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As the article mentions, individuals can do something about corporate pollution: - Buy less stuff. Corporations produce waste because we buy their stuff. Get t

As the article mentions, individuals can do something about corporate pollution: - Buy less stuff. Corporations produce waste because we buy their stuff. Get the stuff you still buy from more environmentally-friendly companies, if possible. - Political action. Corporations need to be regulated and that can only happen through political action. Lobbies may have a lot of power, but in the end, it's the citizens who vote.

pdimitar 8y ago
> Buy less stuff. This is becoming harder and harder with time. Believe me, I would love to buy my kitchen stove, washing machine, refrigerator, aspirator, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner from a local manufacturer. But there are none. How many household brands do really exist and how many are actually known and bought by almost everyone? Additionally, even if you are an idealist who wants to be the change they want to see, you will still need a bunch of tech gadgets to connect with the world and try to change it -- like a good smartphone and laptop that don't suck. Not every $100 piece of trash will do the job. And the cheaper tech might have actually had much more negative impact on the planet's CO2 footprint. It's very complex and thus no black-and-white solutions exist. Some corps like Apple and Samsung seem hellbent on testing the customers' patience with higher prices every year and it will definitely bite them back at one point. That much is true. > Political action. Never in my life, not once, have I seen citizens voting actually change anything of significance in a country. Have you? And we're talking less than 10 years here. "These things take time" seems pretty shallow and empty as a justification for things not happening.
- eeZah7Ux 8y ago
  Political action is much more than just voting and it's been the major source of social changes in the last 200 years.
  - pdimitar 8y ago
    Not where I live, but I am aware that's not representative for the entire world. I am happy for the places where it works. Not sarcastic.
    - yread 8y ago
      Uh, you live in a place without weekends, women's voting rights or laws against child labour?
      - pdimitar 8y ago
        I live in Eastern Europe, where drastic social changes only happen if the politicians see a crowd with pitchworks and torches at the town hall. Literally. People around here are just realists because no significant changes ever comes before people get that fed up. Civil discourse and constructive discussion has so far netted us nothing but dossiers and people landing on dissident lists. This happens to this day. No need to be snarky.
        yread 8y ago
        > pitchforks at the town hall Hey, do you live in Prague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague ? Don't let the czech mentality get to you, people there complain just for fun.
        pdimitar 8y ago
        Bulgaria. :) It's easy to write us off Eastern Europeans as "complaining just for fun" though. Many do but when you get to the bottom of it, real change happens extremely rare. And that's a valid argument and a historical background to have. But regular-complainers and realistic-no-BS-folk often get conflated by external observers -- to my despair.
  - kiliantics 8y ago
    Yes, everyone seems to forget how those social changes were brought about: large unionised workforces that threatened strikes that would topple the economy, or mass protests and civil disobedience on similarly threatening scales. Of course, it's much nicer for those in power to have us believe that voting is all you need.
- robotbikes 8y ago
  If you are really dedicated you can buy used equipment that will substantially lower the impact of production of new goods. Older appliances might break more and require more maintenance but are repairable for the most part. Additionally you can get pretty good deals on last years tech that is still pretty cool.
  - pdimitar 8y ago
    Oh I agree but the last year's tech is also from the big brands, no? While the CO2-reductions / reduce-corporations-influence argument usually tells you to buy locally sourced stuff. I'd very much like to but there really are no such local vendors. :(
- D_Alex 8y ago
  >Never in my life, not once, have I seen citizens voting actually change anything of significance in a country Do you mean in the US? Examples that spring to mind in other countries are: gay marriage equality (Australia), independence (East Timor, plus probably others... Scotland and New Caledonia rejected independence by plebiscite), conscription (Austria), abortion (Ireland), migrant intake (Hungary) etc... and of course Brexit.
  - pdimitar 8y ago
    I am from Eastern Europe. Here nothing ever changes politically-wise. The politicians expend a lot of PR effort to make things look like they are changing but they don't and it's pretty visible even for the not very well educated population.
    - grussergraph 8y ago
      That generally describes the US, except the propaganda has a larger budget.
