6 ms·

At this point I’m not sure what to do about it. I already live a low-ish carbon life. I barely ever fly. Only drive when I need to. Try and use items that are n

by lukeify 2mo ago

At this point I’m not sure what to do about it. I already live a low-ish carbon life. I barely ever fly. Only drive when I need to. Try and use items that are non-plastic where feasible. I don’t buy extra clothes. It’s at the point where I wish it were solvable, but I don’t believe it is, so I can’t afford to think about it. Maybe people better than me can, and good luck to them.

hamburgererror 2mo ago
Maybe convince your relatives to do the same?
- arrrg 2mo ago
  That’s pointless. Political change is needed to achieve any of this. Changing your individual behavior or even the individual behavior of everyone you know – while certainly not wrong! – won’t solve this. This is like trying to abolish slavery in 19th century US by not owning slaves and trying your very best to not buy anything that involves slave labor … laudable, but not a way to abolish slavery.
  - amulyabaral 2mo ago
    Isn't political change brought about by collective changes in behaviors of an individual and of those around them?
    - deleted 2mo ago
      [deleted]
    - mnewme 2mo ago
      Exactly! Politics try to appease the mass. If the mass would be willing to put climate change first we would have other policies, instead we follow the dark visions of lunatic billionaires
    - arrrg 2mo ago
      I think that’s an interesting point and one I did actually think about while writing my comment but ultimately didn’t address. The interaction between individual behavior changes and political changes is interesting and to my mind where lots of interesting stuff happens. I’m not 100% convinced that politics is always downstream from culture and culture is downstream from individual behavior changes but I do agree that there is an interesting interaction happening that’s worth looking at and addressing. The abolitionist in isolation certainly will not be able to abolish slavery, however their individual behavior might contribute to an atmosphere where slavery is ostracized and seen as more obviously evil by more people, thus making it easier for politicians to make political decisions that ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery. I think that is why it is always so important for me to point out that it is certainly never wrong to individually behave in a way the limits your own individual contribution to climate change. I mostly have a problem when that‘s the end or even the main focus of it. Climate protection to my mind is most effective when it is tightly coupled to clear political demands. Too often individual behavior changes are used as action terminators. My impression is that individual action is often presented (as here) as a complete solution to climate change when it is anything but.
    - hnfong 2mo ago
      In the West it feels like individual change is kinda marketed as a substitute for political change.
harrouet 2mo ago
Actually if that can bring up your morale, just replacing coal power plants with nuclear (or other 24x7 clean energy source) would keep up at the 1.5°C objective.
specproc 2mo ago
It's not at all about individual action. This scale of problem requires policy intervention and investment at national levels, and inter-governmental coordination internationally. The big, meaningful wins come from things like stopping the use of coal, not signing-off on new oil and gas exploration, tax-incentives and disincentives, grid work, fining polluters. We instinctively frame this as an individual problem, the cynic might say we've been encouraged to, but the reality is that whether or not you fly this summer has precisely dick-all impact globally. It's the actions of our governments that count.
- soco 2mo ago
  At least in theory, our governments are voted in place exactly by us. Trump voters loved his ideas and he's implementing them now, yay success. Also industrial pollution is fueled by our buying habits just as well - if nobody would order stuff brought by ship from overseas, well, we wouldn't have many of those huge(ly) polluting ships around. So I wouldn't leave out the personal responsibility here: we make decisions every day, and giving up paper straws is only the most insignificant one.
  - shiandow 2mo ago
    It's about taking a holistic view of the situation as well. Shipping is a big producer world wide, but stopping it entirely barely makes a dent. A lot more is industry, appliances, heating. And those boats make a lot less of an impact than all those trucks driving everything across land. Wise choices are needed.
  - NopIdoN 2mo ago
    did our buying habits force AI into everything?
    - horsawlarway 2mo ago
      To face this directly: I think an honest answer is probably "yes". Our buying habits empowered the type of company that wants to put AI into everything. Whether they continue to do so or not will also depend on our buying habits going forward.
unsupp0rted 2mo ago
I do all those things freely, and that offsets your carefulness. But I don’t/won’t have kids, so I’m not even a drop in the bucket.
GJim 2mo ago
Don't have a pet cat or dog. Owning an unnecessary carnivorous animal is rather bad news from a CO2 perspective. A dog can be responsible for higher CO2 emissions than a car. https://impact.ed.ac.uk/research/climate-environmental-crisis/truth-about-cats-and-dogs-and-climate/ https://impact.ed.ac.uk/research/climate-environmental-crisi... https://www.zerosmart.co.uk/post/the-average-carbon-footprint-of-a-pet https://www.zerosmart.co.uk/post/the-average-carbon-footprin... (Que outrage from pet owners and people suggesting I'm a crazy vegan.... I'm most certainly not vegan or veggie!)
- _luci_ 2mo ago
  So we should not own pets, because the real polluters (companies) are lobbying to keep polluting? What bothers me so much about this idea of individual responsibility is that we get blamed for a choice we couldn't possibly make. It is up to the people in power to start making change, and it is important that people vote and educate themselves, but IMO this idea of individual responsibility for societal problems like climate change is ridiculous and only leads to inaction! We need to hold companies accountable, and we need to hold governments accountable. Own a dog, enjoy your life!
  - aziaziazi 2mo ago
    There's multiple vegan brands for dogs and cats feed. If it looks "unnatural" I suggest some reflexions: - Most kibble's ingredients are not naturals - Most of the kibble's flesh comes from a non-natural production - Your pet health (and your own health) require some "nutrients" instead of "food types" Agree 100% societal decisions are more important than individual ones. However the choice in question could be made as it's not doing (pet ownership). Don't take it personal, OP is not telling you what to do or blaming anyone but instead share some data. As you said: enjoy your life :) PS: price-wise they tends to be in the premium range. If your cat already has allergies and special kibbles for that, vegan kibbles are in the same price range and are particularly good for that condition.
    - breezybottom 2mo ago
bs38 2mo ago
Lot of info overload going on. Most people dont know covid hasnt disappeared. It keeps evolving and there are strains out there still causing issues. But thanks to the attention economy dynamics, all sorts of random people were acting like they were virologists, epidemiologists, microbiologists at its peak. They have all disappeared ie shifted focus to whatever else. Meanwhile the ecosystem and infra dedicated to keep track of this stuff chuggs along keeping the lights on. All am saying is there is no reason to keep everyone in a freaked out state.
draw_down 2mo ago
[dead]
jaybrendansmith 2mo ago
Stop voting for Republicans. That's a good start.

