With forest fires burning across Europe and another heatwave on the horizon, how much are you personally willing to change your lifestyle for future generations?

[Chocolatefreak]

Genuine question for discussion purposes. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that you believe tackling climate change and environmental degradation is a shared responsibility, involving not only governments and corporations but also individuals.

With that in mind, how much would you personally be willing to change your lifestyle if it meant giving future generations, including your children and grandchildren, a better chance of living on a stable, healthy planet?

For example, would you be willing to:

a) Dramatically reduce your consumption of meat and dairy, so that more agricultural land could be used to grow food directly for people rather than feed livestock?
b) Restrict air travel and most car journeys to occasions where they are genuinely necessary?
c) Stop buying more than you need, only getting clothing, gadgets, and other consumables only when they are genuinely necessary rather than for convenience or entertainment?

If not, where would you draw the line? What changes would you consider reasonable, and which would you consider asking too much?

• Deciduous "Green Firebreaks": Experts are replacing vast rows of resin-soaked pine and conifer trees with native broadleaf trees like oak, chestnut, and beech. These trees hold more moisture, burn much slower, and act as natural speed bumps for racing flames.

• Agricultural Mosaics: Creating a patchwork of diverse land uses. By spacing out forests with olive groves, vineyards, and open farmland, the continuous path of vegetation is broken, preventing small fires from escalating into mega-fires.

I would have thought that random countries constantly bombing other random countries isn't exactly helping with climate change either.

All this bollocks about cutting out meat or flying less or only driving when necessary is just pointless, performative bullshit. It won’t make the slightest bit of difference because people like Donald Trump are still going to fly their private planes for 20 minute journeys and Russia is still going to bomb the shit out of Ukraine.

No amount of middle class “saving the planet” is going to do anything.

And for those moaning about China and they are installing a heck of a lot of solar panels in their own country

@Purplebunnie thats good, but why are China still building coal fired power stations?

As an insurance against power shortages

I guess they would have to fly, unless they have the money to travel by cruise ship or the time and resourcefulness to travel by cargo ship/freighter.

As a parent, I really hope my children never settle in Australia or New Zealand. I would miss them too much.

It’s not

Here is the bbc carbon footprint reckoner for uk food- scroll down for a really clear graph

Good plan. Come and sell that idea to the eucalyptus and olive farmers here in Portugal and see how far you get. Olive trees burn ferociously.

I eat very little meat, we don't fly abroad, I don't drive and we don't have kids. We recycle. I consider we have a low impact on the environment, but when so many people take multiple flights, have several kids and more than one car, i think me & DH are in the minority.

Only those where the poster has said something deliberately provocative or peculiar.

I try to do as much as I can, but some of it definitely costs more!
I'm just back from a holiday in South-West France, and went there by train. It was definitely more expensive than travelling by budget airline. Similarly, I pay for a weekly veggie box of locally produced organic vegetables. Great in terms of food miles but double the price of veg from Lidl. I can't manage without a car (small town in rural area) but the electric car that I'd like to upgrade to will cost me a lot more than its petrol equivalent, even second-hand.

Oh give over. Your option isn't handy for people who find themselves out and about and needing to grab something to eat. Given the prices you can pay for a sandwich £2.20 is probably about the least you could pay in those circumstances.

I earn less than the minimum wage so I guess I fall well down your 80% group.

Your entire post is irrelevant to the original point of the conversation - the environment.

Thank -you, all - interesting discussion and some very encouraging comments made a by a lot of people, who recognise that living sustainably can mean a better and healthier quality of life for people as well as better for wildlife, livestock, preservation of natural spaces etc.

There are some, who despite the visible, negative effects of the climate crisis unfolding around them, are resolutely determined to pursue a fossil fuel-hungry, consumption-driven lifestyle instead of adapting to a more modern and responsible one. It’s impossible to reason with entitlement on that scale so I’m not going to try.

A common response to a call for individual climate action is ‘my contribution is too small to matter’. But collective systems are always built from individual contributions: one vote rarely decides an election, one taxpayer does not build a hospital, and one person recycling does not solve waste. The question is not whether one person's action solves the problem; it is whether millions of people making the same choice changes the outcome.

One point that seems frustratingly difficult for some to grasp - we have essentially moved the manufacturing of most of our consumables to China – so their emissions reflect our consumption. With a per capital carbon footprint twice the size of ours, it’s a lot. But not nearly as much as the Middle East’s, or the US.

Lastly, I would prefer my children to think that I made some effort to address the problem rather than contribute to what is surely going to be a desperately difficult future for them – in terms of climate extremes, food scarcity, conflict and suffering.

Wouldn’t you?

A) yes
B) flying no. I value travel above most things
C) to an extent yes

a) I can give up most dairy but honestly not milk in tea. I was vegetarian for a while but really struggle with low iron levels (I know leafy green veg is good, and I take iron tablets already but it seems I don't do well on no meat at all) so would cut meat down but not eliminate it either
b) I don't own a car, I cycle and take public transport everywhere. Mind that's easier because I live in a city where everythings reachable by public transport. If I lived in somewhere with a once a day bus it would be harder
I have family in Europe I need to visit but trying to take the Eurostar and then trains to do so not fly. I hate flying and like trains so this is an easier sacrifice
c) I already try not to buy useless junk but it's all relative really. I buy more things for my child than me but he's a teenager and needs new clothes. TBH I wouldn't want to make him wear second hand clothes all the time if it made him stand out in front of his friends. Whereas I'm happy to wear second hand myself

The problem is there's some things we can do ourselves. But a lot depends on government policy too. Even the stuff that is down to "individual responsibility" eg driving and flying less is massively impacted by government policy re public transport, train infrastructure etc.

Where would you get your food from??

Flying in food from overseas isn’t exactly green?

it’s pretty hard to be vegan or vegetarian and not also have quite an impact on the environment - if you aren’t wearing wool or leather, what are your shoes made out of for example?

the way we manage our land has to change to make us more sustainable - making farmers sell it off to pay taxes is going to mean more and more of our own agricultural land is ending up in foreign ownership
not exactly the best idea long term

Hopefully EVERYONE who goes "Well I'm so virtuous because I only eat locally farmed beef, not vegetables from the other side of the world!" will bloody READ this and take note they won't

Can you specify which foods are flown in from overseas?

Given cow farts cause global warming. Shouldn't we eating them? If we slaughter and eat them them no cow farts

I see the intellectual heavyweights have arrived 🤦‍♀️

It’s interesting that’s it’s often the people with more children who care little of the world they will be left to live in.

I know this but still find it hard to believe.

I have a great life without ever setting foot on a plane. Some of us have enough imagination to be able to enjoy life without flying around the world just because we can.

Instead of imagining places I actually go to them.