To think the environment is fucked and no it won't get better?

[clairemcnam]

I have been an environmental activist pretty much my whole adult life. But in that time nearly everything has got worse. Even individual consumer behaviour is far less environmentally friendly than 30 or even 20 years ago.
I am growing very cynical and I think most people simply don't care enough to do anything that will make a real difference.

yup too late to stop it all recycling, marches, drone attacks on Heathrow etc wont make any difference

I believe YANBU. We have to keep trying though because what other option is there?

YANBU. You only have to look at the comments on environmental threads on here to see that people are aware of issues but just don't care enough to stop being selfish. Their entitlement is just too large.

I’m not sure planning to fly drones near Heathrow is going to get the message across efficiently

YANBU.

I don't think there's a solution. We really need to go back to how we all lived in the late 1800s and no-one is going to do that willingly.

YANBU. People are unwilling to make the changes needed. My Mil for example keeps saying people need to live more sustainable lives every time I see her, yet she goes on two or three holidays abroad every year and is always decorating another room in her house again and buying new furniture to go with it. She is very materialistic. So I guess she means everyone but her needs to make changes

All the single use plastic is a big issue. It's hard to do your grocery shopping on a budget that isn't wrapped in all this plastic. The area I'm in only recycles plastic bottles.

It's very hard to feel like one person can make a difference when you see the likes of Las Vegas in the flesh.

Me turning off my stand by light just isn't going to make a difference.

I know I'm guilty of not doing enough, and I'm also guilty of not caring enough.

But Im far from the real problem. Until big company's, governments and country's do more then I'll continue in my ways.

(Don't wish to upset anyone, all peace and love here)

I agree with wheresmymojo we need to live like we used to in the past, but yeah no one will willingly do that and how possible is it?
I really worry about this and think what kind of a world are we leaving for our grandchildren.
I have been watching some documentaries about all the plastic in the ocean that's also getting into our food chain, how do we even fix this?

Not only that, soil degradation and declining wildlife populations are huge issues.

I do care but I’d like collective action from companies and governments rather than relying on people taking Tupperware to supermarkets. I’ve done everything I can practically do on my own with the time available

Sadly, I agree. People simply don't care. For example, our communal bins for my flats are filled with recycleables, even though the recycling bin is right next to them. People talk like they care but it doesn't translate to actions if takes even the smallest effort. And the same goes for companies trying to flog as much tat as possible always saying we need new this, new that... Its really sad. I'll keep doing what I can, but I wonder why sometimes.

I agree the average person is far from being the real problem, governments and corporations need to take action.
Individuals can try to recycle more and consume less and we need to live in a less throwaway society. Like buy quality clothes that will last rather than cheap clothes that will be thrown away or clothes that will be thrown away because they arnt in fashion anyone.
Also if our countries start to take action and others don't what can be done?

I work in sustainability . With regard to peoples Behaviours there appears to be two extremes. Some that don’t give a shit and a growing number of people
That are going extreme ie making toilet wipes instead of using loo roll. I think going to the extreme is not realistic. What I do think though is that everybody can do their bit. Sustainability is all
About people and behaviour change. If everyone starts to do little things that becomes widespread and soon those little things become bigger.

I also think a lot of people are uneducated on env/ sustainability. People think it’s only plastic we need to think about and we can swap out plastic for cardboard. People don’t consider that that cardboard produces a huge Amt of carbon. Compostable plastic is just greenwashing and doesn’t do what people think it does. A lot of it will end up in landfill, there are not any commercually viable faculties to take compostable packaging . That means it won’t break down in landfill as the conditions won’t be correct.

We are seeing change in government and businesses are responding they know customers want this. It does however take time for this to happen and filter through.

I don't think it's too late but I don't think we are doing enough.

Carbon reductions are do-able provided that we seriously crack on, and there is just not the political will to legislate and enforce as needed to make it happen. Green the grid.

Plastic, again, we have the technology pretty much but heavy legislation would be required. Market forces will not cut it.

Wildlife, well in this country we need to stop endlessly mapping and planning and start doing. Think bigger. Being able to properly target agri-environment schemes and pick up planning net gain to spend it where it actually makes a difference. A proper national nature network, even if its as simple as a green grid.

However, personally I think this is window dressing and if we want to save biodiversity we would be better off spending our money in the tropics and tundra.

Feels like 11th hour.

I don't think it's the end of the world. But we certainly need to stop living in a throwaway society and treating the world like a garbage dump and we need the government to take action and make corporations take action

Yanbu. I now live in a country with 70m population. And it's a coastal one. Recycling here is so non existent. It is truly sad, that I think it's pointless when I see what's going on.
We have much more pressing issues such as poverty, crime, etc. Most people dont even know what recycling is let alone how to. Sad.

I don't think it's the end of the world.

The world will be fine. It managed for nigh on 4 billion years without us. In fact if we were to disappear tomorrow, I doubt the world would ever know we were here.

Not if it's own own species were are talking about ... well that's a different matter. But nature always always balances in the long run. We may well be due our comeuppance.

DGRossetti
The world will be fine. It managed for nigh on 4 billion years without us. In fact if we were to disappear tomorrow, I doubt the world would ever know we were here.

Yep, the planet has gone from tropical to ice age and everything in between, all by itself, many times over and I'm confident will do the same for the remaining 3.5 billion years left of its existence.

It won't with the massive number of people flying to Madrid for the football. I saw somewhere there were 9000 flights but surely it was 9000 people?

The world will be fine. It managed for nigh on 4 billion years without us.

Of course, in the light of ongoing discussions elsewhere, I should have also offered the alternative figure of 6,000 years.

We've done all we can as individuals, I think. It's now up to governments to get themselves out of bed with the multinationals that are doing most of the damage and actually create some meaningful legislation.

I agree and blame the petrochemical and car industry mostly..oil, fuel, plastic...we devour it and it's killing us.

@hilbobaggins did you just call a child a moomintroll? You sound lovely.