AIBU: Elderly parents do not care about their impact on the environment

[Scientistathome]

My elderly parents acknowledge (in passing) that the human impact on the planet is destructive and that their family's future could be jeopardized.
However, they refuse to do anything about it. They burn gas and electricity in summer to keep warm (extra jumper? Nooo!), Will not Install solar panels (they can afford it), take unnecessary flights, ... the list goes on.
They flaty refuse to change any habits despite that they know they should and could.
I get quite mad with them!
AIBU?
I know it is their choice, not mine but it affects all of us (their grandchildren are quite disgusted with them).
Are other people's parents like this?
(I know that some parents cannot afford eco-friendly choices like solar panels)

I would put money on the OP and her children already having a much bigger carbon footprint than her elderly parents have ever had, or will ever have. As a number of people have said, including me - the parents would have come from a generation where they recycle bottles, they didn't have any plastic packaging, they bought fresh food, meat, veg, eggs, and fruit etc from the local shop or farm, and they reused everything til it fell apart. Which would have been several decades in those days. I still wear a cardigan I bought in 1988!

Many of our elderly relatives would have cycled and walked everywhere and probably got public transport if it was too far to walk or cycle, and they had VERY little electric gadgets. Just a TV and a hi fi... or a radio. And an iron and washing machine/twin tub that they only used a couple of times a week. Oh and a fridge and possibly a freezer. Possibly 7 electrical items!

No mobile phones, MP3 players/ipods, DVD players, Alexa, blu-ray players, sound bars, electric alarm clocks, fancy coffee machines, microwaves, toasters, tumble dryers, laptops, playstations, X-boxes, snack sandwich makers, desktop computers, electric kettles, cable TV/satellite TV boxes, internet modems, fans, and multiple Televisions (4 or 5 in some homes!) And thing like dehumidifiers, and white noise machines, and something 'on charge' half of the daylight hours! This is all in addition to the 7 items I mentioned! Some 20-odd EXTRA items that most of our elderly relatives would not have had!

Also, they didn't have any central heating. I remember the days of frost patterns on the inside of the windows as well as we didn't have any central heating. My parents and grandparents were very, very frugal. We didn't have even have a landline or a car until the early 1970s. Dad's job was 10 minutes walk away, mom didn't work - she was a SAHM...

My mom and my grandmother couldn't even drive - and neither could my aunties - all born before the mid 1940s. We had hardly any cars in the family and most people walked/cycled to work. The older generation born before 1950 have got an almost non-existent carbon footprint ... As has been pointed out people born 1980s and 1990s and after have probably already got a much bigger carbon footprint than the older people have ever had or WILL have and yet the older generation (75+) are constantly attacked. So nasty!

Most sensible post in this thread

My mum didn't learn to drive until she was nearly 50 (and she had to because she had a chronically ill child and my father buggered off). She's as low waste as you can get in terms of food.

I wish she'd put the heating on more - she sat freezing under blankets last winter because the media had scared her so much about utility bills; and I don't begrudge her going off on holidays a lot one iota because I'm just glad she's having some joy in her life to improve her mental health and stop her sitting in the house, cold and in pain.

And I don't want fucking solar panels either - they're ugly as shit, I don't think we fully calculate the environmental cost of their production and if you started preaching at me like you have on here - I'd be telling you to fuck off.

Disagree with two of your three points.

I would argue that using public transport is more expensive than having a car (it certainly would be for me).
And, that holidays in the UK are not cheaper than going abroad.

The environmentally friendly option should be cheaper but very often its both more effort and more cost, in the immediate terms at least. Longer term, climate change is going to cost us an absolute fortune.

As an aside there’s a special place in hell for parents who raise their kids as Eco Twats. As in, they tell them their special little cause trumps the feelings of humans. There’s a girl in DD’s class (whose hippy parents support JSO) who stages protests at lunch time about not cutting down trees (who the fuck is she protesting to?! They haven’t felled a bloody tree at the school for years). On a few occasions she sat in tress and refused to move and encourages other kids to do it too. Very disruptive for the other kids and one day the class missed swimming because by the time they got the ‘eco warriors’ out the trees it was too late to set off. Parents support darling little eco warrior’s cause of course. And then the same child badgered the Head to impose a ‘no meat Monday’s’ at the school. And eventually succeeded - despite the fact that some parents told the head their fussy eater wouldn’t eat a thing of meat wasn’t available, and it would affect others with allergies too. But no, Precious had to have her no meat Mondays. She’s not a vegan BTW she’s a vegetarian because being a vegan is ‘too hard’ 🙄 so it’s alright for her fussiness to be pandered to but not other children.

