211–220 of 249 posts
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CO2 is pollution.
Could you please not post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?
Your comment, on the other hand, is purely non-substantive.
One good thing the US and Canada does is to not use cement for houses ! It is somewhat negated by the terrible insulation in most homes in the US (and the fact that homes tend to last less long I guess). Does anyone have any data on how much gets emitted for house construction depending on the material ?
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Fundamentally, there is very little you can change on an individual basis that will make a real difference. By all means, lead by example, but we have to support systemic changes at all levels of government to actually make any head way here.
If everyone thinks like this nothing will change. You can do both. Campaign for political change and change your personal behaviour. I've done radical changes to my life at least last few years to reduce my pollution/co2 footprint and if more people think like this it _will_ help. So saying that there is nothing that can be done on the individual level is quite dangerous as I personally think over time this will have…
In Ontario (Canada) we elected a conservative government who is running advertisements against the Federal Carbon Tax saying:
> “Ontario has a better way: holding the biggest polluters accountable; reducing trash; and keeping our lakes clean. A carbon tax isn’t the only way to fight climate change.”
My government thinks reducing trash and lake runoff is fighting climate change. Everything I've personally done; switching to public transit, flying less and buying my electricity from a green supplier has been swamped by this huge step backward at the political level.
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If everyone thinks like this nothing will change. You can do both. Campaign for political change and change your personal behaviour. I've done radical changes to my life at least last few years to reduce my pollution/co2 footprint and if more people think like this it _will_ help. So saying that there is nothing that can be done on the individual level is quite dangerous as I personally think over time this will have…
On the other hand, if a small percentage of concerned citizens do everything they personally can without changing the political climate, nothing will change. In Ontario (Canada) we elected a conservative government who is running advertisements against the Federal Carbon Tax saying: > “Ontario has a better way: holding the biggest polluters accountable; reducing trash; and keeping our lakes clean. A carbon tax isn’t…
Together we actually make a difference. Personally I also try to encourage friends and family in a non pushy way to attempt some of the things I do. Many respond positively, especially considering other benefits like eating more healthy and walking more.
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> https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/what-the-world-will-look-l... . I could not see any graphics/media (the website is a mess. It tries to load a dozen 3rd party resources). But the article is pretty optimistic: > Now is the time to buy property in Greenland – before it too turns green... > Yeah sure, we can't individually give up on our beef sandwich I'm sure there will be cities in these new deserts. And people in…
I used this one: https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/
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Fundamentally, there is very little you can change on an individual basis that will make a real difference. By all means, lead by example, but we have to support systemic changes at all levels of government to actually make any head way here.
If everyone thinks like this nothing will change. You can do both. Campaign for political change and change your personal behaviour. I've done radical changes to my life at least last few years to reduce my pollution/co2 footprint and if more people think like this it _will_ help. So saying that there is nothing that can be done on the individual level is quite dangerous as I personally think over time this will have…
One example might be to institute a "carbon savings account" which individuals add to when they add solar panels, buy more efficient vehicles and appliances, reduce their heating bills... whatever's measureable. Mandatory restrictions on carbon-intensive activity (there's no way around that anyway) would enable spending these rewards.
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The list you provide is missing some man made sources of CO2 and methane. It's just CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. Meat production is almost as much as transportation, roughly 17%.
Though all meat production is not made equal; beef production is overwhelmingly more emissive per serving (6.61 lbs of CO2 per 4 oz) than pork (1.72 lbs) or poultry (1.26). Even without giving up eating meat, substituting most of your beef meals for chicken would still be a step in the right direction (and is essentially zero-cost, considering that this requires no significant lifestyle changes and anywhere that sell…
Mass timber has an extra benefit too: since trees scrub CO2 from the atmosphere, growing trees for construction ends up sequestering significant amounts of CO2.
There's a lot of work to be done around sustainable forestry practices, along with the process of actually harvesting the associated wood, but I think this is a pretty cool option.
Here's an article that provides some context on mass timber, along with some of the outstanding questions: https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-mass-timber-takes-off-how-...
One alternative to traditional concrete is autoclaved aerated concrete[1], a 70 year old material that's more eco friendly. Some of the advantages are mentioned in this video[2]. I'm guessing higher upfront cost means it's not competitive with traditional concrete. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoclaved_aerated_concrete [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS3BTDBMt7I
Related:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18487704
About the earthship I mentioned in that comment, which was made using non-traditional materials and techniques: I don't remember what materials were used, except that, IIRC, the creator said it was not cob. Mud was used, of course, that was clear from looking at it. So was glass for the windows. I mean the other materials - not sure about those. But it looked sturdy, and was huge.