To ask what you think about global warming?

[deeedeee]

After seeing comments on other threads , I'm wondering, what do most people think?

Are you worried about man-made climate change?

Are you trying to change any of your behaviour because of it?

Or are you not concerned?

Exactly. Even if you were living in a mud hut using cloth nappies you'd be chastised for washing them with water or something. But I think it's just defensiveness, people reluctant to admit they're part of a larger problem or might be affected by said problem. I can definitely understand that.

But the majority of people on this thread have been receptive though - which fits in with the 2/3 of Brits that are concerned by climate change (that's a guess based on a survey I read a while ago).

Thanks penny. Good to think of it that way. Attitudes can and do change.

I will continue to talk about it.

but yes, will try not to get frustrated and sarky

apologies again . ho hum

"I think it's the lack of detail about yourself, what you're doing, the things you think would help etc. It feels like you're on a soap box not in a conversation."

Who cares? I don't. I'm fairly certain the OP isn't the CEO of Exxon or drilling for oil in her backyard. Just a normal concerned person. Can't we have a dialogue around this subject without dissecting the OP's lifestyle? That would be derailing and not at all useful.

Giddy, to be honest it feels as if I was to list all the ways I've changed or am trying to change my lifestyle then I'd be accused of not doing enough or trying too hard . I'm not perfect, but I am trying.

It is cheaper to deal with the consequences than to stop it.

I think we will be ended as a race by some other catastrophe like nuclear war. Potentially in my lifetime.

I don't have children and have voted Green. Every time I fill up the car or throw away packaging I think about the damage it all does but I live in a situation where I have to drive and shop in supermarkets.

Small steps do help - charging for carrier bags for example has reduced their consumption by 80%.

Silent well that's what made it feel like a lecture rather than a conversation to me. If you disagree that's fine. I will carry on as I am and bow out.

I understand. No one likes a lecture. But you can engage in debate/disagree without unpicking the OP's lifestyle. The OP has apologised for being sarky.

PN girl, I don't shop at supermarkets, I have most of my food delivered. Maybe this would work for you?
I buy all my canned/dried/packet food and cleaning products through a food coop I set up with some local friends and families. This cuts down MASSIVELY on packaging as we all share big bags or bottles or cases of things. It's also great quality food for usually cheaper than supermarket. and we buy from a local workers coop, meaning the money I spend on food goes to a business owned by it's workers.

I buy my fresh food (veg, fruit, eggs, cheese etc) weekly through a local farm box scheme that deliver. Means no packaging, local food. supports local farms.

Doing theses two things saves me loads of money as I'm not going into supermarkets buying loads of things I don't need. and means lots less packaging.

I then buy milk/bread daily from local shops and occasionally buy fish and meat from local shops.

If you or anyone else is interested here's some information www.sustainweb.org/foodcoops/

or here www.theecologist.org/campaigning/food_and_gardening/361776/how_to_set_up_your_own_local_food_coop.html

ours has about 20 local families who order through it. Me and my husband run it from our spare room.

Here's farm box schemes. www.soilassociation.org/organic-living/buy-organic/find-an-organic-box-scheme/

It's interesting to hear from someone who actually has set up one of those bulk-buying co-ops. Usually only something I've heard about in the press. I've always had a knack for living near people I don't have much in common with (*that very-early-gentrification hipster, or that lefty person keeping their head down in a tory shire) , so it's not something I've ever been in a position to do. Some workplaces, possibly, but people have enough hassle getting big parcels home on public transport.
I do get quite a lot of local-ish food, and failing that, grown in the UK, at least.

deedeee - You have done amazing things! I really like the idea of your co-op. And you are brave to start a thread like this

Veg boxes are great because they pretty much force you into eating in new ways, which are mostly a load healthier. I used to get one and I found the veg was just way, way nicer than anything you could get in the supermarket. Now I grow a lot of my own fruit and veg, so it is not so necessary.

I think that a food coop sounds a good idea although potentially a lot of work to set up. I am quite prone to buying things in bulk and having some whopping great tub of washing up liquid stashed in the utility room.