by lukeify 2mo ago

hamburgererror 2mo ago

Maybe convince your relatives to do the same?

arrrg 2mo ago
That’s pointless. Political change is needed to achieve any of this. Changing your individual behavior or even the individual behavior of everyone you know – while certainly not wrong! – won’t solve this. This is like trying to abolish slavery in 19th century US by not owning slaves and trying your very best to not buy anything that involves slave labor … laudable, but not a way to abolish slavery.
- amulyabaral 2mo ago
  Isn't political change brought about by collective changes in behaviors of an individual and of those around them?
  - deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
  - mnewme 2mo ago
    Exactly! Politics try to appease the mass. If the mass would be willing to put climate change first we would have other policies, instead we follow the dark visions of lunatic billionaires
  - arrrg 2mo ago
    I think that’s an interesting point and one I did actually think about while writing my comment but ultimately didn’t address. The interaction between individual behavior changes and political changes is interesting and to my mind where lots of interesting stuff happens. I’m not 100% convinced that politics is always downstream from culture and culture is downstream from individual behavior changes but I do agree that there is an interesting interaction happening that’s worth looking at and addressing. The abolitionist in isolation certainly will not be able to abolish slavery, however their individual behavior might contribute to an atmosphere where slavery is ostracized and seen as more obviously evil by more people, thus making it easier for politicians to make political decisions that ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery. I think that is why it is always so important for me to point out that it is certainly never wrong to individually behave in a way the limits your own individual contribution to climate change. I mostly have a problem when that‘s the end or even the main focus of it. Climate protection to my mind is most effective when it is tightly coupled to clear political demands. Too often individual behavior changes are used as action terminators. My impression is that individual action is often presented (as here) as a complete solution to climate change when it is anything but.
  - hnfong 2mo ago
    In the West it feels like individual change is kinda marketed as a substitute for political change.

