To ask how many of these you will do to stop global warming?

[LadyinRead]

Apparently if all indivisuals do these six things, we'll be 25% of the way to stopping global warming.
Are we doomed, then? I do most of these but (3) is impossible as appliances aren't built to last that long, and (4) would probably mean never seeing my parents again.

1. Eat a largely plant-based diet, with healthy portions and no waste

2. Buy no more than three new items of clothing per year. (Unlimited second-hand clothing allowed.)

1. Keep electrical products for at least seven years

1. Take no more than one short haul flight every three years and one long haul flight every eight years

1. Get rid of personal motor vehicles

6. Make at least one life shift to nudge the system, like moving to a green energy, insulating your home or changing pension supplier

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/07/six-key-lifestyle-changes-can-help-avert-the-climate-crisis-study-finds?fbclid=IwAR2llmcsBWVwzzdF0kzuW2tVPAnUbrMUn2hatbfIsrUQ1Awi1EI5XSe1lF0

Already do 2, 3, 4 and 6.

You missed out a detail of 5. I buy second-hand cars and keep them for as long as possible.

1,2 and 3 are easy and I’m most of the way there. I’ve moved to Green energy supply and we are saving for solar panels. I can live without ever flying long haul, but short haul is harder due to family in Europe; but I guess I could pack the kids and go by train.

I’d find it almost impossible to live without a family car. Would mean enormous changes in our lives.

It’s do-able.

1 .no to plant diet. But do eat healthy portions and try not to waste food.

1. Would be willing to try
2. I already do unless they need replaced as no longer working
3. I haven't flown in over 6 years
4. No due to disability
5. House fully insulated walls floors and loft

If someone could reinstate rural bus services that run at sensible times for school and work I’d happily give up my car 🤷🏼‍♀️ Never going to happen though. Ironically our council are trying to push an active travel plan… whilst simultaneously cutting home to school transport to the bone and axing more buses 🙄

None of those.

well the electricals is on the manufacturer not the consumer

tech is well out of date by 7 years - becoming incompatible with stuff so often sub functional
and a busy family washing machine/dishwasher does not last that long on average

i only buy clothing when stuff is worn out or necessary for alternative function - so actually that does end up being more than 3 things per year unless you either have a big stash of clothes already or aren't very active and they dont' get worn out

who will take my autistic dc to school if I get rid of my car?

vegan
2nd clothles [exception for undies/socks/shoes. buy max of items a year.
keep electricals until they expire.
Don't fly
Choose not to drive
Very eco minded.

I already do those but I’m privileged and have the circumstances to be able to do so. Individuals need to be enabled to make those changes and choices.

None of these will "stop global warming". Changes need to happen on a governmental and global basis and this sort of guilt-tripping serves no purpose save the illusion of control.

1. Eat a largely plant-based diet, with healthy portions and no waste

Happy with healthy portions and no waste - I always try to do that. 'Plant-based' - no, not in a million years. Many 'plant based' foods are full of rubbish and additives - take margarine, for instance, compared to butter.

1. Buy no more than three new items of clothing per year. (Unlimited second-hand clothing allowed.)

• Apart from underwear I can't remember the last thing I bought that wasn't 2nd hand.

1. Keep electrical products for at least seven years

• Yes, as long as they still work.

1. Take no more than one short haul flight every three years and one long haul flight every eight years

• Haven't flown at all for nearly 20 years and have no plans to.

1. Get rid of personal motor vehicles

• I don't drive.

1. Make at least one life shift to nudge the system, like moving to a green energy, insulating your home or changing pension supplier

• No plans to do these at the moment.

I read an article about this earlier and have been pondering.

1. Eat a largely plant-based diet, with healthy portions and no waste - We’re reducing the amount of meat (esp beef) we eat but I don’t think I could go vegan or even properly veggie :-/

1. Buy no more than three new items of clothing per year. (Unlimited second-hand clothing allowed.) - I don’t think I buy a lot of clothes for myself but I think I would still find this hard. And definitely hard to manage for DC. Do shoes, undies etc count?

1. Keep electrical products for at least seven years - I do try to keep stuff for as long as poss, but I’ll admit when the toaster went phut recently I also replaced the kettle so they would match My iPhone is out of contract and I’m trying to resist the temptation of a replacement but the battery is rubbish and needs charging all the time. Guess I should look at getting a new battery though.

1. Take no more than one short haul flight every three years and one long haul flight every eight years - well, I haven’t flown anywhere since 2019 but that’s more due to covid than actual virtue. Could probably do this and I do feel guilty about having flown quite a bit in the past (although nothing like as much as many friends and family).