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  Believe me, I would love to buy my kitchen stove, washing machine, refrigerator, aspirator, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner from a local manufacturer. I gave up my car more than a decade ago. I haven't owned a vacuum cleaner in years. I live in a cheap rental with a wood floor. We strictly enforce taking shoes off just inside the front door to prevent dirt from being tracked in so we don't have to clean as much. I currently live in a hundred year old building that doesn't have air conditioning. I'm interested in buying a home. Once I get a home, I will likely do what I can to use passive solar approaches to keeping the place comfortable with a minimum of electricity year round. Passive solar design relies heavily on things like insulation and thermal mass. It tends to produce higher comfort levels than forced air heat while being cheaper in the long run. Unfortunately, passive solar works best when it is incorporated at the design stage of a building. There are limits to how much you can retrofit a building with it. I don't assume that the culture we have currently is the one we will have in the future. I have spent some years working to design the kind of life I want rather than just accepting that the way my life was is all that will ever be. I own a lot less than I used to. I have a higher quality of life. For one thing, my life is no longer being consumed by cleaning and maintaining a giant pile of possessions, so I have more time for having a life. Intended as food for thought. Best.
  - pdimitar 8y ago
    More power to you. I do part of these things already but (1) it's a gradual process, (2) I have a ton of other issues to deal with first so I cannot religiously purse lesser CO2 footprint (like personal health; it takes precedence over other venues), and (3) I am asked to trust other organizations -- f.ex. that throwing away stuff in certain trash cans helps the planet (which I don't mind at all; surely it makes some difference). I agree that owning less things equals more peace of mind. But I am not quite there yet, I am still in a very active and hectic phase of my life where I am gradually correcting a ton of past mistakes. I do aim to have less in time. I came to feel the increased stress from more possessions. What I am saying is -- thanks for the insight. I am on the same road but not quite so far ahead as yourself.
    - DoreenMichele 8y ago
- danielbarla 8y ago
  The first point speaks to the "reduce" in the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle". It's not so important where your washing machine was made, more important how you make use of it - e.g., do you run it at 40 degrees or 30? Etc. Other examples are using dryers when you could just hang things out to dry.
- troyvit 8y ago
  > This is becoming harder and harder with time. Believe me, I would love to buy my kitchen stove, washing machine, refrigerator, aspirator, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner from a local manufacturer. But there are none. How many household brands do really exist and how many are actually known and bought by almost everyone? Buy used, it's totally worth it! > Never in my life, not once, have I seen citizens voting actually change anything of significance in a country. Have you? And we're talking less than 10 years here. "These things take time" seems pretty shallow and empty as a justification for things not happening. Start local. National politics is a distraction anyway; it's your city and state politics that matter. Our town, through a popular measure, banned fracking in the city limits. We got sued and the ban was struck down by the supreme court, but now we pay oil companies to stay out of the city limits. It's money the town spends because its citizens want to stay healthy. Now there's a statewide proposal on the ballot today that does a similar thing (https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_112,_Minimum_Distance_Requirements_for_New_Oil,_Gas,_and_Fracking_Projects_Initiative_(2018) https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_112,_Minimum_Di...). Our town contributed to this proposition. Political action at a local level works.
  - pdimitar 8y ago
    "Start local" is... actually a very solid and sensible advice. I've heard no small amount of people saying that they did make a difference in their city -- which indeed gives me hope. Thank you.
oppzixi00 8y ago
> it's the citizens who vote The citizens are easily diverted with racist flamebait issues and neofascism. Nothing will be done.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  please don't bring more partisan flame-baiting onto HN.
grussergraph 8y ago
We are adults. We can just name the problem. It’s capitalism.
ElBarto 8y ago
Individuals have huge power over pollution in general and corporate pollution in particular. Individuals are in the end the drivers of corporate actions because they are the consumers. It's not necessarily about buying less stuff but about changing your daily actions and about buying only products you consider environmentally friendly. Corporations will produce what sells. We decide what sells through our individual choices and actions. Edit: We can also make it quite plain to corporations: For example, why not ask coffee shops/takeaways how they plan to pack our order before we actually order then walk away if we don't like the answer? If many people start to do that I'm sure things will change fast.
rezeroed 8y ago
Stop travelling to work.
- pdimitar 8y ago
  I work remotely for almost 8 years now. ;)

