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

Let me guess, the reason that your two potential routes aren't safe is down to traffic, isn't it? That's another reason I'd be glad to see the back of mass car ownership.

You'd guess wrong. One road is busier and yes, this is a problem, but the main reason is it's winding and has no lighting. The other one is a towpath which again is unlit and can get very lonely.

I don't think prescriptive lists like this actually help to be honest. I think everyone should be trying to reduce their impact (where they can) but people have different priorities and needs that a list can't cater for.

1. we eat healthily. Buy 95% of our meat from a local farm / butcher and milk / dairy from local milk lady. Have a local veg box and grow some ourselves too. Very little waste. But would never go vegan and have pets.

2. I replace clothing as needed. Mix of new and second hand but only if good quality. I buy clothes to last. I don't buy fast fashion. But I also need several different categories of clothes so do have to buy some new.

3. appliances / electronics are kept until they can no longer be repaired then replaced.

4. nope. Holidays are a priority for us. Plus sometimes have to fly for work purposes.

5. I walk / cycle everywhere I can. Use public transport when available although it is limited. I Don't drive but we have a family car and a van for work. Can't go electric as nowhere to charge it.

6. house is as green as it can be. Insulation etc. energy efficient boiler. Haven't looked at pension funds as that is not my choice and We can't switch energy suppliers at present.

We repair / reuse / recycle as much as we can. Buy local / in season but won't be changing our lifestyle much other than above.

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

I often eat vegetarian. DS is picky though, we'd probably buy less and waste less if he wasn't. Hopefully that will improve.

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

Probably already do that for me. DH buys new but only when he absolutely has to. We buy new for DS, but I rarely find anything for him in our local charity shops, they don't really do childrens clothes.

3. Keep electrical products for at least seven years

We generally keep things until they stop working. Don't have the money to replace things without a good reason.

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

I've not been on a plane for well over ten years.

5. Get rid of personal motor vehicles

We've always had second hand and run them into the ground. It would be hard to visit family with no car.

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

We moved to a green energy supplier, our home is insulated. My pension is sorted by work.

What we need is a new boiler and the double glazing replaced, but that is so far beyond what we could afford. I don't know what we'll do next winter with the forecast price increases. Just be very, very cold I suspect.

Just want to add a bit about public transport. I am older and have a chronic disease that comes with fatigue and joint pain. I would take the bus, but the nearest stop is a good 3/4 mile away. They stopped the little bus we had in our neighbourhood without any consultation, so everyone has to walk to the nearest stop.

Basically no matter which bus I take it requires transferring, which is time consuming. To get to work I need at least three buses and a couple of hours, plus another quite a long walk at the destination.

It is not workable. I would have to quit my job if I had to use the bus.

It takes 25 minutes to get there in the car.

And I live in a large city that prides itself on being green, and is digging up roads for cycle lanes that are empty except on weekends when groups of recreational cyclists use them for training.

It boggles the mind.

I do the first four, technically five as I don't drive (DH does though) and we are fully planning on solar panels when we buy a house. The clothes one - I very rarely buy new and tend to wear what I have into the ground, and will pick up some nice SH bits.
I think what we need is people being more open- say for example you'd really struggle to give up meat - you could limit your meat to three days a week/alternate weeks. For clothes- buy better quality things that last longer. I don't think its necessarily an 'all or nothing' issue as we can all do bits and pieces to help.

@Daftasabroom
There are air source heat pumps that specifically designed to work for older properties and a direct replacement for a gas boiler. These can extract 3 or 4 times as much heat from the air as they draw in from the grid.

tell me more about these heat pumps?

@Jobseeker19

Tech would need to come with a 7 year warranty

This is a great idea! It should be mandatory.

None.

Well one is about to go off our list. We will be switching from our green energy provider soon to the Cheapest one we can find..It's scary how much the cost of living is going up. The environment is not my main concern at the moment.
I am also counting down the days to going abroad for our holiday in may!

@Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase

You have missed an obvious one off your list OP. Many people have completely stopped having their heating on at home because they are terrified of the massive bill rises that are about to hit.

This is The Guardian's list. But I did notice a glaring omission, i.e., they didn' t mention limiting the number of children per couple!

