fix ourself for littering, plant trees and use electric vehicles
What can I do about climate change?
81–90 of 243 posts
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#82On the one hand, I think individual action is quite useless to stop climate change. Too many people still do too many things that have a more negative impact. For example, SUVs is still a fast-growing car segment (the fastest?). The number of SUVs in Germany (where I live) have significantly increased over the years. People want their fat cars.
On the other hand, if more and more people demand certain things, for example organic food, then it causes companies and politics to change their behavior. If nobody wants microplastic-free soap and shampoo, nothing will change. If 50 people per day ask in a supermarket for microplastic-free soap and shampoo, management might notice.
But then: One big supermarket chain in Germany (REWE) ditched plastic bags altogether for paper bags and reusable cotton bags. I don't know what caused this – customers asking for it, politics, or some marketing guy with a "go green" mission. But obviously, this has a much larger impact on the environment than educating the masses about "reusing their shopping bags".
In a way, "saving the enviroment" is something that starts on an individual level, but the real useful stuff is actually implemented through politics, laws, and ultimately corporations chaning their behavior (or forcing a certain behavior on the masses, like REWE did).
Edit: The question now is: What can I do to make political changes happen on an individual level? Is it really my behavior that changes anything? Or can I have more leverage in any other way?
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#83This article's quality is higher than many others on the same topic and that's a pleasant surprise. That being said, I can't help being reminded about German language lessons I had ~10 years ago where the teacher was preaching that we must all ditch electric kettles for the sake of the planet. I asked her how is this going to help -- even if 100_00 people do it today -- if corporations are happy to let toxic waste se…
I'd argue the idea of doing something is a strong one. If people become engaged, if they start thinking about the environment on a daily basis then that is already progress in itself. If that means starting with a kettle sure that's probably not an improvement in itself but I'd say the thought counts. People who take/propose such small steps might later start thinking about other means to improve their footprint on t…
Or to many people, they may feel that their everyday 'sacrifices' are enough.
"i switch off all the bulbs and recycle all my bags. i should be able to buy that nice SUV i want"
Which effect, identifying with environmentalism or i-do-enough-ism, is stronger takes research to find out.
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
The main argument against them was along the veins of that it draws big amounts of wattage in an initial burst and that we must use "slower" and thus allegedly more sustainable tech. Which is ridiculuous because every electrician will tell you that your home-grade fuses and the switchboard of your house/block handle such loads quite well without much additional strain on... anything, really. I quickly wrote her off a…
yeah it sounds like "I sorta once half-heard some thing or another so it must mean electric kettles are forever bad".
For better or worse this is standard practice for how most people get their beliefs about pretty much everything. Some people are more discerning in who they believe and others more skeptical but a lot of people will just add random fact to their knowledge base because they heard it from someone they know.
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#85> 9. But if I eat less meat or take fewer flights, that’s just me – how much of a difference can that really make? > > Actually, it’s not just you. Social scientists have found that when one person makes a sustainability-oriented decision, other people do too. This is the thing that still gives me hope. Try to do good, and people will notice - and, without so much as telling others to something, they will emulate you…
Anecdotal, but I went vegan 3 years ago and in those 3 years, quite a few of my very close friends went vegan or vegetarian as well. It really does give me a lot of hope. Even my parents started eating meat a lot less, basically only for big events and startet using oat milk for their coffee!
> startet using oat milk for their coffee
Are you and they using honey or white sugar from farmed sugarcanes? For the environment sake I wish that vegan diet would include honey as it has a big net-positive effect on the environment compared to farmed sugarcanes by not causing eutrophication or water pollution, and helps with pollination both for wild forests and agriculture.
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#86A concrete step we have taken with my girlfriend over the past few months is buying second-hand items. It's crazy how much you save, and to know you have not contributed to creating more stuff. There is an awesome campaign in France right now, encouraging this kind of behaviour : https://riendeneuf.org
We've been doing the same thing, and it's great. We've also taken more time to sell unused items, even if they're only worth $10-$20. I look at it as a more effective form of recycling.
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#87> Nicholas’s study concluded that having fewer children is the best way to reduce your contribution to climate change Environmentalism as a philosophy isn't all that coherent, and this suggestion in point 8 really encapsulates the heart of my problems with it. If we are saving the planet "for" someone else, who are they? If we are saving the planet for ourselves, do minor actions of deprivation make sense? The extrem…
The resolve to this apparent paradox is easy. You can like the civilization on this planet yet not care one iota about the gene pool (of course you have to care about it to the extent needed to reproduce humans, on which the civilization relies for the foreseeable future, but no more than that).
Let me give you an analogy. Is teaching meaningless? I mean, why do it, when you're not going to be around when people you teach will run things. You're trying to give advice to someone else, without being sure that they will follow it when you're not around.
So, I posit, not having kids and working on resolving climate change is useful, just like it is useful to teach or do your job properly to be an example for further generations doing that job.
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Off-topic but what's wrong with electrical kettles? was her position to not boil water or to use a different kind of kettle? My Kitchen has electric range so I doubt using a non-electric kettle on it would be any more efficient.
The main argument against them was along the veins of that it draws big amounts of wattage in an initial burst and that we must use "slower" and thus allegedly more sustainable tech. Which is ridiculuous because every electrician will tell you that your home-grade fuses and the switchboard of your house/block handle such loads quite well without much additional strain on... anything, really. I quickly wrote her off a…
Well, you could make a point that if everyone has powerful appliances at home then the network has to be robust enough to handle quick changes in power needed. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup
So, in a sense, boiling water with gas has less externalities.
EDIT: You can of course also argue, if we can't have powerful appliances why bother with electricity at all. I'm just saying it's not an issue that can be so easily dismissed
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#89> 8. Should I think about how many children I have (or don’t have)?
Maybe the worst point of the whole article, here is my point of view : educated and people aware of environment change have fewer kids, people with the opposite way of thinking have more kids and have the same education. We create a world where the people who don't care outnumber those who care, since the most praised government system is Democracy the power goes to the number.
Path to idiocracy (great message for a comedy movie).
Re: What can I do about climate change?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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 wan…
Political action is much more than just voting and it's been the major source of social changes in the last 200 years.
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.