pdimitar 8y ago

> Buy less stuff. This is becoming harder and harder with time. Believe me, I would love to buy my kitchen stove, washing machine, refrigerator, aspirator, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner from a local manufacturer. But there are none. How many household brands do really exist and how many are actually known and bought by almost everyone? Additionally, even if you are an idealist who wants to be the change they want to see, you will still need a bunch of tech gadgets to connect with the world and try to change it -- like a good smartphone and laptop that don't suck. Not every $100 piece of trash will do the job. And the cheaper tech might have actually had much more negative impact on the planet's CO2 footprint. It's very complex and thus no black-and-white solutions exist. Some corps like Apple and Samsung seem hellbent on testing the customers' patience with higher prices every year and it will definitely bite them back at one point. That much is true. > Political action. Never in my life, not once, have I seen citizens voting actually change anything of significance in a country. Have you? And we're talking less than 10 years here. "These things take time" seems pretty shallow and empty as a justification for things not happening.

eeZah7Ux 8y ago
Political action is much more than just voting and it's been the major source of social changes in the last 200 years.
- pdimitar 8y ago
  Not where I live, but I am aware that's not representative for the entire world. I am happy for the places where it works. Not sarcastic.
  - yread 8y ago
    Uh, you live in a place without weekends, women's voting rights or laws against child labour?
    - pdimitar 8y ago
      I live in Eastern Europe, where drastic social changes only happen if the politicians see a crowd with pitchworks and torches at the town hall. Literally. People around here are just realists because no significant changes ever comes before people get that fed up. Civil discourse and constructive discussion has so far netted us nothing but dossiers and people landing on dissident lists. This happens to this day. No need to be snarky.
      - yread 8y ago
        > pitchforks at the town hall Hey, do you live in Prague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague ? Don't let the czech mentality get to you, people there complain just for fun.
        pdimitar 8y ago
        Bulgaria. :) It's easy to write us off Eastern Europeans as "complaining just for fun" though. Many do but when you get to the bottom of it, real change happens extremely rare. And that's a valid argument and a historical background to have. But regular-complainers and realistic-no-BS-folk often get conflated by external observers -- to my despair.
- kiliantics 8y ago
  Yes, everyone seems to forget how those social changes were brought about: large unionised workforces that threatened strikes that would topple the economy, or mass protests and civil disobedience on similarly threatening scales. Of course, it's much nicer for those in power to have us believe that voting is all you need.
robotbikes 8y ago
If you are really dedicated you can buy used equipment that will substantially lower the impact of production of new goods. Older appliances might break more and require more maintenance but are repairable for the most part. Additionally you can get pretty good deals on last years tech that is still pretty cool.
- pdimitar 8y ago
  Oh I agree but the last year's tech is also from the big brands, no? While the CO2-reductions / reduce-corporations-influence argument usually tells you to buy locally sourced stuff. I'd very much like to but there really are no such local vendors. :(
D_Alex 8y ago
>Never in my life, not once, have I seen citizens voting actually change anything of significance in a country Do you mean in the US? Examples that spring to mind in other countries are: gay marriage equality (Australia), independence (East Timor, plus probably others... Scotland and New Caledonia rejected independence by plebiscite), conscription (Austria), abortion (Ireland), migrant intake (Hungary) etc... and of course Brexit.
- pdimitar 8y ago
  I am from Eastern Europe. Here nothing ever changes politically-wise. The politicians expend a lot of PR effort to make things look like they are changing but they don't and it's pretty visible even for the not very well educated population.
  - grussergraph 8y ago
    That generally describes the US, except the propaganda has a larger budget.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
