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Shit that is environmentally unsustainable at scale: - Air travel: The carbon footprint per person is similar to burning your trash for a full year. Did you re

Shit that is environmentally unsustainable at scale: - Air travel: The carbon footprint per person is similar to burning your trash for a full year. Did you recycle bottles for a year, planted a tree, donated to WWF, rescued a bird from an oil spill then traveled to an environment conference on another continent? Congratulations, you now pollute more than someone drives monster trucks to work and on burns all of their trash. - Pollution holidays: Wow, it's that non-descript holiday again. I need to buy lots of single-use decorations made out of plastic and then throw them away days later. For this, I will go to a party store that sells only those items. Most of them are made out of toxic stuff like phthalates, PVC, vinyl, and stuff that will poison me, but hey... It's the non-descript holiday again! If I do this, people will encourage me to do the same every year because I am contributing to the creation of trash that will not degrade for thousands of years, and I will do the same for Halloween, my birthday, Christmas, and every minor holiday in the calendar including my dog's birthday! - Technology: Oh, look, this hardware runs 5% faster than my current one. I need to dispose the one I have and buy the new one for an absurd amount of money, then discard it again when the next one comes out. It's all sealed and glued inside so that you can't repair it, and no replacement parts are sold. That's a really good idea. I am going to support the companies that do this so that they can continue to sell things that cannot be repaired and will become trash in less than 5 years! Look how fashionable I am with my soon-to-be piece of trash! Surely software companies will make the most out of my new hardware by rewriting everything in BloatedScript to save development costs and adding useless eyecandy that requires a supercomputer. - Burning man. Need to deal with your emotional problems in a pyromaniac way? just watch a video of a previous burning man burning instead of burning shit every goddamn year, or get into a Minecraft game in VR (preferably your own server) and set all shit on fire, or, even better, work for the fire department and see shit burning all the time, how about that? Fuck... Edit: corrected wrong info about leaded fuel in aviation. Thanks for the correction

pfdietz 4y ago
Jet fuel (including that burned in turboprop planes) is not leaded.
- themitigating 4y ago
  yes it is https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/leaded-aviation-fuel-and-environment https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/leaded-aviation-fuel-and-enviro...
  - sofixa 4y ago
    > Avgas is a specialized fuel used to power piston engine aircraft The vast majority of airplanes in operation - be it per passenger numbers or cargo tonnes - aren't piston engined but turboprops, turbofans and turbojets.
  - 29athrowaway 4y ago
    The link says "Jet aircraft and turbine-powered, propeller aircraft do not use avgas, but instead use fuels very similar to kerosene, which does not contain a lead additive." So I think the reply was accurate.
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    No, it's not. That article is clearly about leaded aviation gasoline, not Jet-A.
  - _djo_ 4y ago
    That’s not jet fuel.
- deleted 4y ago
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sokoloff 4y ago
Only piston-powered air travel uses leaded fuel. Overwhelmingly, anything that you bought a ticket for (and certainly anything that you took to another continent on a ticket) is burning Jet-A, which does not have a material amount of lead content.
- 29athrowaway 4y ago
  What's wrong with not traveling? Oh no, I won't be able to spend the money I don't have to impress people that do not care about me in the slightest via Instagram. Oh no, I won't be able to attend that conference that's 100% recorded and available in video format where I see the material and the presenter in better detail than in person with the ability of replaying, pausing and resuming at any time I want, where 90% of the time the content talked about is an abridged version of what can be learned from a used book, free online documentation or a PDF I can buy for a few dollars. Oh no, I won't be able to visit some random distant place while there are plenty of nearby places that are just as nice. Oh no, I won't be able to visit some snobby establishment that sells overrated products such as fermented fruit juice that I don't even really like that much and can't even distinguish from a boxed product sold at 1/100th of the price at my local grocery store. Surely in 2 generations where everyone is living in a ruined planet eating diseased vermin people will care about my pointless traveling. I am such an important person! I am surely more important than the environment that sustains the life of everyone in the planet that's why I am so entitled to such things.
  - probably_wrong 4y ago
    You should consider giving travel a try, though. When done right, it has so many benefits that I cannot recommend it enough. Among them: it gives you a better perspective on life, it gives you a better understanding of what is there to improve in your own community that you didn't notice before because "we have always done it this way", and it tends to make people less judgemental and/or racist. People won't care about droughts in Africa they see on TV, but if you could bring them there and see it with their own eyes I can guarantee you they would.
    - 4y ago
ucosty 4y ago
It's true that some planes fly on leaded fuel, but commercial airlines generally do not. It's only piston engine planes that fly on leaded AvGas, all jet aircraft including tubroprops fly on fuels like Jet A (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel)
zdragnar 4y ago
Cargo ships produce upwards of 30% of all NOx pollution, 10% of sulfur dioxide and 3% of all CO2. When almost everything (except food) that you need to buy comes from China, it is impossible to not be a part of the problem.
- FerretFred 4y ago
  > When almost everything (except food) that you need to buy comes from China When almost everything (except food) that you want to buy comes from China I'd love to buy UK-made stuff but the country sold out to cheap sweatshop nations decades ago
  - 29athrowaway 4y ago
    Or buy used stuff that's usually better quality and built to last.
- trashtester 4y ago
  NOx and SO2 are (primarily) local pollutants, and get broken down over time. Cargo ships is a relatively small contributor to greenhouse gases for most items. (I would not be surprised if a few hundred km by truck causes larger greenhouse gas emissions than around-the-world by ship.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  That is an out of date factoid intended to stop the transition to EVs by making ICE pollution seem minor. Even when it was popular it ignored the work being done to fix that problem. Fortunately, we moved to EVs and now all but the particularly resistant to reality accept they are better than ICE, in quality, efficiency, cost and carbon. Meanwhile, we also passed some regulations to stop the cargo ships burning really dirty fuel which we were just letting them do for no good reason. https://e360.yale.edu/features/at-last-the-shipping-industry-begins-cleaning-up-its-dirty-fuels https://e360.yale.edu/features/at-last-the-shipping-industry... > Public health experts estimate that once the 2020 sulfur cap takes effect, it would prevent roughly 150,000 premature deaths and 7.6 million childhood asthma cases globally each year. > “There are very few examples of air quality regulations that have as broad a reach of benefits as this one,” said James Corbett, a professor of marine science and policy at the University of Delaware, who has conducted seminal research on international shipping emissions. “This is going to benefit children and adults in coastal communities located along major shipping lanes — not only [near ports] where ships are delivering cargo.” So now cargo is both efficient and clean. And people are working on ways to make it even better, usually involving global regulations.
lotsofpulp 4y ago
Might be easier to say 8B people wanting to live the developed country lifestyle most people desire.

