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Consume less. Don't buy useless things. Don't drive a car. Don't fly. Buy your electricity from a sustainable source. Eat less meat. Try to get other people

by qplex 10y ago

Consume less. Don't buy useless things. Don't drive a car. Don't fly. Buy your electricity from a sustainable source. Eat less meat. Try to get other people to do the same. I find it's hard to do most of these things, and I don't really have much hope that people will change their habits. Most people don't even realise that they live in an illusion of reality where "everything is possible, you just have try hard enough".

gambiting 10y ago
Sure, I try to do that, and then I realise that just one US state is burning off millions of dollars worth of natural gas per day[0] , purely because it's too cheap to make it worth capturing. Or I go back to my home country and see people burning rubbish and mud coal and realise I can't breathe in winter and the snow is black/grayish. So you know, at some point you think to yourself - why would I stop driving my Euro 6-compliant, modern, very efficient car, that is extremely heavily taxed to offset pollution, to make....what difference? I know if a million other people made the same choice it would make a difference, but it's the same as telling someone who is already leading a very considerate, very heavily taxed lifestyle that they should do their part too, while their neighbour is clearly burning plastic in their front yard, and no one cares. It's a weird one, because I don't want to say "it's ok for me to pollute a little bit, because there are people who pollute lots", but damn, it is super hard to justify making life even more expensive for myself. [0] http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dakota-gas-flaring-20140717-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dakota-gas-flaring-20140...
- qplex 10y ago
  I agree, it's not easy to justify. "Would you like to breathe some unfiltered exhaust on the side of the road, completely unprotected from the heavy vehicles that pass by at high speeds? Bicycling! Health benefits!" But seriously, if there is no infrastructure, its quite hard to sell something that depends on it.
deepvibrations 10y ago
CONSUME LESS! I feel like that really is the key- A holistic approach is best- trying to be aware of the impact you have across the board. Eg. It's not much good being vegetarian if you're also drinking a few bottles of water from plastic bottles everyday. Preaching to others is not that effective, so leading by example is the only way in my opinion!
- qplex 10y ago
  Sadly the people who hold the most visible positions in our society lead by an example of unchecked hedonistic consumption. I don't think there is much hope for real change if the systematic problems are not addressed. And of course, showing a good example is still a worthy cause.

by qplex 10y ago

gambiting 10y ago

Sure, I try to do that, and then I realise that just one US state is burning off millions of dollars worth of natural gas per day[0] , purely because it's too cheap to make it worth capturing. Or I go back to my home country and see people burning rubbish and mud coal and realise I can't breathe in winter and the snow is black/grayish. So you know, at some point you think to yourself - why would I stop driving my Euro 6-compliant, modern, very efficient car, that is extremely heavily taxed to offset pollution, to make....what difference? I know if a million other people made the same choice it would make a difference, but it's the same as telling someone who is already leading a very considerate, very heavily taxed lifestyle that they should do their part too, while their neighbour is clearly burning plastic in their front yard, and no one cares. It's a weird one, because I don't want to say "it's ok for me to pollute a little bit, because there are people who pollute lots", but damn, it is super hard to justify making life even more expensive for myself. [0] http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dakota-gas-flaring-20140717-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dakota-gas-flaring-20140...

qplex 10y ago
I agree, it's not easy to justify. "Would you like to breathe some unfiltered exhaust on the side of the road, completely unprotected from the heavy vehicles that pass by at high speeds? Bicycling! Health benefits!" But seriously, if there is no infrastructure, its quite hard to sell something that depends on it.

deepvibrations 10y ago

CONSUME LESS! I feel like that really is the key- A holistic approach is best- trying to be aware of the impact you have across the board. Eg. It's not much good being vegetarian if you're also drinking a few bottles of water from plastic bottles everyday. Preaching to others is not that effective, so leading by example is the only way in my opinion!

qplex 10y ago
Sadly the people who hold the most visible positions in our society lead by an example of unchecked hedonistic consumption. I don't think there is much hope for real change if the systematic problems are not addressed. And of course, showing a good example is still a worthy cause.