Believe me, I would love to buy my kitchen stove, washing machine, refrigerator, aspirator, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner from a local manufacturer. I gave up my car more than a decade ago. I haven't owned a vacuum cleaner in years. I live in a cheap rental with a wood floor. We strictly enforce taking shoes off just inside the front door to prevent dirt from being tracked in so we don't have to clean as much. I currently live in a hundred year old building that doesn't have air conditioning. I'm interested in buying a home. Once I get a home, I will likely do what I can to use passive solar approaches to keeping the place comfortable with a minimum of electricity year round. Passive solar design relies heavily on things like insulation and thermal mass. It tends to produce higher comfort levels than forced air heat while being cheaper in the long run. Unfortunately, passive solar works best when it is incorporated at the design stage of a building. There are limits to how much you can retrofit a building with it. I don't assume that the culture we have currently is the one we will have in the future. I have spent some years working to design the kind of life I want rather than just accepting that the way my life was is all that will ever be. I own a lot less than I used to. I have a higher quality of life. For one thing, my life is no longer being consumed by cleaning and maintaining a giant pile of possessions, so I have more time for having a life. Intended as food for thought. Best.
- pdimitar 8y ago
  More power to you. I do part of these things already but (1) it's a gradual process, (2) I have a ton of other issues to deal with first so I cannot religiously purse lesser CO2 footprint (like personal health; it takes precedence over other venues), and (3) I am asked to trust other organizations -- f.ex. that throwing away stuff in certain trash cans helps the planet (which I don't mind at all; surely it makes some difference). I agree that owning less things equals more peace of mind. But I am not quite there yet, I am still in a very active and hectic phase of my life where I am gradually correcting a ton of past mistakes. I do aim to have less in time. I came to feel the increased stress from more possessions. What I am saying is -- thanks for the insight. I am on the same road but not quite so far ahead as yourself.
  - DoreenMichele 8y ago
danielbarla 8y ago
The first point speaks to the "reduce" in the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle". It's not so important where your washing machine was made, more important how you make use of it - e.g., do you run it at 40 degrees or 30? Etc. Other examples are using dryers when you could just hang things out to dry.
troyvit 8y ago
> This is becoming harder and harder with time. Believe me, I would love to buy my kitchen stove, washing machine, refrigerator, aspirator, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner from a local manufacturer. But there are none. How many household brands do really exist and how many are actually known and bought by almost everyone? Buy used, it's totally worth it! > Never in my life, not once, have I seen citizens voting actually change anything of significance in a country. Have you? And we're talking less than 10 years here. "These things take time" seems pretty shallow and empty as a justification for things not happening. Start local. National politics is a distraction anyway; it's your city and state politics that matter. Our town, through a popular measure, banned fracking in the city limits. We got sued and the ban was struck down by the supreme court, but now we pay oil companies to stay out of the city limits. It's money the town spends because its citizens want to stay healthy. Now there's a statewide proposal on the ballot today that does a similar thing (https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_112,_Minimum_Distance_Requirements_for_New_Oil,_Gas,_and_Fracking_Projects_Initiative_(2018) https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_112,_Minimum_Di...). Our town contributed to this proposition. Political action at a local level works.
- pdimitar 8y ago
  "Start local" is... actually a very solid and sensible advice. I've heard no small amount of people saying that they did make a difference in their city -- which indeed gives me hope. Thank you.

oppzixi00 8y ago

> it's the citizens who vote The citizens are easily diverted with racist flamebait issues and neofascism. Nothing will be done.

beaconstudios 8y ago
please don't bring more partisan flame-baiting onto HN.

grussergraph 8y ago

We are adults. We can just name the problem. It’s capitalism.

ElBarto 8y ago

Individuals have huge power over pollution in general and corporate pollution in particular. Individuals are in the end the drivers of corporate actions because they are the consumers. It's not necessarily about buying less stuff but about changing your daily actions and about buying only products you consider environmentally friendly. Corporations will produce what sells. We decide what sells through our individual choices and actions. Edit: We can also make it quite plain to corporations: For example, why not ask coffee shops/takeaways how they plan to pack our order before we actually order then walk away if we don't like the answer? If many people start to do that I'm sure things will change fast.

rezeroed 8y ago

Stop travelling to work.

pdimitar 8y ago
I work remotely for almost 8 years now. ;)