To believe most people who say they care about the environment are hypocrites?

Do you not feel a bit stupid doing nothing?

It is only by people doing nothing that the world will burn

All it takes for evil to prevail is for good women to do nothing

Every person who turns a blind eye to evil, who makes no effort to change our future is guilty

Do you think we would have the electricity we have today if everyone has given up a decade ago? it's way less carbon intensive these days

What do all the eco lecturers think about China opening coal powered energy stations all over the place and Trump’s ‘drill, baby drill’.

Seriously, do you not feel a bit stupid with your green tokenism?

I agree. I know several individuals who bang on about people taking multiple flights on holiday every year and driving gas guzzling cars,but they themselves don't recycle anything,and have several cups of coffee a day in (unrecyclable) takeaway cups. Hypocritical.

No but it would make a difference to the local environment if:

People didn't drive when they could walk or cycle
People switched their engines off when stationary
People didn't throw rubbish around or fly tip
People drove less polluting cars

We can't do anything about climate change (at least, not to stop it, we can only mitigate it now) but we can change our local environment, reduce air pollution and rubbish.

We're all hypocrites.

But some people do make a real effort, and some don't care.

There's a big gulf between people who eg don't buy or use any single use plastic and walk/cycle everywhere to those who think it's ok to fly private jets and throw their rubbish out of their car windows.

I also agree it's good if everyone does a little bit. The impact is much greater than a few doing a lot.

And it's always worth remembering on rubbish that well over 90% of waste is caused by industry - so they can do a lot to get their houses in order.

I don't preach anything. I don't know anyone who does. I care about the environment and I try to change things that I can, whilst not retiring to live naked in a hole in the ground.

But I'm not the one starting judgemental threads calling people hypocrites, so I look forward to your sharing what exactly you are doing to ensure that you have no adverse impact on the global climate.

Hypocrites? No. Most of us care. But we know anything we do has minimal effect. The conferences, the main players don't even attend. China etc. Gasoline and power companies do nothing. Governments do little. Our recycling goes to far flung places and gets dumped. We are small fry, the big boys don't comply. So yes I do my best, but I don't worry about an annual holiday flight.

Pessimistic or realistic?

The UK is small fry. We are a tiny Island with a tiny population - we make up just 0.9% of the world. Even if every single person changed their habits, it would genuinely make no difference to the state of the world.

Not really. Out habits amount to a miniscule amount of China's emissions. Way less than 1%

No, it's not the problem, the problem is there's no consensus on what needs doing, the deep/light/bright greens have conflicting views on what needs doing. Even if we did all do "something" we would still be pulling in different directions to no effect.

And this is the problem.

We are in an era where the pessimistic and the cynical are keeping us from moving forwards in any way.

No point doing this, it is too small...
No point doing that, it is too complex...

These mindsets are a problem. Big situations need determined, realistic but also hopeful people.

These are chicken feed in relation to what needs doing

Exactly this.
I have made a similar point on threaDs on this topic. China and India aren't manufacturing massive amounts of goods, cars and tech for themselves. It's because everyone else in the western world wants it and is buying it. I bought new towels recently (old ones are 20+ years old and were recycled) and they were made in India....but had I researched and found some made in the UK(if that exists) that would be extra transportation for an item I bought alongside other shopping (and would likely be at a much greater cost)

Well yes, i think everyone is really. Because its virtually impossible to live a completely virtuous environmentally friendly life. We should all be vegan, childfree, non-car owners who never fly anywhere.

The reality is, that the masses are pissing in the wind really against big business, governments etc who can make really impactful changes. But the way to get them to make changes is for more people to care and to ahow them thatbby making the small changes.

The simplest of all is increased insulation.

Another is investment in/promotion of safe walking and cycling.

Yes, I think it really needs to come from the top.

In answer to the OP, I have made various choices, some big some small, with the intention of reducing energy consumption.

If I ever talk about the specifics of my choices some prats people get weirdly angry. I don't start these discussions I hasten to add, I am not in the business of announcing my choices to random people.

A lot of things that are better for the environment have a cost - in terms of time, money or both. And most people will do what is most convenient at a level of "cost" that they feel comfortable with (myself included)

In the modern world it's almost inescapable to live without creating some kind of impact. Using our phones and tech has an environmental cost but often is the only way to communicate, or access services. In a lot of areas, public transport is poor or non existent so they need to make multiple car journeys.

I don't buy fast fashion, I shop at charity shops, I rarely fly (3 times since 2014) , recycle as much as possible, don't replace tech very frequently ....but also I have 2 children, have pets, I eat meat, and today drove 5 miles in a petrol car, to do a parkrun (unnecessary car journey)

Charles is always lauded as the ultimate climate activist yet his carbon footprint is fucking massive (he never gets challenged on this though - astonishing really!) so when that’s supposed to be our inspiration I think us mere mortals can be forgiven for a little hypocrisy 🤷‍♀️

What simple changes?

Cut back where there is wastage or unnecessary usage and also transition to green energy sources.

No one is advocating cutting back on life support machines.

But there is much we can do in everyday life to cut energy use. Look at how much heat still goes straight up out of people's uninsulated lofts/roofs for example.

It's better for people to care and do what they feel they can than to throw their hands up. It doesn't help when someone comes along, judgy pants hoiked right up, and declares what 'enough' is. We should encourage people as much as we can.

When most people talk about sustainability they mean they want technology to fix it so that they can sustain their current lifestyles without feeling bad about environmental impact.

It shouldn't be about cutting back on energy use - it's about having and using the right kind of energy

Energy reduction where you have the wrong kind of energy or where there is insufficient green energy to go around

I have rarely been anywhere where simple changes were not possible

I think it's pretty simple to see what needs to happen
Funding it is more difficult as driven by short sighted economic models

We don't need to return to the Stone Age to live an environmental sensitive life

The point isn't really the UK vs China.

It's coming to grips with the fact that our modern lifestyle is extremely energy intensive.

The energy isn't just the energy used to make crisp packets and flights to Bali. It's also the energy needed for hospitals, heating for the elderly, food production and supply chains, etc.

It's also the energy needed to produce the technology used to power the green revolution - factories making batteries and solar cells, etc.

Which part of that "modern lifestyle" should we cut back on?