No meat Mondays lasted 2 weeks BTW because of the wasted food

This!! I don't know where you live to have "excellent public transport". There's zero public transport to the city I work in. Our buses run until 7pm and there's none on a Sunday or Bank Holiday and it's unreliable

Bloody hell. I follow a vegetarian/vegan diet, am childfree, don’t drive, don’t fly, buy used clothes etc etc - so I’m your target market for this kind of lecturing. And even I think you’re being unreasonable!

No, you're right.
We're all trashing the planet- me included- and your post seems to have attracted a lot of climate change deniers. Glad I won't be around in 100 years.

If you're so worried about the planet why did you procreate?

Who has denied climate change on this thread?

I am disgusted that you have raised children that are disgusted with their grandparents just for....living?
You sound like an awful family of preachy idiots. Your parents will have 'gone without' the endless reems of plastic technology we have now, food would have been more locally sourced, heating used sparingly etc.
In fact you (and your delightful offspring) have likely done far more damage than your parents (unless you count them having you!) so give them a break.
Perhaps focus your energy on getting the multi billion dollar businesses (looking at you Amazon with your ridiculously large cardboard boxes with a tiny tube of moisturizer in!) to actually take recycling and the environment seriously.

I wonder what age they are? I imagine you would class me as elderly and I hate this ageism. you missed the bit about them voting for Brexit and having the temerity to live in a big house.
There are many people of all ages who do little to help the environment. I'm not going to list what I do and don't do but I was probably doing it before you were born OP.

If there is a hill to die on with elderly parents this is not it.

I am disgusted that you have raised children that are disgusted with their grandparents just for....living?

Its vile isn’t it.

Imagine telling your kids to be horrified that their elderly grandparents want to be warm. I’d be so ashamed of my kids

No-one, but I expect that poster will be telling us what we actually meant by our posts, even if we didn't say it.

also are we meant to think it’s relevant that the kids are disgusted.? Imagine being so arrogant that you think your crotch goblin’s opinions of two people who’ve lived int he world for decades, contributed to society, lived through some of the worst times of austerity and hardship, is in any way relevant.

You're proud that your children are disgusted, and presumably voice that disgust, with their elderly grandparents? You sanctimonious nasty disrespectful piece of work. I'd disinherit the lot of you if you were mine.

I think of all the hills to die on with elderly parents, this is one of the stupidest I've heard for a while.

Surely you'd rather spend the final few years of their lives having a good relationship with them? Making happy family memories, and ensuring your children have good memories with their grandparents... than making every interaction with them negative and whiny?

Frankly, I'd rather my elderly mum spent her last few years enjoying herself and being a little wild. Getting tied up in knots about recycling isn't the way to go.

Tbh I didn't get past Crotch Goblins 😂but I got the gist and agree .

This made me laugh out loud!
Absolutely right!

This is when I wish there is a “like” button

Very disruptive for the other kids and one day the class missed swimming because by the time they got the ‘eco warriors’ out the trees

Why do eco warriors always seem to sit in trees and why aren't they worried about the damage if they're so concerned about the environment?

Absolutely this! Assuming the elderly parents are 70+ years old those 'disgusted' children have no sodding idea! I bet they would be the first to complain if they woke up to ice on the inside of their bedroom window or use an outside loo!
This blame game needs to stop, individuals like OPs parents are not single handedly responsible for the destruction of the planet. Consumerism on a massive scale was positively encouraged from around the 80's onwards and people had very little knowledge of the damage it caused.
At this point, even if we all stopped having kids and move into mud huts it would make such a tiny difference.
We would have to stop the billion dollar business from existing to make an actual change to the trajectory of our decline.....no one will do that though, because the wealthy want to stay that way.

@Scientistathome if I had to choose between living in our current world with climate change challenges and autonomy amongst the elderly OR a world where climate change was tackled more effectively whilst the elderly were treated as second class citizens and forced to live in cold homes with no luxuries( as defined by the climate change police) I’d definitely choose the former.

If you're so worried about the planet why did you procreate?

Several times, it appears. Or at least twice.

Don't they glue themselves and throw paint these days I hanker back to the days when they sat in trees.