harrouet 2mo ago

Actually if that can bring up your morale, just replacing coal power plants with nuclear (or other 24x7 clean energy source) would keep up at the 1.5°C objective.

specproc 2mo ago

It's not at all about individual action. This scale of problem requires policy intervention and investment at national levels, and inter-governmental coordination internationally. The big, meaningful wins come from things like stopping the use of coal, not signing-off on new oil and gas exploration, tax-incentives and disincentives, grid work, fining polluters. We instinctively frame this as an individual problem, the cynic might say we've been encouraged to, but the reality is that whether or not you fly this summer has precisely dick-all impact globally. It's the actions of our governments that count.

soco 2mo ago
At least in theory, our governments are voted in place exactly by us. Trump voters loved his ideas and he's implementing them now, yay success. Also industrial pollution is fueled by our buying habits just as well - if nobody would order stuff brought by ship from overseas, well, we wouldn't have many of those huge(ly) polluting ships around. So I wouldn't leave out the personal responsibility here: we make decisions every day, and giving up paper straws is only the most insignificant one.
- shiandow 2mo ago
  It's about taking a holistic view of the situation as well. Shipping is a big producer world wide, but stopping it entirely barely makes a dent. A lot more is industry, appliances, heating. And those boats make a lot less of an impact than all those trucks driving everything across land. Wise choices are needed.
- NopIdoN 2mo ago
  did our buying habits force AI into everything?
  - horsawlarway 2mo ago
    To face this directly: I think an honest answer is probably "yes". Our buying habits empowered the type of company that wants to put AI into everything. Whether they continue to do so or not will also depend on our buying habits going forward.

unsupp0rted 2mo ago

I do all those things freely, and that offsets your carefulness. But I don’t/won’t have kids, so I’m not even a drop in the bucket.

GJim 2mo ago

Don't have a pet cat or dog. Owning an unnecessary carnivorous animal is rather bad news from a CO2 perspective. A dog can be responsible for higher CO2 emissions than a car. https://impact.ed.ac.uk/research/climate-environmental-crisis/truth-about-cats-and-dogs-and-climate/ https://impact.ed.ac.uk/research/climate-environmental-crisi... https://www.zerosmart.co.uk/post/the-average-carbon-footprint-of-a-pet https://www.zerosmart.co.uk/post/the-average-carbon-footprin... (Que outrage from pet owners and people suggesting I'm a crazy vegan.... I'm most certainly not vegan or veggie!)

_luci_ 2mo ago
So we should not own pets, because the real polluters (companies) are lobbying to keep polluting? What bothers me so much about this idea of individual responsibility is that we get blamed for a choice we couldn't possibly make. It is up to the people in power to start making change, and it is important that people vote and educate themselves, but IMO this idea of individual responsibility for societal problems like climate change is ridiculous and only leads to inaction! We need to hold companies accountable, and we need to hold governments accountable. Own a dog, enjoy your life!
- aziaziazi 2mo ago
  There's multiple vegan brands for dogs and cats feed. If it looks "unnatural" I suggest some reflexions: - Most kibble's ingredients are not naturals - Most of the kibble's flesh comes from a non-natural production - Your pet health (and your own health) require some "nutrients" instead of "food types" Agree 100% societal decisions are more important than individual ones. However the choice in question could be made as it's not doing (pet ownership). Don't take it personal, OP is not telling you what to do or blaming anyone but instead share some data. As you said: enjoy your life :) PS: price-wise they tends to be in the premium range. If your cat already has allergies and special kibbles for that, vegan kibbles are in the same price range and are particularly good for that condition.
  - breezybottom 2mo ago

bs38 2mo ago

Lot of info overload going on. Most people dont know covid hasnt disappeared. It keeps evolving and there are strains out there still causing issues. But thanks to the attention economy dynamics, all sorts of random people were acting like they were virologists, epidemiologists, microbiologists at its peak. They have all disappeared ie shifted focus to whatever else. Meanwhile the ecosystem and infra dedicated to keep track of this stuff chuggs along keeping the lights on. All am saying is there is no reason to keep everyone in a freaked out state.

draw_down 2mo ago

[dead]

jaybrendansmith 2mo ago

Stop voting for Republicans. That's a good start.