WIBU to point out this hypocrisy to environmentally obsessed colleague?

[Morphene]

I've a work colleague who never seems to stop banging on about environmental things. Constantly nagging about people going on holiday by plane, driving to work, using plastic bottles etc.

The thing is that he has two kids and has a third on the way - all very much planned. So WIBU to interrupt his next diatribe by pointing out to him that I could go on a transatlantic flight every year for the rest of my life while driving a fleet of gas guzzlers and it still wouldn't amount to the level of environmental damage his choices are causing?

[Florriesma]

He sounds really annoying op and rude himself. So I hope you take every opportunity to pull him over every gadget he owns and replaces? Since they are full of rare minerals that are decimating parts of Africa and associated with appalling work practices? In fact you could probably needle him over every consumer choice he makes unless he lives off grid and grows his own cotton?

Or you could just tell him to stfu and change the subject?

[JacquesHammer]

that's a lovely idea, and so good that I did it both the second and fourth times he started in. It was ineffective as you can see....

Well indeed. Didn't quite gather than from your OP though!

[WomblingThree]

BlueAutumnSkies 😂 In my workplace it would've been "shut up you boring twat, we don't care!"

[requestingsunshine]

So how many children do you have/intend to have? And what if you accidentlly get pregnant? Not sure you can use this as a comeback to him banging on about the environment if you do actually already have children. You'd look a bit thick.

[KickAssAngel]

OP - you're totally right, although clearly people are very resistant to this idea.

The BEST thing people can do to this planet is to stop existing. If the human species stopped existing on this earth, earth would be in much better condition - as would the space around it. Reducing the amount of people on this planet would be an economic challenge, but environmentally good.

But no govt. in the UK is going to even whisper about this, as it would be political suicide.

[Morphene]

I like 'bore off' as an option....I think he's pretty impervious though.

sorry jaques I thought it would be obvious given how clearly perfect I am that I would have exhausted all the reasonable options before resorting to base rudeness

In a similar vein I obviously have the perfect number of children (1) for propagating the species while reducing the environmental load....

[UnderCrackers5]

Tell him that if we didn't have planes we wouldn't be able to drop bombs on foreigners. His head will explode - end of problem

[Morphene]

Okay now I have seriously got it!

Next time he starts up I will counter with a long tale of the environmental damage that sanitary products do to the environment and fill in all the gory details of my ongoing battle to find a mooncup my body will accept.

This will go down an absolute bomb in my almost entirely male work environment and will surely prevent all future discussion of the environment for the next year or two.

[drinkingtea]

I don't think the "1 is perfect because we have to ensure the human race survives" argument is convincing. That's just an excuse for your choice to indulge your wish to have a child. There is no danger of the human race dying out - the only genuinely selfless environmentally responsible decision is to avoid reproduction and adopt children to bring up responsibly.

I am not saying that once you've had a child you might as well have 12 because the damage is done, obviously but it is very disingenuous to claim that having even one child is a responsible decision on a global scale unless you genuinely believe the world needs your own very special offspring or that everyone else is cooincidentally going to simultaneously stop reproducing.

For this reason the only people with the moral high ground are the ones who selflessly decided to have no children despite wanting and being able to have them. Everyone who tries to preach about overpopulation after choosing to add even one child is throwing stones from a glass house...

[toosexyforyahshirt]

There is no danger of the human race dying out

There are dangers of certain cultures, even races dying out though. The naive Western shallow-ecologist viewpoint of overpopulation would see rich countries fail to reproduce themselves while developing nations have population increase.
They miss more than half the point!

[MsSusanStoHelit]

I'm with @PastaOfMuppets - I would probably have already had this fight with him, twice.

But genuine healthy debate is quite normal around here, especially if someone is being a boring arse about something.

[toosexyforyahshirt]

For this reason the only people with the moral high ground are the ones who selflessly decided to have no children despite wanting and being able to have them

They aren't on any moral high ground. That's not selfless, that's stupidity.

[MsSusanStoHelit]

Oh and the graph in the Guardian is based on a bar chart from a proper peer reviewed journal called Environmental Research Letters.

The article is Open Access and can be viewed here: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541

[drinkingtea]

toosexy are you trying to say that only people from races and cultures in danger of population decline should have children, and implying that rich white people are in danger of becoming extinct presumably I have misunderstood ...

[toosexyforyahshirt]

Yes, you have misunderstood.

[drinkingtea]

toosexy why is it stupid to choose not to have children if you are genuinely commited to reducing overpopulation?

[drinkingtea]

That's helpful. please explain then.

[toosexyforyahshirt]

No thanks, but there are plenty of books available if you care to read. I'm not Google!

[Morphene]

ah the good old IOP!

[Gingerandgivingzerofucks]

Can't you just tell him you don't want to hear it? Or as would have happened in my last office "Dave, bore off, no one wants to hear it. I am making a cuppa, fancy one?."

OR



OR (my favourite option)

[drinkingtea]

Having one fewer children will reduce your personal impact by 58.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year - the first child isn't a carbon neutral freebie, not having that child will reduce your impact as compared to having that child...

[CaptainMarvelDanvers]

The issue isn't the amount of children people are having, it's that people are living longer.

[BadLad]

"I've a work colleague who never seems to stop banging on about environmental things. Constantly nagging about people going on holiday by plane, driving to work, using plastic bottles etc.*

"Fuck off, you ridiculous boring helmet"

[GhostsToMonsoon]

I get your point especially as he's exceeded population replacement level but it might not go down well. There's also a danger of implying that once you've had children you lose the right to express concern over environmental issues.

[SnickersWasAHorse]

The issue isn't the amount of children people are having, it's that people are living longer.

In fairness it's both. And that the levels of child mortality have greatly reduced. But you can't really say to be 'just die at 70 and make sure only two of you children make it past 5' can you.