pfdietz 4y ago

Jet fuel (including that burned in turboprop planes) is not leaded.

themitigating 4y ago
yes it is https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/leaded-aviation-fuel-and-environment https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/leaded-aviation-fuel-and-enviro...
- sofixa 4y ago
  > Avgas is a specialized fuel used to power piston engine aircraft The vast majority of airplanes in operation - be it per passenger numbers or cargo tonnes - aren't piston engined but turboprops, turbofans and turbojets.
- 29athrowaway 4y ago
  The link says "Jet aircraft and turbine-powered, propeller aircraft do not use avgas, but instead use fuels very similar to kerosene, which does not contain a lead additive." So I think the reply was accurate.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  No, it's not. That article is clearly about leaded aviation gasoline, not Jet-A.
- _djo_ 4y ago
  That’s not jet fuel.
deleted 4y ago
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deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

sokoloff 4y ago

Only piston-powered air travel uses leaded fuel. Overwhelmingly, anything that you bought a ticket for (and certainly anything that you took to another continent on a ticket) is burning Jet-A, which does not have a material amount of lead content.

29athrowaway 4y ago
What's wrong with not traveling? Oh no, I won't be able to spend the money I don't have to impress people that do not care about me in the slightest via Instagram. Oh no, I won't be able to attend that conference that's 100% recorded and available in video format where I see the material and the presenter in better detail than in person with the ability of replaying, pausing and resuming at any time I want, where 90% of the time the content talked about is an abridged version of what can be learned from a used book, free online documentation or a PDF I can buy for a few dollars. Oh no, I won't be able to visit some random distant place while there are plenty of nearby places that are just as nice. Oh no, I won't be able to visit some snobby establishment that sells overrated products such as fermented fruit juice that I don't even really like that much and can't even distinguish from a boxed product sold at 1/100th of the price at my local grocery store. Surely in 2 generations where everyone is living in a ruined planet eating diseased vermin people will care about my pointless traveling. I am such an important person! I am surely more important than the environment that sustains the life of everyone in the planet that's why I am so entitled to such things.
- probably_wrong 4y ago
  You should consider giving travel a try, though. When done right, it has so many benefits that I cannot recommend it enough. Among them: it gives you a better perspective on life, it gives you a better understanding of what is there to improve in your own community that you didn't notice before because "we have always done it this way", and it tends to make people less judgemental and/or racist. People won't care about droughts in Africa they see on TV, but if you could bring them there and see it with their own eyes I can guarantee you they would.
  - 4y ago

ucosty 4y ago

It's true that some planes fly on leaded fuel, but commercial airlines generally do not. It's only piston engine planes that fly on leaded AvGas, all jet aircraft including tubroprops fly on fuels like Jet A (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel)

zdragnar 4y ago

Cargo ships produce upwards of 30% of all NOx pollution, 10% of sulfur dioxide and 3% of all CO2. When almost everything (except food) that you need to buy comes from China, it is impossible to not be a part of the problem.

FerretFred 4y ago
> When almost everything (except food) that you need to buy comes from China When almost everything (except food) that you want to buy comes from China I'd love to buy UK-made stuff but the country sold out to cheap sweatshop nations decades ago
- 29athrowaway 4y ago
  Or buy used stuff that's usually better quality and built to last.
trashtester 4y ago
NOx and SO2 are (primarily) local pollutants, and get broken down over time. Cargo ships is a relatively small contributor to greenhouse gases for most items. (I would not be surprised if a few hundred km by truck causes larger greenhouse gas emissions than around-the-world by ship.
ZeroGravitas 4y ago
That is an out of date factoid intended to stop the transition to EVs by making ICE pollution seem minor. Even when it was popular it ignored the work being done to fix that problem. Fortunately, we moved to EVs and now all but the particularly resistant to reality accept they are better than ICE, in quality, efficiency, cost and carbon. Meanwhile, we also passed some regulations to stop the cargo ships burning really dirty fuel which we were just letting them do for no good reason. https://e360.yale.edu/features/at-last-the-shipping-industry-begins-cleaning-up-its-dirty-fuels https://e360.yale.edu/features/at-last-the-shipping-industry... > Public health experts estimate that once the 2020 sulfur cap takes effect, it would prevent roughly 150,000 premature deaths and 7.6 million childhood asthma cases globally each year. > “There are very few examples of air quality regulations that have as broad a reach of benefits as this one,” said James Corbett, a professor of marine science and policy at the University of Delaware, who has conducted seminal research on international shipping emissions. “This is going to benefit children and adults in coastal communities located along major shipping lanes — not only [near ports] where ships are delivering cargo.” So now cargo is both efficient and clean. And people are working on ways to make it even better, usually involving global regulations.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

Might be easier to say 8B people wanting to live the developed country lifestyle most people desire.