To think "the planet is doomed" argument is counter-productive?

[Teachtolive]

We all know the situation with climate change is drastic and seriously worrying but I'm hating the attitude of "we're doomed, nothing anyone can do by changing their ways, govt needs to do it all to make a difference." Surely if there's an upsurge in public consumption of renewables etc that the very worst that can happen is that you're not adding to the problem. The best is the govt and companies respond to the new enthusiasm for renewables and then it actually does make a change, even if that change just buys us time to develop and invest in technology that will help on a larger scale?

The planet will be fine, eventually..

What we really should be concentrating on is the fact we're contributing to our own extinction.

Birthday cakes, do people not realise that??

I think humans are doomed. The planet will sort itself out once we're gone.

I honestly think we are doomed no matter what we do now. There are just too many of us. 2/3 of us need to die for the rest of us to still be alive in 300 or so years.

I have actually been recycling less recently because it's not going to make a blind bit of difference what I do now. Governments do need to 'do something'. They need to ban juice in plastic bottles or ration fuel or something equally dramatic if they want to have any effect. But what government is going to do that? Me sticking my plastic in a bottle and making an eco brick is completely pointless.

Our own extinction... plus also dragging 200 species per day down the plug hole with us

Renewables won't save us at all, they still have to be mined from rare earth elements in places like Mongolia. Tens to hundreds of miles have become denuded, desolate toxic waste lands with huge poisonous mining tailings lakes. Rare and devastating cancers and wasting diseases afflict local villagers and their animals. Unfortunately green technology is not the panacea.

"The Worst Place on Earth" www.bbc.com/future/story/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth

I have actually been recycling less recently because it's not going to make a blind bit of difference what I do now

You see, this is the thing I have an issue with. Why not retain hope that there might be some little thing that could change, and not contribute? Even just on a moral level, to not be harming animals/the environment is better than knowingly doing it, right?

Boswellia sorry, when I say renewables I don't just mean energy etc, but products, things that don't rely on plastic for example

The thing is, as consumers we can make a difference, if everyone does their bit. And for everyone to do their bit, I need to do mine.

If, tomorrow, everyone decided that they were not going to buy drinks in single use plastic bottles anymore and acted on that, the companies would have to find other options or go out of business. For that to happen, I have to not buy drinks in single use plastic bottles any more.

mumofmunchkin that's what I'm talking about. You hit the nail on the head. If, for once in our potentially doomed existence, as a species, the majority of us pull together, it would to some degree hit companies where it hurts- their profits!

The planet's not "doomed" it's very resilient. Far more so than the stupid humand that inhabit it.

The fact is though, feeling super bad for a few days and vowing to recycle more isnt going to fix this. We'd have to make big changes as individuals and as a society and I dont think we're up for that. Far easier to blame China/poor people far away and keep consuming.

This is a really interesting podcast: freakonomics.com/podcast/save-the-planet/

looking at two opposing views about whether we're doomed unless we scale right back, or humankind will find a way to save us.

Either way, I suspect humans are doomed. I don't think as a species we have it in us (collectively) to able to act in a long term way (ie do things that will make things worse in our life times for the sake of things being better in our great-great grandchildren's life times).

We need to stop buying crap full stop. Nobody needs drinks in bottles at all, it's rotting human insides from the teeth, through the pancreas down to the gut. Just water, teas and coffee are fine plus a bit of milk.

Imo the planet will survive we may not.
There are too many people all scrabbling to have as much as they can without working as one. Recycling is good an all but overpopulation and Animal Ag are the elephants in the room afaic.

I have a funny feeling overpopulation will sort itself out, most likely in a very devastating way, such as widespread disease in impoverished areas. The birth rate is also in decline.

Animal agriculture is another thing that is controlled by the consumer. Beef is the big one, if we stopped buying that, things could change overnight

In 1894, The Times newspaper predicted… “In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of [horse] manure."

Predicitions of disaster rarely prove true - and I have faith in human ingenuity and the ability to find solutions. Although we often need a hefty kick up the collective backside to get moving...

Recycle what you can, stop buying stuff you don't need, consume less in general, put pressure on companies to use eco-friendly packaging, etc etc. And use your vote wisely come election-time.

I don't believe the human race is facing extinction. Decimation possibly. But it's not too late.

I agree. But I don't think generally the population realised that beef is such a problem. I do think we need educating on it. Farming has lost its way and has become so profit driven that we are all suffering, animals included. This expectation that we can have cheap meat every single day in such vast quantities just isn't sustainable.