To think that people are waking up?

[1980Gal]

Something has changed in me. I can't stop thinking about how everything I do affects the environment. Is it just me or have others experienced a real shift in thinking and feeling? Yes there are loads of people who have already been especially conscious of these things, and I'm sure most of us do the obvious like recycling where possible, but this feels different. DH feels the same, like something has 'clicked'. Last week he said he's only going to eat red meat once a month due to environmental impact - very out of character. I keep thinking of Greta T travelling for days/weeks by boat when a flight would have got her there in hours. Are others feeling the same? Do you think something might be happening nationally to people's mindsets? Is there now more hope than ever that we might just not f**k up the world?

In some ways I am making positive changes but then I have also decided that I am no longer doing certain things.

We've cut back on meat, started reselling things we don't need and downsizing, taking less airline trips and generally being more frugal and less materialistic. On the other hand I am keeping a much closer eye on finances and trying to reduce my grocery shopping. That means out goes the environmental cleaning products which costs twice as much and in comes a bumper bottle of basic flash for everything at a fraction.

I am making some changes to help the environment but sorry, manufacturers now need to step up and reduce plastic and packaging and not put the emphasis on consumers all the time.

Its because there's a lot of media coverage of the fires in the Amazon, it's seeped into people's consciousness again and interest has allowed other coverage.

The rainforests have been burning for years but have finally increased enough to cause proper immediate fear.

Tbh it's only when your own children could realistically live to see massive, life changing/ threatening change that most people genuinely care, rather than paying lip service.

I agree. I think something profound is happening. Of course a bamboo cup is not going to save the world, but it's a start. The real change will of course come from governments and corporations- but there's real evidence that they are waking up. They're realising that climate change is really bad for business - as well as the planet.

To be fair to the second poster, I think the woo tosh referred to the concept of "waking up"

You don't HAVE to DO anything for the environment, just don't be a nob,....dont be wasteful, don't be selfish or greedy, don't buy stuff you don't really need and just act like a decent human being.
If you follow those rules, you would be less drain on the environment without even realising it.

Electronic pollution, that is to say, the environmental impact of the use and manufacture of such technology, will become the biggest source of pollution by the late 2030s .

The mining of precious metals for use in their production is already laying waste to vast areas of the planet.

Are you all prepared to give up the internet and your phones?

No?

Didn't think so?

businesses and governments need to instigate changes in order for things that really have a significant impact to occur,
They do.
People using bamboo mugs and thinking they've got it sorted aren't going to put pressure on them to do it, though.
Let's hope enough people who actually get it, do put pressure on.

'Waking up' was just a turn of phrase. I could have said 'becoming more aware and changing some of their behaviour'.

To be fair to the second poster, I think the woo tosh referred to the concept of "waking up

That's how I read it too.

OP it's great you feel this way and that you are taking steps to stop producing so much waste but I honestly don't think this is reflective of the nation as a whole.

I really notice and try to avoid single-use plastics now when I never even thought about it; I think things like that can definitely sink in to us when they're discussed often enough.

I also follow an Instagrammer (on IG and Patreon) who writes about fashion from an environmental & anti-racist perspective, she's really opened my eyes to issues in the fashion industry and I've changed my shopping habits accordingly. Of course I'm not perfect, or anywhere close, but I do think I'm not alone in making small, hopefully positive changes.

But I do struggle to have much optimism in general. I think significant change and innovation can only come from Governments & the largest companies, and while they can be influenced by public perception 'greenwashing' is so easy to do I'm not convinced meaningful improvements are going to be made anytime soon. But then again, I just looked up the impact of the carrier bag tax and it seems bag sales have dropped 86% since the tax was introduced, so clearly sometimes policies can work.

Actually, what I really am asking is whether there are more and more people connecting on an emotional level with the issues. And I think emotions will spur people into action more than knowing on a 'cognitive' level that they perhaps should change what they do. Or simply stop being a nob limensoda

I no longer have any desire to travel by plane or cruise, to buy things or go places for the sake of it.

Birthdays and Christmas gifts are looking so pointless- everyone I know has everything they need. I've started giving mainly home made consumables.

I do think that it's easy for me because I've had everything I need (including some nice holidays) for a few years now- it's no hardship to stop.

I agree OP. More people are stopping to think before they buy. It is tiny baby steps but it will all help.

As Much as I am taking small steps for the environment on behalf of myself and family, I really don’t think I will do any good. Until the government and big businesses step up and change the way they do things the earth will continue on its downward spiral. Eg, Me remembering to take my own carrier bags to the supermarket to reduce plastic makes very little difference when my fruit/veg/meat/crisps/school shirts etc is all wrapped in the stuff.

You only have to look on here at the threads about beauty advent calendars or towel/bed linen washing to see that people are definitely not waking up!

I think a lot of what people are doing is lip service - people aren't prepared to make actual sacrifices to help the environment.

More people are aware here in Britain for sure and that is a good thing.

It is difficult for us to become more environmentally friendly as we have always been frugal and that usually goes hand in hand, but thanks to the increased debate we have found ways to become more and more environmentally friendly every year for the last 4-5 years. I have been looking for reusable vacuum bags today, but didn't find any. Instead, I found a tutorial showing how to reuse the bag you already have. Most people say you can reuse it 3-5 times. At least that will help a bit.

If some scientists are right, it will take more than a waking up or a gradual change in behaviour. We could be looking at substantial changes such as purposefully living in contracting economies, having significantly restricted consumer choices, shorter life expectancy and treating illegal logging, soil degradation and diversion of water sources with the same intensity as defeating ISIS.

bluejelly a bamboo cup isn't a start though, it's a step backwards because they're all in landfill after we found out they contain formaldehyde and malamine, are toxic and aren't biodegradable at all because they don't actually contain much bamboo...

Bamboo cups somewhat epitomise the horrible irony of the situation in which affluent westerners believe that they're doing their bit by making things a tiny bit worse...

I think the effects are becoming visible, and as that happens, more people will start to care.

I also think that the explosion in vegan food availability tells us more than anything else. Companies don't make products available unless they can sell them, so a real shift must be in progress, and a reduction in animal based food underway.

Not sure it isn't too little, too late, sadly.

Yes, likewise OP instead of rationally knowing I should do more, I have a genuine wish to. Not that I’m anything like perfect so I would never preach at anyone, but I always take my reusable mug for coffee, reusable carrier bag to go shopping, started getting the bus to work on days I can, less meat, buying locally produced food and not flying. I’ve cut down how much I buy drastically now I know more about fast fashion and think about the carbon footprint of everything.

In the scheme of things I accept it won’t make a difference but I’m doing it because I feel I should, because I’m emotionally invested in it now.

I think there are lots of people who still gone give a shit though.

*don’t

You must be very young not to remember all the previous waves of environmentalism
This sums it up for me! I'm in my mid-50s. When I was a child, my DM was into all these environmental issues. Then when I was a student, FoE was all the rage. There seems to be wave after wave, each one thinking they invented the movement. Then it's all forgotten.

Really, we all need to consume less.

Honestly, 40 years ago I was going to fry in a nuclear holocaust or die horribly from radiation poisoning. 25 years ago I was facing being squashed by glaciers in the new ice age.

We've been doing things like recycling and re-using for years, but the news over the past week or so about those fires in the Amazon rainforest has really brought it home to me again. We really are doomed to extinction unless we do something about it.

But isn't a bamboo cup used many times better than a single used plastic cup from say Costa