1. Get rid of personal motor vehicles - never owned one

1. Make at least one life shift to nudge the system, like moving to a green energy, insulating your home or changing pension supplier - getting solar panels this year. also going to sort out my various pensions and try and switch to more ethical options.

I'm moving towards 1 and 2. I need to buy some clothes as I've lost a lot of weight. I sent my clothes to a clothing charity, and buy second hand where I can.
3 I never change electric items unnecessarily. No new kettle to match the paint etc. i only buy when something no longer works, and only then if I need it.
4 and 6 we do.

5 I drive a plug in hybrid, day to day it's all electric. I use petrol on motorways. I won't be getting rid of it. I doubt we'll be able to avoid replacing it when it does die, though.

I do 3,5,6, working on 1.

Interesting article, thanks! I consider myself a greeny and still struggle with some of these.
1 - plant based is a no here, I went plant based but my ferritin fell to 3 and made me really quite unwell so I'm back to eating meat.
2 - I buy everything second hand. Vinted it great!
3 - yes to keeping electrical items 7yrs, unless they die! Am I right in thinking the rules are changing to allow things to be repaired more? There is a handy repair cafe where I live that fixed my vacuum.
4 - flights, surprised actually that it says that many flights are OK so sounds like a winner to me.
5 - getting rid of private car totally would be tricky. We've gone down to 1 car and it's electric. Dh gets the bus to work. I walk the kids to school.
6 - energy, pension, bank are all green.

1. We eat mostly vegetarian and never waste food
2. It's more than 3yrs since I last bought an item of clothing
3. I keep all electrical items for years until they can't be fixed
4. Last time I flew was 1988
5. Disabled and need my car
6. House is already fully insulated

I do all except 4 - I fly once a year. I do feel guilty but I also want to enjoy being young so I pay for carbon capture.

I would read 3 as keep as long as possible. For example phones probably won’t last 7 years but mine is 5 years old which is much better than changing after a 2 year contract. It’s had a new battery but otherwise nothing wrong with it at all. Things like laptops and kitchen appliances should last 7 years though.

1. No, due to intolerances. My diet is already restricted. But we are mindful of portions/waste, and eat local high welfare meat that graze off the land.
2. More or less. I do struggle for DC's, especially for bottoms.
3. Already only replace when they break but things aren't meant to last anyway.
4. Never fly anyway.
5. No due to poor health (me) and a child with a disability.
6. A work in progress.

No to all of them

We do all except the car. We need a car because we live rurally and in order to get anywhere at all you need to drive. If they made PT better then we’d use that more, I use the bus sometimes but always regret it because they’re never on time and often cancelled.

Yes already to 2,3, 4 and 6. Have cut down meat a bit, and definitely cut down red meat.

Probably won't give up car, but keep journeys to a minimum

All, if everybody else was. But no.5 should surely be 'or use an electric car'

1. No I don't think I could manage this. I could live without meat but I function much better with dairy.
2. This would feel quite joyless. I'd certainly need to replace sports shoes and some other items so I'm not sure I could keep it down to 3.
3. Electrical items would be easy. I don't think I replace anything except perhaps a kettle or an iron more frequently. And that's down to the manufacturers making sure their products actually last. Oh .... and ditto phones. Yes I do replace them more often but that's because the manufacturers won't do cost effective repairs or they degrade the product over time.
4. This would be OK. I'm not a big traveller.
5. No chance sorry. I think I'd sink into a serious depression if I couldn't get out and about.
6. I need educating about this.

1. No, but I have reduced meat consumption over the years and eat a lot more veggie-based meals. That's for dietary reasons though rather than the environment.

1. I never seem to be able to find what others do secondhand, and it's my little treat to buy something new for special occasions so I could give that up, but I won't.

1. Electrical products - they're kept as long as they last. If the TV lasts 15 years, I keep it 15 years. Quality of some products are shocking though so it's really manufacturers that need to get on board with this.

1. Haven't flown for 3.5 years. Will fly again in the future but I imagine it will only be short-haul and probably no more than once every 1-2 years. Again, that's a cost issue these days.

1. Not possible if I want my kids to go to school. There is zero public transport and it's too far to walk unless they fancy a 10-mile hike every morning. My car is 10 years old and recently I've started to only make necessary journies - due to rising costs.

1. House is as insulated as it can be, most energy suppliers are now trying to do their bit and I certainly won't be giving up my fixed rate that lasts another 18 months.

So yeah, some of these are possible but I've not made those decisions to be green - it's lifestyle, diet or cost that has been the driver.

Oh I guess I already do 6 as house is insulated, I do use green energy supplier. Just wasn't sure about the pensions bit.

Nope. Except for keeping electrical items for a long time. But I would buy an electric car and we have solar panels.