Do you actually care about the environment?

[HamsterKebab]

I think a lot of people say they care, but do you really? Have you adjusted your life with wildlife or the climate in mind? Or does convenience come first?

Im genuinely interested in how much the general public truly cares about biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution. Does it bother you or do you just think ‘someone else will deal with it’. I’m not judging, I genuinely want to know how people honestly feel rather than what they say out loud.

I do a lot, but it's very little.
I have a very old car I share with two other families (so no one has bought a new one) which does about 4000 miles a year.
I cycle and walk where possible, take the train. I've been on two short haul flights in four years.
I don't buy new things if I can buy second hand. I am frugal with heating and have invested in insulation and have a renewable electricity tariff. I eat a lot less meat than I used to. I recycle carefully.

But...

My house is hideously energy inefficient. I have two children. I like imported food and new electronics. I stream a lot of content.
All of these more than outweigh the above.

We are - I suspect - doomed as a species because people don't realise that in the end it's all about changing our personal choices. All of us, particularly in the global North. It's all very well to say "no one else is doing anything" or "business and government need to do more". But the latter will respond to what customers and voters say they want.

Finding our voice is really the biggest thing we can do at this point. Performative recycling is undone in the first five minutes of a transatlantic flight.

How do i know but people do get fined.

It isn't exactly hard either. There must be something wrong with people if they cannot be bothered to put the right stuff in each bin.

A 3 year old can do it. No excuse for an adult.

I care deeply and live my life accordingly as much as possible. I don't fly, I don't drive, I try my damnedest not to use single use products, I recycle, I am (mostly) vegan, I plant trees...

But I do have children which lets face it is a fairly big environmental disaster, all told

I care, to an extent. But I’m going to be blunt and say there are just too many bigger things going on in people’s lives at present for most to give it too much thought.

Let’s take a young couple with 2 under 4s struggling to pay high rent and nursery fees - I’d imagine the state of the environment is way down their list of priorities.

Or the 50 year old who is menopausal, working full time and caring for increasingly frail parents? Nope, she won’t have the time or energy to give two hoots about climate change.

I often think, rightly or wrongly, that having the time/energy to get worked up about it all is often only for those who really haven’t got a lot of other ‘normal’ stuff to worry about.

I care a lot but it all feels pretty hopeless. This needs a global, not individual, response. And instead we have wars raging and governments and large corporations fiddling while Rome burns. Me cutting flights, recycling my household rubbish and eating little meat is not going to turn the dial while China is approving new coal power stations and the world population continues to grow at an alarming rate.

I care. I'm vegetarian (haven't quite managed to make the switch to vegan), don't fly any more etc etc.

But there's only so much we can do as individuals. We need sweeping changes to our infrastructure- and in legislation, to rein the most polluting companies in. Just Stop Oil aren't stupid- they blockade oil refineries, they know who's to blame for all this.

There's an election coming this year, and maybe the most important thing you can do for the environment (short of gluing yourself to the Shell building) is to vote with the environment in mind. Labour could (definitely) do better, but they're sure as hell going to be an improvement on the Tories. Or you might be lucky and live in a constituency where the Green Party stands a chance.

I do care , but it's very much on the back burner because it seems there isn't much anyone can do as highlighted by this thread and many echo how I feel too much better than I could.
I know it's a selfish stance to take though

I care, and I do quite a lot personally, but I do think it’s all pointless and the environment is fucked.

The whole of human history is the same story - cutting down trees and making animals extinct. Over and over and over, everywhere humans have gone.

It’s never going to change.

We try our best, recycle, mend clothes instead of buying new, get shopping delivered, get milk from the farm along the road in my village. Haven’t been abroad in 17 years instead we go places in the UK.

i live rurally and I do rely on my car to get my kids to school and get to work in rural community nursing. I am not going to feel bad about driving my 1.2 car when those who preach about it continue flying all over whenever they want, driving their gas guzzlers and continue allowing hundreds of houses to be flung up on green space and flood plains, the very same space we need to help with carbon capture and to manage the rain fall, no wonder many people are so skeptical

@eurochick the population birth wise is falling, it’s people living long past expiration that isn’t helping with over population and maybe that is another area that needs looked at, just because we can keep people alive with no quality of life doesn’t mean we should

I think there’s a strong tendency towards denial because the alternative is that they’ll have to feel guilty or ashamed. Humans tend to be terrible at dealing with either.

Much easier to convince themselves that that’s there’s no climate issue or if there is it’ll be solved before it starts to impact the kids.

Until countries like Russia, the USA, China, India etc actually make changes, there is very little impact I and my small country (Scotland) can realistically make. Sad, but true.

@maddiemookins16mum exactly. Many of the changes we are told we need to make are also very very costly. I can’t afford to buy and EV, I have no where to charge one either. Then there is the changing heating systems, insulation etc etc it all just seems to cost cost cost

Just Stop Oil aren't stupid- they blockade oil refineries, they know who's to blame for all this.

It's not taking out of the ground that's the problem it's burning it - and that's you and me doing that. They could empty all the world's oil wells and if we didn't burn it we'd be fine.
If we stopped buying it and burning it they'd stop taking it out of the ground. Airway companies should pay more tax on their oil - I think they pay less than the rest of the economy.

I genuinely don't care at all, in the literal sense: when I search my soul I simply don't feel anything about it whatsoever. But on an intellectual level I acknowledge that it's important, and I have made some changes. The big one for me is reduced air travel massively, I go everywhere by train, recycle, rarely buy new of anything. Of course I could do more.

Yes, I do because I am a) not a Nihilist b) have a moral obligation to care as I have DC. To some extent I have always been interested and joined Greenpeace at 14.

I could definitely improve but before last year as a family we had not travelled by aeroplane for 10 years, I do the normal recycling but also seek out recycling schemes for unusual things like old pens, makeup, bedding. I only be organic chicken if we have it at all and organic food or British local veg..

Always recycle soft packaging wherever possible like bread bags etc.

Yes the constant house building

No I don't really care. Nothing I do personally will make any difference in the scheme of things.

As a family output, DH is an Architect and designs buildings with energy efficiency and environmental principles in mind but I do realise that he has to do that to some extent and obviously building of brown sites is happening, using resources etc.

Labour have pledged to build more houses. The 28 billion they promised for environmental projects has been shelved.
I'm honestly not criticizing , but when you hear this no wonder people switch off even if there is more to it or you don't see or read about the bigger picture.
Not sure what the current government are doing , but I'm sure they will say it's the same challenges or there's not enough money or whatever and they all kow tow to ' big business ' to keep the economy going.
None of it is easy.

Yes I do. I try do my bit for the environment. Every pound we spend casts a vote as to the products that are developed and produced even by larger manufacturers. One thousand people making some eco conscious choices (but not getting it right all the time) outweighs ten people doing eco living perfectly. What I'm trying to say is that a small contribution adds up if enough people care to make eco friendly choices. It also doesn't need to be an all or nothing approach.

Yes, desperately- how can we not? I worry a lot and do what I can.

Not really. I do what suits me such a reusable cups, recycling, controlling food waste but you'll have to make it illegal before I give up my clingfilm, petrol car, gas boiler and garden hose as they all bring value to my life

I do what I can - which I feel is quite a lot for a small family - as others have said - constantly recylce, use vinted ebay before new clothes , I'm obsessed with that ! Cut down on plastics , meat , flying . Re use re use re use , but then celebs and world leaders flying around the world whenever they fancy on private jets just ruin it all really !