Is anyone else considering switching to a life of militant environmentalism

[Saveourearthuk]

Me and DH are absolutely petrified and can no longer in any good conscience collide in the selfish shitshow that is modern life destroying the plannet. We are thinking of in the next few years
-selling most/all of our possessions
-selling the house
-moving to a small shack in the woods
-we would forrage for food and drink from a well
-we would use no modern technology and essentially shun the outside world.
While this might seem radical we are willing to bravely make this sacrifice to save our glorious planet. Is anyone else considering this?

@JasmineTeacup

Is this a reverse? Are you actually the Earth?

Nope. After years of doing everything I can to limit my footprints, I’ve arrived at the conclusion that it’s all pretty bloody pointless when the majority of emissions come from the smallest percentage of the richest companies. I just cannot see big business rolling over and stopping what they do in order to save the planet. Not when so many ££ are at stake. I’ve become very defeatist over the entire situation!

I have a friend who lives a zero carbon lifestyle due to his concerns about the environment. It's not something I feel I can do but I've got huge respect for those who do. He lives in an off grid community and they have an orchard and woodland they manage.

I don't think we should be taking the piss out of people living an ethical, sustainable lifestyle. I think we all need to evaluate how we can reduce our carbon dependence as much as possible and lobby for governments and corporations to change.

If everyone just did the following 4 things it would help! Trying to do this in our family! But I don't think going to live in a forest in a cave will help. Why don't you volunteer for an environmental focussed charity and use your energy for this that way?

-Give up or reduce red meat consumption

• keep use of car/planes to a minimum
• re-use / recycle as much as possible including second hand clothes, furniture, toys etc
• reduce use of single use plastics

@puffylovett

Nope. After years of doing everything I can to limit my footprints, I’ve arrived at the conclusion that it’s all pretty bloody pointless when the majority of emissions come from the smallest percentage of the richest companies. I just cannot see big business rolling over and stopping what they do in order to save the planet. Not when so many ££ are at stake. I’ve become very defeatist over the entire situation!

When I feel defeated I think of the Montreal Protocol. Change is absolutely possible, research was reported yesterday saying if we hadn't banned CFCs we would be completely fucked now. Change is possible, it's happened before.

We have a friend who does this. He had to persuade the council he was an agricultural worker though otherwise he wouldn't be permitted to live in his woodland. It gets incredibly cold in the winter and he has to source water from the outside world, also laundry facilities. He has a small solar panel to charge his phone and a basic light, but that's all it can do. He has a woodburning stove. He's happy though. There's a constant threat of theft and vandalism as the woodland isn't out in the woolly wilds and walkers pass nearby and thieves in white vans like to forage for other people's belongings.

It's incredibly difficult to find somewhere in the UK to live like this because land is subject to planning restrictions and controls and locals are quick to report you if you step out of line.

It is do able if you research carefully, but you can't forage and drink water from a well, that's silly. Water is contaminated and there's not enough wild food to live on what you forage. The human body needs calories in order to function and keep warm, particularly in the colder months.

It is do able if you research carefully, but you can't forage and drink water from a well, that's silly. Water is contaminated

Is water not drinkable in uk unless treated?

I’ve become increasingly depressed over the past week or so reading threads like the extinction rebellion one. So many people spouting utter bollocks and spreading misinformation. It feels like most people won’t make any changes if it affects them in any way.

It’s easy to say “I’m using the excuse of big business and China but conveniently forget that we buy the things they produce”

It's grim but it's probably better to just kill ourselves when we get to a certain age. Far more sustainable & easier in some respects than your OP

@SchrodingersImmigrant

It is do able if you research carefully, but you can't forage and drink water from a well, that's silly. Water is contaminated

Is water not drinkable in uk unless treated?

It'll definitely depend upon where the OP decides to site her slurry pit.

Anyhow, like anywhere, you don't know if it's safe. It could be contaminated by, amongst other things;

Rat piss
Leptospirosis/Weils Disease/Hardjo
Giardiasis
Dead Animals
Bat guano
Dead Bats potentially infected with EBLV (a Rabies type virus and also why you should never, ever handle a bat if you haven't got training and a licence to do so safely)
E Coli
Run off from intensive farming - fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides
Toxins from Blue-green algae
Might be in an area of high Radon
Parasites
Mosquito larvae

I would assume the person would check the well first (even if imaginary😁) i grew up on water from our well and oh my. Still miss it😁

@SchrodingersImmigrant

I would assume the person would check the well first (even if imaginary😁) i grew up on water from our well and oh my. Still miss it😁

Do you reckon that somebody who thinks it's feasible to live in a shack in the woods and poach and steal forage for food all year round in the UK is going to send a sample off for microbiological and chemical contaminant testing before having a drink when they can't even spell the word forage ?

Positive thinking😁

I live off grid in a comfortable normal house, from inside the house you would never know!

We have a borehole for water and I would not be drinking that unless it was going through the various filters we have as it comes out looking brown!

Don't forget to give away all of your money to a charity supporting the environment. Otherwise you aren't really helping the world properly.

@Dashel - are you there all year round. I could do the summer I think but there's a long dark winter here.

What consequences would you forsee from all 63 million brits moving into the woods and foraging?

Well for one thing, we are going to need a bigger wood.

In the kindest possible way because I do understand the fear and frustration this sort of reaction is childishly unhelpful because doing this would achieve nothing and simply feeds a sense of impotence and inertia in others.

We are in a frightening state environmentally but opting out of society will achieve precisely nothing except to radically downgrade your quality of life.

Extreme behaviour of this kind by a handful of individuals or families to reduce their own environmental footprint do nothing to impact the levers of power which actually do have the ability to change policy to prevent environmental decline.

You'd be much better off trying to effect change politically.

@Saveourearthuk

Me and DH are absolutely petrified and can no longer in any good conscience collide in the selfish shitshow that is modern life destroying the plannet. We are thinking of in the next few years -selling most/all of our possessions -selling the house -moving to a small shack in the woods -we would forrage for food and drink from a well -we would use no modern technology and essentially shun the outside world. While this might seem radical we are willing to bravely make this sacrifice to save our glorious planet. Is anyone else considering this?

Radical ... Nope 😂

Entertaining... Yes 🤣

Honestly the best way would be to kill off half the population but that's unlikely to happen. I mean what are the countries with large populations doing? China, India etc? If we do everything we can and they do nothing then our efforts are futile surely?

I"m sure I read that China is leading the world in developing environmentally friendly energy products.
China leads world's biggest increase in wind power capacity
www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/10/china-leads-world-increase-wind-power-capacity-windfarms

@Titsywoo

Honestly the best way would be to kill off half the population but that's unlikely to happen. I mean what are the countries with large populations doing? China, India etc? If we do everything we can and they do nothing then our efforts are futile surely?

Technically China have already taken a big step towards helping, or had at least. They limited how many children people could have.

I don't see that ever happening here, when you see threads about women crying because their partner doesn't want a 4th child. People are too selfish.

You don't have to kill half the population

Kill the uk snd USA off you'd be fine

Op? Op? where are you?

Come baaaaack.

Let me know when you sell all your stuff. I love a good jumble sale.