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

Nail on the head. Like the way the UK transported loads of our rubbish/recyclables half way round the world to be "recycled" - or in reality, dumped elsewhere.

Saw some eco protesters outside our Barclays bank this morning. I thought to myself, I bet your clothes are made in a sweatshop powered by fossil fuel power stations in China somewhere.

But even if we all stopped overnight, it would still make absolutely no difference.

I live in a different country to my family so yes I fly a lot.

however don’t use a disposable nappy, disposable wipes or new baby clothes ! I use reusable wipes and nappies and shop on Vinted and use my older child’s clothes for him. Even most of our toys are second hand - my daughters brio set and all her boxes and Boxes of duplo are also second hand

all you can do is your best and the impact on a personal level is minimal anyway - unless big corporations give a shit then nothing much is going to be solved.

@dontcrowdthemushrooms By not having children, you are absolutely doing your bit.

I think for me, practising what I 'preach' isn't really an issue because I'm not doing any preaching. I basically don't really talk about environmental issues, partly because the whole topic makes me incredibly anxious and also because I am not at all a confrontational or persuasive person. I'm not a campaigner. So I quietly admire people who are doing much better than me for the planet, and quietly judge those who I see as particularly excessive in their consumption and waste,

I drive an electric car (and yes I know there are still issues with their production and the disposal of the batteries), and have solar panels. We don't buy fast fashion or buy much stuff at all really. We all buy from Vinted and charity shops or ethical/sustainable brands.

But we're not vegan or vegetarian and we fly probably 7 out of 10 years (though very rarely more than one return flight in a year). And we all have smart phones in my house (assuming most of the people on this thread have too).

Kinda think what’s the point when the USA exists. Trump has just shat all over the environment. I see online images of them driving everywhere rather than walking or using public transport and cooking videos using disposable cookware.we can’t counteract that!

Only one holiday flight every 2 years
Taking care of things to get the maximum life to save your money

These are great sustainability choices

Home heating is a national problem

People don't always realise when they are doing well

Yes, but a lot of our habits contribute to china's emissions, because of the crap we buy from there. We've outsourced our emissions so we can pat ourselves on the back and think "well done us, we don't need to do anything more, we can continue as we are and smugly criticise China"

I don't think it's hypocritical to do what you can, without being perfect. And I don't think that not being perfect means you shouldn't bother at all.
As long as you aren't then lecturing other people.

Its also the case that people are looked down on if their position is that they dont want to do anything or dont want to make those considerations. Or like me they believe that climate change is inevitable and has been since there were humans on the earth (and before) and its just part of the changes that will come and go. Humans may come and go, like other species we might die out, we might not.

I suspect affordability comes into it as well. I’d love to buy expensive clothing that lasts for years, or drive a more environmentally friendly car, or live in a house powered by solar panels.
But the reality is that I’m renting, broke, and don’t want to be cold on top of everything else, so I’ll be putting the electric heating on and not feel guilty.
And when I fly to go on the one holiday I get every 2 years, I’ll buy a couple of cheap bikinis before I go.
And I’ll be driving to the airport in my 20yo car because it’s the car I can afford.

Sustainability is a luxury.

Also, I’m not planning to have kids, and that’s probably the biggest contribution I can make 🤷‍♀️

For interest, the UK is responsible for 1.1% of global emissions.
China is responsible for 28%.

Even if every single one of us changed our habits, nothing would actually change in the global scheme of things.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-and-global-emissions-and-temperature-trends/#:~:text=The%20UK%20ranked%2017th,followed%20by%20transport%20with%2025%25.

Even if everyone in the UK did everything they possibly could, it would make absolutely no difference on any kind of global scale. We're practically irrelevant when it comes to our impact on the planet.

I think generally people have learned what to say by group think. So they say what they think they should, therefore it doesnt necessarily accord with what they actually do

I think people should do what they can. Or, preferably, a bit more than they think they can. And I think accusing people who fall short of hypocrisy is deeply unhelpful, and in my experience is something people say as a "get out of jail card" for themselves.

YANBU.

People are happy doing the simple/cheap things that don't really affect them, but expect everyone else to do the hard stuff.

Just like tax - everyone wants more taxes raised for public services, but they don't want to pay themselves, they want "other people" to pay more tax!

Hypocrites.

Sustainability is all about small steps.

A vast number of people taking small steps to lesson their impact on the environment does more good than one doing everything, and the rest making no changes .

I also suspect people who use sustainability as a reason to not di something ( eg travel ) are using it as an excuse, and cost is the real factor.

Serious question, how does it feel to know that you are wasting your time with this ideology?

Nothing, but nothing, makes a blind bit of difference to the climate. UK accounts for less than 1% of emissions.

You may feel better for all the things you are doing, it is completely pointless though.

Environmentalism, like most most leftie ideologies, is basically a new status symbol. It’s a way for people show that they are more virtuous, better than everyone else. They do it go fashion, nothing else.

Except, the moral intellect they they think they are showing falls apart in no time leaving looking really stupid.

Like when they fly around all over the place but lecture the mere mortals for taking a holiday abroad. When they protest for a hobby because they don’t need a real job because they are bored pensioners of have the trust fund from mummy and daddy to support them.

To be honest, these rabid, lecturing environmentalists come across as a bit dense.

I suspect most people realise that their actions make practically zero difference when there are firms like Amazon sending out millions of parcels a day, or billionaires flying half hour trips in their private jets.

For me, it's not that I don't care, it's that I don't see the point in doing anything when it makes no difference anyway. You need to fix the big stuff, not the fact that Susan doesn't recycle her yogurt pots or that Ben flies to Europe twice a year for his holidays.

I care a lot about the environment. Haven't flown for 15 years, have solar panels, very plastic conscious (not zero waste but have got far in that direction at times) however nothing is perfect. If people who care get called hypocrites for leading a normal western lifestyle how will anything ever change? Eco consumerism is expensive: round here the zero waste shop and farmers market cost around double the price of shopping in Lidl. People can only do what they can do.

@VenusClapTrap

Well put. We are human therefore we make choices that aren't perfect

@Nextdoor55 I agree with you but unfortunately most people will complain of any financial impact to themselves. Most people if faced with paying £2 more for a sustainable product will not do so. I can see why companies won't take this risk. It would have to come from the government through fines or sanctions.

It's fine to care but still take scheduled flight or two, it is hypocritical to make huge public statements about the environment then take a private jet! Yesterday on flight radar you could see a stream of gulfstream, Lear etc jets taking the wealthy back stateside from Davos - why didn't they share a charter larger plane!!!