1. Nope to plant based but working to minimise food miles and when we do eat meat it will be high quality local meat that can be reared where food crops don't grow (hill sheep and "rougher" breeds of cow).

1. Difficult - I don't buy many clothes but struggle to find anything second hand in my shape. Not surprising really as my shape is very hard on trouser legs... so wouldn't expect many to last to be passed on! Most of my recent clothing purchases have been direct replacements of worn out items or bras...

1. Kept as long as they work, TVs are 6 and 8 years old but laptop needs upgrading. Phones tend to suffer from accidents (water/encountering floor) and are never upgraded through boredom.

1. Holidays generally limited by budget...

1. Public transport is currently too expensive and pretty useless for most things. I do not use the car for short journeys (under 1 mile) unless I need to transport stuff I can't carry. Up to a mile it's barely quicker anyway once you take into account parking and getting kids strapped in...

@entropynow

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.

Hear hear. I won't be doing any of these. China is opening a coal-fired power station every day of the week. Me taking fewer flights is going to do sweet FA. Change needs to be at an international, systemic level.

China need those power stations to make all the crap we buy

@randomsabreuse

1. Nope to plant based but working to minimise food miles and when we do eat meat it will be high quality local meat that can be reared where food crops don't grow (hill sheep and "rougher" breeds of cow).

1. Difficult - I don't buy many clothes but struggle to find anything second hand in my shape. Not surprising really as my shape is very hard on trouser legs... so wouldn't expect many to last to be passed on! Most of my recent clothing purchases have been direct replacements of worn out items or bras...

1. Kept as long as they work, TVs are 6 and 8 years old but laptop needs upgrading. Phones tend to suffer from accidents (water/encountering floor) and are never upgraded through boredom.

1. Holidays generally limited by budget...

1. Public transport is currently too expensive and pretty useless for most things. I do not use the car for short journeys (under 1 mile) unless I need to transport stuff I can't carry. Up to a mile it's barely quicker anyway once you take into account parking and getting kids strapped in...

I wonder if we need to lower our standards on clothing.

My clothes mostly wear out either where my thighs rub, or on the back of my bum, depending on whether they're clothes that I wear when I'm walking/sitting/sleeping. They're not mendable, because the fabric has thinned so much that it just won't support a patch (believe me, I've tried). Nor would I consider them donatable, except for rags.

If I need to reduce my clothing consuption, should we just get used to walking around with our underwear hanging out?

@StillWeRise Daikin Altherma HT and Vaillant aroTherm Plus.

We actually do all of these. I am surprised. Obviously, it is easier if you live in a city!

@StillWeRise

China need those power stations to make all the crap we buy

Not so, they are commissioning so many new coal-fired power stations to provide energy for their mushrooming domestic electric car market, and to make the concrete and steel for their ambitious infrastructure projects, not least the 200+ new airports they are hoping to have operational by 2035.

thanks Daftasabroom

@StillWeRise

China need those power stations to make all the crap we buy

Part of the reason we buy cheap goods made in china and India is the UN ruling on cheap postage from certain "developing" countries. Why not abolish this and save a bundle on shipping costs?

1. We do and will continue to eat meat. What we already do is buy local as much as possible and avoid processed crap like the plague.
2. We have loads of second hand stuff. Virtually all my stuff is off eBay and the kids are pretty much 2nd hand all the way. Seems easier to do with male stuff as far less variation/seasonality.
3. We keep stuff until it breaks and where cost effective, will repair.
4. What's a holiday?
5. Luckily we live close enough to schools and activities that they can walk but you'd need to add local public transport for it to be even be a remote possibility for more than that.
6. We have insulation. Green just seems massively more expensive which all things considered at the moment isn't the best. I'm also not overly convinced that a lot of the "ethical" financial services are actually that good but that's a conversation for a different time.

We also have resisted concreting over everything in our garden and let plants grow. 2 kids only.

@coldandverytired

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 🙄

Yep this. I live rurally and there is a bus every 2 hours between 8 - 5.Mon to Fri. There did used to be a half hourly bus service during the week run by Arriva but the council cut the subsidies so Arriva stopped running through my mums village.