[Rjevski]

Don't have much to say about how to do things, but I'd say try to reduce the number of things to do, so the little you still have to do won't be a big deal.

For example, I only communicate with companies/suppliers via email/phone (and change suppliers if they can't accommodate that). This means any physical mail that arrives must be spam, and goes in the trash without even being opened - anything I care about would instead come through phone or email. This means I haven't needed to fiddle with papers for ages, while my flatmate still wastes a good 10 minutes almost every day reading incoming mail (and then putting it into a huge pile she'll eventually have to sort out - akin to technical debt).

Bills are paid out automatically (via "Direct Debit") so I don't have to worry about that either.

Shopping is taken care by Amazon subscriptions, which means new stuff arrives soon before the old boxes run out. Haven't been grocery shopping in ages.

Food is handled by Deliveroo/Uber Eats, so no cooking necessary. I use throwaway forks & plates so no dish washing necessary either.

Cleaning/housekeeping is handled by a company that does it every week in the flat while I'm away, so no worries about that either.

Not all of this is possible for everyone (things might be different depending on your location, whether you have a family, your financial situation) but personally it works great for now and I have plenty of time when I get home. Basically for anything that you're doing, try to see if there's a way to not do it at all or to outsource it to someone else (who might be an expert at it and thus do it more efficiently than you can).

[toomanybeersies]

I wouldn't call using Ubereats and hiring cleaners to be increasing efficiency, but rather outsourcing your work.

Throwaway plates and forks are also terrible inefficient from an environmental point of view. Also, don't you find it less enjoyable to eat with plastic tableware? What I've found works best for me is to minimise the number of plates and forks you have in the house. If you only have one plate, you just wash it every time you use it, takes 30 seconds max. If you have a bunch of plates, then you always put off washing them, and then you have a whole stack.

[hak8or]

This will bite you in the ass in the future. If you are in the USA, some entities who you should defneitly pay attention to do initial communication only through mail.

For example, if the IRS wants something for you they will never call you first. Heck, they defneitly won't send you an email first. Instead, they send you a letter.

If you are in the process of identity theft, you will want to keep a close eye on your mail to verify there aren't any letters about an account you just opened.

[Rjevski]

Yep, I imagined it would be a problem in the US. I am in the UK though, where you pretty much don't have to do anything as far as taxes go when you're a simple employee, and if you do have to deal with the taxman, you can do pretty much everything online and get email notifications.

However, wouldn't important letters (like urgent communication from the IRS or similar government agency) that could have consequences if unread be sent as registered letters (where at least in the UK and France the mailman personally hands it to you and asks for a signature)?

[NSAID]

Not in the US. I've received one or two important letters from the IRS (that is, I unintentionally owed them money) that arrived via regular post. I'm not sure if that speaks to the reliability of the USPS or a lack of imagination on the IRS's part (or maybe the government trusts the government postal service?). Certainly people and businesses do use registered and certified mail, but not everyone.

[hakfoo]

I think it's a matter of "they'll try normal mail, then if it doesn't get a response, they'll resort to registered mail."

It's a legal CYA matter probably, more than a government-collusion thing- registered mail comes with a tight chain of custody ending in a signature confirmation, so you couldn't claim "I never got the notice" when they started to ask for a judgement.

[wink]

Same in Germany though. I get my voter registration paper thingy via snail mail, or new bank/credit cards, or the PINs to the new cards. A lot of important stuff, compared to the amount of spam I get.

I've not tried to eliminate paper stuff from the electrial company, neither the yearly report from the landlord. But I spend maybe 10 minutes combined per week reading mail, including spam I throw out. I'm confused now :P

[nso95]

Disposable forks and plates seems wasteful

[Rjevski]

Plates are paper so the environmental impact should be relatively low. I agree that the plastic forks are still a problem but haven't really found a solution. I do wonder though, would never having to wash dishes offset the impact of disposable cutlery?

Edit: never mind, see below. Apparently paper still has a ton of impact as far as manufacturing it goes (it's not just renewable trees, there are chemicals involved).

[toomanybeersies]

I had to figure this out for an assignment at university. The answer is no, it doesn't offset the impact of disposable cutlery. Plates are a bit trickier, since they break, but cutlery lasts practically forever, I've got 30 year old knives and forks that are still going strong.

This is especially true if you use a dishwasher, modern dishwashers are very efficient.

[Topgamer7]

The creation of paper is chemically intensive, from processing to dyes to color it. It is not environmentally friendly.

[kimdotcom]

So, no toilet paper and paper towels then?

Just a washcloth and bidet?

[Topgamer7]

Certainly more environmentally friendly, although transitioning to those for public settings requires more maintenance and procedure than simply having a waste basket in the bathroom.

My girlfriend did exchange in Brazil and fell in love with bidets there.

[nso95]

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Stix-Cutlery-Kit-200ct-Dispos...

[jolmg]

Offset the impact on the environment? I don't think so. How is it harmful to the environment if you wash dishes?

[Rjevski]

Well you use water. My question was whether paper plates (which I - wrongly - assumed were pretty much free from an environment point of view) had a lower impact than purifying & transporting water (and the maintenance of pipes/etc) needed to wash conventional cutlery.

[jolmg]

I might be very ignorant here, but I would think that anything that goes down the drain is very biodegradable (it's food). Sure, it's better for the environment if we didn't contaminate the water with food, but I don't think it can compare to the time it takes for plastic or paper to break down.

[kimdotcom]

And the soap/detergent and food remnants being processed at the sewage plant, or the septic pumping truck that cleans out your tank and transports the waste.

[asah]

Why not go all the way, and live on Soylent?

[Rjevski]

Never tried that, and personally I still do enjoy the taste of "conventional" food, just not the experience of cooking it nor dealing with the mess afterwards.