Thinking of all the things I've read and seen over the past 20 odd years makes me wonder how it is that some people are hugely concerned about climate change and others couldn't care less. I get that people may have other more pressing day to day concerns but was there ever a time in their life when they gave it more thought?

I am concerned about global warming, but I'm not sure that the best response is to try and reverse it... Global warming is a result of human development.... Thousands of years ago when we started farming and we began to settle in villages, then towns and cities, infectious disease became an issue... Was the answer to revert to the Stone Age, or was the answer sanitation and medicine? I'd argue the latter!

It's the same with GW, we need to adapt (as we always have) by developing carbon capture technology, and exploiting areas that GW will make fertile, alongside green tech, rather than being sackcloth and ashes...

I also agree that there's something crass and unnatural about our consumer society that's not good for the soul...

It was a bit of work to set up in the beginning, like any new system of organising people. And it was effort to forge new habits . For example I had to be quite strict with myself initially, I had a rule that every meal I cooked had to have atleast two ingredients from the food coop and two from farm box. Or else I'd just slip into old habit and go and buy something from tescos on the way home.

But three years in it works brilliantly. We order every 2 months from food coop, usually about £120 and then the farm box is £20 a week . And I guess I usually spend another 10-20 ish a week on bread/milk/fish/meat/random. So all in all I spend prob about £50 ish a week for all my food, cleaning stuff, toiletries and never have to go and do a big shop in a supermarket.

Most of it gets delivered and has very little packaging. We don't eat much meat or fish cause it feels like a treat, since our kitchen's stocked up with veg/ beans/ lentils/ cheese/eggs etc, but when we do because I save so much money on the basics I can buy something local and organic.

I love it. On the odd occasion I go into a supermarket these days it feels like a guilty treat, and I can't really bring myself to buy anything because I don't need it and I get the fear of having to dispose of all the packaging.

Banana bread, interesting re- sanitation and medication. That's an interesting way of looking at it.

But still can't escape the guilt that the poorest people on earth will be the ones to suffer most, who won't benefit from any green tech/ mitigation adaptions.

And all the changes I've made to my lifestyle have not been sacrifices, just new habits. And it feels better to be less wasteful and save money. Just like it feels good to stop any unhealthy addiction.

Hmm, wouldn't work for us. Great for you though.

I am concerned and used to carbon offset

I dislike waste so generally switch off lights, refuse to buy plastic tat etc.

But honestly I don't think what my family does has any impact globally. Not enough people are spontaneously changing their habits to make any difference, and I can't begrudge people in developing countries wanting the same standards I have. I haven't given up hot showers for example.

But do you need to give up hot showers? Just do your best and change the habits you can change. So change your electricity/gas supplier to one that support renewables and be aware of how many showers you take.

Does it need to be all or nothing ?

The thing I find strange is that right now, if people made relatively minor lifestyle adjustments, we could make a big difference. I mean both at an individual level and at a political level.

But that's not happening, because people regard those relatively minor lifestyle adjustments as far bigger than they really are.

So what happens? The problem is not going to go away. So effectively, your kids are going to have to make much more major adjustments in future. Your nice lifestyle is basically mortgaged on their future.

If you hear the ire that is directed at the boomers now, it is going to be nothing - nothing - compare to what the youngsters now will be directing at us when we are older!

I guess what I've been trying to do is gradually challenge myself to change habits and forge new ones. It does take a bit of effort. But it isn't a joyless activity, the things I've tried to do have generally made me either happier, healthier or saved me money. Or at the least had no detrimental effect.

As a society we've all slipped into lazy unhealthy habits. Habits take time and effort to change, but it's not insurmountable. We just need to make better choices and then keep making them. Chose a thing at a time and make adjustments and changes. Don't fall into the dieters trap of thinking you need to go on a cabbage soup diet, failing and giving up.

It's not so black and white.

Incorporate small changes. Challenge yourself to make them bigger. Keep doing it.

if people made relatively minor lifestyle adjustments

Like what?

Well, like the kind of thing dee is talking about - having an eye to climate impacts of ordinary decisions about consumption - the kind of decisions that we make many times a day.

But that always has to go with campaigning for change and environmental regulation at a wider national and international scale (making it clear that change is needed and that politicians and leaders can make the difficult decisions that are required).