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There are also simple things that one can do, that have an impact. For example, one could go on holiday to a local destination rather than flying half the world
by danieldk 9y ago
There are also simple things that one can do, that have an impact. For example, one could go on holiday to a local destination rather than flying half the world. Or you could cycle to work rather than traveling by car every day.
(Sure, in the grand scheme of things, these will make small differences, but we have to cut our use of fossil fuel everywhere.)
- ShorsHammer 9y agoHaving one less child has far more of an impact than all of those lifestyle changes combined.
- jtzhou 9y agoAnd providing education for and/or adopting other children so that they learn how to live responsibly.
- toasterlovin 9y agoYeah, but then you are probably reducing the frequency of people who care about the environment in future populations, which may be a net loss.
- ShorsHammer 9y agoExtrapolating that out environmentally concerned people should have as many children as possible and outbreed those not concerned about greenhouse emissions? Such a statement seems to assume that the mind is an immutable object only created in childhood. While it certainly causes cognitive dissonance for some, an SUV driving redneck carnivore with no children has created far less emissions than a public transport using vegan environmentalist with 2 kids. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541
- toasterlovin 9y agoMostly I’m just saying that, given that most aspects of personality are 30-80% heritable, I think people should really think twice before contributing to a future with less long-term thinkers in it.
- ShorsHammer 9y agoCertainly do understand the motivation, it just seems like a race environmentalists can't win. There are better ways to change minds.
- xg15 9y agoOr you could try to affect the things that do matter in the grand scheme of things: E.g , demand more regulation for CO2-heavy industries, find ways to support CO2-neutral energy production, demand anti-deforestation clauses in trade agreements, etc.
- toasterlovin 9y agoI think this advice can be simplified greatly: reduce your expenditures. If you're spending less money, then you are consuming a smaller share of the world's bounty.
- Decade 9y agoReducing energy use doesn’t necessarily mean reducing expenditures. I mean, reducing expenditures can be good if you’re saving for something else, but you don’t have to. Instead of buying and fueling the car, you can buy the luxury bicycle. Instead of flying to Venice, you can rent a sailing yacht. Or whatever is local to your area. It’s like dieting. The impulse is to reduce, naturally because you’re cutting things out, but eventually you figure out that you can fill your life with other experiences.
- api 9y agoIf you save that money instead it goes into a pool that is invested in things that then go and spend it elsewhere.
- toasterlovin 9y agoSo your position is that personal consumption does not result in additional resource usage?
- api 9y agoI'm not completely sure. I just know how modern economies work. If I don't use it, the economy optimizes so that someone else will.