The Save the Planet thread

[Elefantino]

I continue to wonder where we'd be now if someone other than Al Gore had been the messenger.

[Llewellyn]

I don't think there is the political will to make the really hard decisions that would need to be made, and in the end a lot of people think that changes to consumption and lifestyle are essential..........as long as it's someone else making them.

I'm pessimistic and basically the human race (and the planet) is f****d. But my wife and I keep doing whatever little things we can.

[Seramount]

I stop and pick up 98% of recyclables I encounter on my daily rides. it's what I do to help the planet. I'm an environmentalist with OCD.

but, now I'm reading that China and Africa have dramatically reduced the amount of materials they will accept, so recyclables are simply landfilled, incinerated, or dumped in the ocean.

we're totally losing the battle on waste management.

[fa63]

I work on a project related to climate change. I was discussing with a friend the other day, who was very doom-and-gloom about our prospects and seemed to be suggesting we might as well throw in the towel and focus on adaptation instead of mitigation.

I tried to let him know that while we may indeed be quickly approaching the "point of no return", we still need to focus on mitigation, because otherwise keeping up with adaptation is going to be increasingly more challenging...

For us, we don't have kids (the biggest offender, though we had other equally important reasons for not wanting them), we compost and recycle, don't buy unnecessary stuff, I commute on an e-bike, our house is very energy efficient, and we are largely meat free (I am vegetarian; my wife eats very little meat). It does feel like a battle that can't be won at times, but also feels good to know that we are doing what we can.

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

I continue to wonder where we'd be now if someone other than Al Gore had been the messenger.

Why? The vast majority of environmental impact in the last 25 years has been from areas that the western world has no or minimal influence upon.

Climate change became much less driven by the USA/Europe in the mid/late 1990s. India, China and Africa are now the main drivers of each and every environmentally destructive process or category under study - with the exception of Nickel mining for rechargeable batteries - Canada has that one wrapped up forever.

However, it's extremely hard to discuss and almost impossible to publish any research as most work is decried as racist, caught and killed by the country under study or buried in some other way. I work with a team of scientists that was deported from India after their climate change study for the period 1900-2010 in Uttar Pradesh was sent for review.

So, like so many others, I do what I can to limit my impact. Had one child immediately followed by a vasectomy

What a sad thing to read.

[texbike]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Thanos was right.

^This is funny (and kind of depressing). It's definitely in line with Velotel's perspective.

I was hesitant to even open this thread and wade into the discussion. The subject really depresses me. I agree with Carlin's position that the earth will be fine in the long run. We really are just a fleeting blight on the planet. However, from an ethical and religious perspective, it depresses me how much we've F'd this place up and how much life we've destroyed in the name of blatant capitalism and consumerism (says the guy with 10 plus bikes and a huge SUV.). I think it's more a feeling of guilt that I (and we) haven't been better stewards of the gift that we've been given.

In my adult life, I've made the effort to be fairly conscious (for the most part) and make life choices that align with the need to conserve and protect the environment and life as much as possible. However, there really is only so much that we can do. That realization came to me about 15 years ago when I was working on a public service project and helping in a local Goodwill recycling center. Seeing the piles of crap stacked to the ceiling in that one single facility made me realize that we have produced so much unnecessary junk that puts a massive strain on our resources just to produce, ship, store, and sell all of it. And then, there's the disposal aspect of it. Consumerism and capitalism are the two biggest human forces that are wrecking our planet's natural state and negatively impacting our own physical and mental health.

Originally Posted by timto

We do a number of things that might qualify as consideration for the environment:

• We adjust purchasing behavior - going with a do without, or make do, repair, reuse, second hand, library, hand me downs approach
• We live central - chose smaller and closer living that enables us to car free which includes grocery getting, school and work commuting.
• We adjust our definition of fun - we go play at the park, walk along the river, throw Frisbee
• We reduced our income on purpose - we spend less and have more time and consider each purchase more carefully.

We enjoy a high quality of life despite not doing/having the best of the best. I hope we are setting a good example for our kids too. Years ago my wife and I took our family out of the rat race - for a better work / life balance we decided to reduce income , reduce spending. We still live well but probably running on 50% of the income we used to when we were both contractors. We've struggled a little adjusting but our eyes have been opened to the waste and cycle of consumerism and 'busy' work we were part of.

I feel more in tuned with needs, and in touch with the value of $

This is great! Wonderful choices! I never considered the lower levels of consumerism that would accompany lower levels of income, but it makes perfect sense. Great, basic idea. Duh.

I continually try to communicate the basic message to my family - stop buying so much junk that we don't need! Reducing the number of purchases can have a positive impact on so many levels.

Texbike

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by texbike

Argh. I was hesitant to even open this thread and wade into the discussion. However, the above is funny and in line with Velotel's perspective.

If it's any consolation, Ra's Al-Ghul was also right. But Batman's stopped him several times. He eventually ran out of Lazarus Pits I think.

[texbike]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

If it's any consolation, Ra's Al-Ghul was also right. But Batman's stopped him several times. He eventually ran out of Lazarus Pits I think.

^haha! Thanks for bringing a bit of levity to the discussion.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by spoonrobot

What a sad thing to read.

Why? I think it's responsible & likely well considered. We don't all need or want 2+ children.

[Hellgate]

So in 500,000 years none of the will matter. Humans will be gone and the planet will go a different direction, it always has.

IF humans want to make a difference, it's not straws and plastic bags, it's birth control.

Ready to be banned...

[redir]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

Climate science denial is so weird.

I saw a tweet the other day that went something like this:

"I shouldn't know your view on climate change just because I know your views on gun control."

Somewhere along the lines they figured out that they can marry together various culture war attributes and pack them into silo's that will become votes, and it works.

[OtayBW]

A few points:

--- We seem to be the only species on the planet that is intent on destroying its own nest.

--- Whether you believe that there is a linkage between Man's influence on climate change - oh, let's just call it GLOBAL WARMING because we can measure that and know it's factual - or not, if you look at the 'hockey stick' trends of atmospheric CO2 since the ~beginning of the Industrial Revolution, you almost have to be blind, or blatantly unwilling to even accept the possibility that it could be Man-induced. To just dismiss this out of hand because you don't accept the science, or that you feel you may 'know better', is just nutz, IMO!

--- Even if the worst catastrophic effect happened and we literally destroyed out ability to sustain life on this planet, the universe would go on, unaffected. We are just a blip.....

[parallelfish]

Originally Posted by texbike

I was hesitant to even open this thread

And I have a bridge for sale.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by texbike

^haha! Thanks for bringing a bit of levity to the discussion.

I distinctly remember a terrible episode of Sliders, the awful group Quantum Leap-esque sci-fi story of the week show on Fox in the late 90s, where the group lands in a place where humanity has instituted a death lottery to preserve the resources on the planet.

Oh here it is: https://sliders.fandom.com/wiki/Luck_of_the_Draw

God that show was terrible.

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by Seramount

I stop and pick up 98% of recyclables I encounter on my daily rides. it's what I do to help the planet. I'm an environmentalist with OCD.

but, now I'm reading that China and Africa have dramatically reduced the amount of materials they will accept, so recyclables are simply landfilled, incinerated, or dumped in the ocean.

we're totally losing the battle on waste management.

Yes. Paper bags are bad. Cotton reusable grocery bags are not great.

Jeff