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?

I'll definitely do as much as I can for (c), and some of (b). Where possible I only buy clothes either second hand or not at all. I use tech until it wears out and dies. I recycle everything I possibly can (currently obsessively reusing grey water for the garden) and try to minimise air travel and car usage.

(a) is a difficult one though...I have major issues around other people trying to control my food intake (DM spent my entire childhood dieting which had a major impact on me and I struggle to limit what I eat and drink). I do try and reduce meat consumption. But I could never do the full veggie thing, or go dairy free, and veganism just sounds so utterly joyless I'd just rather not go there ever.

Exactly this. The average person's impact is absolutely minute. You need to look at China, India and the US, as they produce over half of global fossil carbon dioxide and total greenhouse gas output. Me choosing not to fly once every couple of years is going to make bog all difference unless those countries do something about their hideous levels of pollution.

I do a bit but unless big countries like India and China do more what hope is there?

Not much I can change. I don't eat meat or dairy. Never fly, do less than 4k miles a year by car. I now mainly buy clothed on vinted. I don't have a tumble drier and try to reuse stuff and grow pollinating plants and gave zcsmall pins for wildlife.

There needs to be stricter rules for companies and corporations rather than the sole constant focus on individuals.
The big factories and businesses are the ones making the biggest negative dents in the environment, not practicing recycling, bellowing out toxic smoke etc, and causing high levels of waste and pollution.
China and America being key culprits.
Plus sewage going into waterways and the sea.
Makes me angry that they get away with being so irresponsible when us mortals are told our bins won't get emptied if there is one thing in the wrong one.

I already do C. A and B I will find hard to do.
I also think that the biggest issues are more than this. What about data centres warming the planet. Electricity usage in homes. Heating, lighting, factory emissions for things we need every day being produced.
I think we have about 50 years of oil left being pumped at the volumes it is now don’t we. So I do wonder what is going to happen when it becomes scarce.
what about all the jobs people do that are connected to these industries, like travel, so many people rely on the travel industry for their livelinhoods.
what about food being flown around the world. Fertiliser being flown around the world.
our current global economy is based on goods being transported everywhere. Me giving up my easyjet return flight to Athens isn’t going to stop any of that.

I’m vegan, use public transport to go anywhere and very rarely buy anything new with the exception of underwear and shoes or boots. I’m thinking of future generations but also the here and now. The tipping point has been reached.

We need a human cull, but obviously that's not going to happen.

You say this and I raise you

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_intensity

The UK's all at the bottom and a lot cleaner than India on this

It’s not so much food being flown around the world but food being grown in the first place during droughts.

WTF!

Travel is our life now in 50s and kids all left home and we always travel business class. Wouldn’t give it up for anything .

A human cull is needed, where to start?

Yep because this is capitalism, we tend to buy on the cheap and the cheapest meat comes from closer to home. Also the country is only around 70m which is a tiny market compared to the over 1bn population of the Americas where most of Brazil’s meat ends up.

Imported meat

Beef- 88% of imports from EU27, of which 67% Ireland. None from Brazil
Chicken-98% of imports from EU27- 43% Netherlands, 17% Poland, 10% Ireland. (Brazil is lowest at <2%)
Pork- 99% of imports from EU27 with Denmark at 25% and Germany at 23%. None from Brazil

You want to start with " retards"- what a vile term- Palestinians and Muslims?

Have I read that right?

So who supports halal slaughter then? If you support halal slaughter, how can you possibly care about the planet?

I don't think I'd change my meat consumption as I prefer the taste. I think the relative cost might motivate me to change though and I believe that's how behavioural changes will occur, rather than it being based on moral reasons.

I usually fly long haul once a year as we have family abroad. They are old and at some point those visits will come to a natural end. We will probably fly more frequently on other holidays with our dcs as they get older though, we have avoided doing many flights when they were younger mainly for convenience but now they are old enough that it's not a big deal.

I don't have a driving licence so I always use public transport and I have chosen to live in an area with excellent public transport. I like the convenience of not having to commute much so we have prioritised living close to work (close enough to walk/cycle), and choosing schools that are walkable. But that was motivated by wanting to avoid the hassle of commuting and delays rather than anything environmental.

Meh, CO2 isn’t the primary pollutant causing global warming.
We need to address the super pollutants very quickly.
https://www.ccacoalition.org/news/super-pollutants

I am saying it has started with the Palestinians, I am not saying I agree with that, just that it has started with them.

I don’t support halal, kosher or any slaughter as a vegan for the last 29 years. This is off-topic though.

Stop being provocative. There is no need for a human genocide to save the planet. This is no place for your eco-terrorist nonsense.

I'd be happy to make those adjustments and more when it becomes mandated by law. Which I believe it will with 15 or 20 years. Collectively we are living beyond our planetary boundaries. Individual acts of sacrifice are encouraging to see, but won't move the dial. It wont be down to choice, and it shouldn't be. Covid showed us that when there is an emergency, we are forced into significant legally enforced lifestyle changes. Wherher we like it or not. This will happen when climate change is treated as the emergency it is at a national and international level. We are not there yet (idiots like Trump and his ilk still clinging on to the death throws of neoliberal capitalism). But it will happen. When we are in fear of not having access to water and shelter from heat, believe me, we will not have a problem with changing our lifestyles in order to secure our and our kids futures. Losing the ability to fly multiple times a year will seem an irrelevance.

Yup. They saw that. Saw some lakes, a waterfall as well. Took the train round to different cities as well. Saw lots of different sites and places. It was absolutely wonderful. If the glaciers melt there'll be other geographical formations to enjoy and see. New lakes will form and greenery will eventually return to that area.

The population of China, India and USA adds up to 3.3bn people. Around 40% of the global population. If they’re responsible for 50% of greenhouse gases that’s actually not much more than their fair share.