Using reusable wipes but then flying to Australia.

[ecobore]

What's the point.

And of course the person you refer to might think that global warming is a massive fraud by Al Gore and his lizard minions but be very concerned about the damage done by single use plastics after seeing that poorly turtle on Blue Planet. Different issues.

Throw away wipes are an issue of landfill and wasting resources,
Aviation fuel is a problem because it creates carbon and pollution.
Neither action will help preserve our home planet, but other than that they aren’t related.
Maybe the victim your criticism is conscious that while creating global warming, she is trying to reduce her landfill load.

Neither action will help preserve our home planet

our home planet is going nowhere. We may suffer with climate change.

I don’t know, I feel ‘what’s the point’ often about lots of little eco things like that. I know the counter argument is ‘every little helps’ - but does it really though? Honestly? I remember reading about the amount of carbon and other pollution the shipping industry produces each year and it makes you feel completely hopeless. A single container ship is equivalent to 50 million cars in carbon emissions, and they produce other greenhouse gases as well, fuel spills, cargo spills etc.

The climate crisis won’t be solved by us individual citizens using cleaning rags, bamboo toothbrushes and recycling our yoghurt pots (or sending them for recycling.... who knows what actually happens to them, and how much energy is used and more carbon released in the process!). It’s a global systemic problem.

I know we should still all make whatever effort we can..... but honestly I refuse to feel guilty about small things I could do better on (usually by spending more money or time on..... neither or which I am rolling in!) when the whole of modern human civilisation is basically set up to self-destruct in any case.

If I follow OP's logic correctly then we should not make any effort at all to reduce our carbon footprint, unless we're prepared to go completely off-grid. Righto.

Small changes, made by many, have a cumulative effect. I have to drive for work, but we've been eating meat free during the week. I take the occasional short-haul flight but I'm trying to buy less and reuse, make or mend where I can.

Such a stupid statement . I try to do my best to be environmentally friendly at home and in ,y daily habits . However I am not giving up on seeing my family who live on other side of world. Every little bit.

There's. Worrying amount of people on Mumsnet who seem to "attack" anyone that tries to do something positive and good by saying it's pointless or hypocritical if they're not doing EVERYTHING else 100% positive and good. It's usually a way of trying to make themselves feel better for doing nothing positive or good. Doing anything positive is a start and better than nothing. Start small and build up. I wish people could get that in their brains.

Nobody has to be perfect, everyone should do what they can.

I use disposable nappies and normal wipes
Sometimes I don’t recycle food waste
We get second hand clothes for dc or hand me downs
I have never flown
I don’t own a car and walk everywhere
So I feel it balances out but tbh I’m looking into better options for nappies and wipes

I mentioned this on another thread yesterday but I went to an event yesterday where a lady called Jen Gale was talking about sustainable living and she made the point that a pp has made about everyone doing something imperfectly being better than only a few being perfect.

She also said that if we didn't do anything else at all, we should look at changing our energy supplier to a "green" supplier, as that can knock about 1/3 off your carbon footprint.

Personally I think the biggest barrier to sustainable living is "keeping up with the Jones" syndrome. People want the best cars, a new kitchen, new everything, just to show off. That mindset needs to go before people will buy second hand, put up with older things until they break, etc.

I think these kinds of questions are best dealt with in terms of some kind of personal carbon budget. Someone who doesn't have kids and lives a low carbon footprint lifestyle, and takes a once-in-a-lifetime trips to Australia is totally different to someone who is constantly taking transatlantic flights for leisure and has four kids. Those two situations aren't the same!

Our decisions - all of them, including having kids - could have notional "credits" that allow people to make their own decisions about what they want to prioritise.

Oh and can I ask you all to boycott Christmas crackers this year? (unless you make them, see The Good Life, circa 1977).

Well it is a bit too far to walk.

By your logic, anyone who goes on holiday should give up any other means of being eco friendly. Because that's helpful isn't it.

This phrase seems apt here:
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Surely it would be even better not to use wipes at all, butcyk buy a cloth and wash it!? Thenvyou get multiple uses out of it before it needs to be chucked.

That’s exactly what a reusable wipe is Tabby.

I've never flown to Australia but I have used wipes. Does that make me better or worse than the person in the OP?
To quote the supermarket campaign - Every little helps. We all need to decide what changes we can fit into our lives. And those decisions will be different for everyone because we have different priorities and commitments and families, etc.

That’s exactly what a reusable wipe is Tabby.

I’ve always wondered why people say ‘reusable wipes’ rather than just cloth/washcloth/flannel/whatever!

For those interested in switching to a sustainable energy supplier - I switched to Bulb a while ago. They get their energy from wind farms and CO2 farms. Havent noticed a difference between them and traditional energy providers. You can also manipulate how much you want to pay per month depending on your energy usage (they send you a suggested monthly payment).

It's like having Diet Coke with chips. Which is fine.
Who knows if it's better to use wipes but not fly?
Also how can it be more ecological to buy a new car than keep my old banger on the road? It must be wasteful and use loads of materials, fuel to make a new one.

OP not come back after their sole post?

Who knows if it's better to use wipes but not fly?

One is not better than the other as they are addressing completely different issues.

The giant tankers, cruise ships etc. are'nt supposed to use their cheap fuel within 12 miles of any countries' coastline. !!!!!

When are aircraft going to use low emmision fuels? Sadly the landfill piles give off methane.

Every little helps, as they say...

Yes flying is bad for the environment but if you're going to fly anyway, it doesn't mean you should revert back to other habits that are bad for the environment.

Daft argument!! Surely it is about doing what you can. The person is hardly going to give up their trip to Australia it may be their one and only or to see a dying relative. Hold on perhaps they could swim