric bill's yearly summary and felt sick

I got my year-end statement from the power company last month. It showed my total kilowatt hours used, and I had to sit down. I used over 11,000 kWh for my small apartment. The real kicker was the month-by-month chart. My usage spiked every single summer, way more than in winter. I always thought I was careful, but I had my old AC unit set to 68 degrees all season long, and it must have been running non-stop. I never connected the dots between my comfort and that much power, most of which comes from coal here. I swapped it for a newer model and set it to 74, and my usage this month is already way lower. Has anyone else had a wake-up call from their utility bill like that?

Serious question, has anyone else tried a 'no-buy' month for specific items?

I realized my biggest personal waste was from impulse buying cheap plastic junk online. Last January, I banned myself from buying any new clothes, gadgets, or home decor for 30 days. It cut my trash output by about 40% and saved me nearly $300. What's one category you could stop buying for a month to see a similar impact?

Bought a $200 'smart' compost bin that turned into a science project

I saw an ad for this fancy indoor composter that promised to turn scraps into dirt in a week with no smell, so I put it on my kitchen counter. After two months of following the app, adding special pellets, and dealing with a weird slime, I just threw the whole thing out and went back to my old bucket system. Has anyone found a simple home compost setup that actually works without all the tech?

Saw a huge solar farm being built near my hometown in Iowa and it got me thinking

I drove past a new solar farm going up outside Des Moines last week. It's huge, maybe 200 acres of panels. On one hand, it's great to see clean energy being built right here, and it will power a lot of homes. But on the other hand, it used to be a corn field, and now it's just metal and glass. It makes me wonder if we are trading one problem for another. Are we helping the climate by using less coal, but hurting it by covering up good farmland that could grow food? I know we need solar power, but seeing all that land changed really stuck with me. What do you all think is the right balance between building clean energy and keeping our farmland?

TIL my cheap electric blanket was a huge waste

I bought a basic electric blanket for about $40 last winter, thinking it would let me turn the thermostat down at night. My power bill actually went up $15 a month because I kept forgetting to turn it off. Has anyone found a better way to stay warm without cranking the heat?

I thought heat pumps were just a fad for mild places, but my neighbor's unit changed my mind

I install a lot of heating systems, and for a long time I figured heat pumps were only good for places like the Pacific Northwest. Then my neighbor in Ohio got one installed last winter, and he showed me his power bills. Even when it hit 15 degrees outside in January, his new unit kept his house warm and his bill was 40 percent lower than the year before. Seeing real numbers from a cold climate was the proof I needed. Now I'm looking into getting certified to install them myself. Has anyone else made the switch in a colder state and seen good results?

A talk with my neighbor in Phoenix about his new AC unit really got me thinking

He just installed a huge new air conditioner for his house, which he said uses a ton of power but keeps his place at 68 degrees all summer. I mentioned how that adds to the heat island effect here and spikes energy use, but he just shrugged and said 'comfort comes first, and one person doesn't make a difference.' That stuck with me. Where do you draw the line between personal comfort and cutting back for the bigger picture?

My uncle told me to plant a tree in my yard back in 2018

He said it would make a real difference for shade and the air. I planted a maple sapling that spring, and now it's over 15 feet tall. The spot where it grows is at least 10 degrees cooler in the summer, and I see way more birds. What's a simple thing someone told you to do for the climate that actually worked out?

My neighbor called me out on my recycling bin last month

He pointed out I was putting plastic bags and styrofoam in the blue bin, which just gums up the whole sorting system. I had no idea our local plant in Springfield can't process that stuff. So now I take those to the grocery store drop-off instead. How many other simple rules are we all getting wrong?

My home insulation project turned into a three-week saga

I decided to add more insulation to my attic to cut down on heating costs and help the planet a bit. I figured it would be a weekend job, but finding a local supplier with the right recycled cellulose stuff took forever, and then my old blower machine broke. The whole thing ended up taking almost a month from start to finish. Anyone else have a simple green upgrade turn into a huge time sink?

My uncle tried to convince me his gas guzzler was green because he 'drives it slow'

Tbh, this happened at a family cookout in Cincinnati last summer. My uncle Ron was showing off his new truck, a huge thing that probably gets 12 miles to the gallon. I made a small joke about the carbon footprint, and he got real serious. He leaned in and said, 'Max, you don't get it. I drive this thing real gentle, never over 55. That makes it efficient, see? It's basically an eco-car.' He was totally serious, standing there next to this shiny black beast. I didn't even know how to respond without laughing. It just stuck with me as this perfect mix of good intentions and missing the point completely. Has anyone else had a family member come up with a wild justification for something that's clearly not climate friendly?

My town's 'no drive' week was a total mess (but also kind of amazing).