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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To for a moment be feel a bit Bleurgh about doing stuff for the environment and other things

11 replies

Mouldyfoodhelp · 02/04/2024 18:56

Just feel like having a bit of a moan after reading another thread about McDonald's and people saying the happy meal toys were better when they were plastic ( they were!) And a poster or two complaining about them ending in a landfill just got me a bit annoyed and wanting to get on my soap box that whilst I know we have to ( and do ) things to help the environment like recycling etc it just feels a bit shit that every day people are making these small sacrifices which don't seem a lot in isolation but it just feels like when you combine it with say paper straws and other small things it just adds up incrementally to a more shit, tiresome standard of living especially for the normal person/ poorer people.

I know it's two different subjects but in this moment of moan-y-ness I'm struggling to compute how the average person getting say a happy meal toy or a plastic straw or not recycling 100% properly or using a car is an issue when you have massive corporations causing a shit load of damage to the environment through pollution from factories, oil spills and choosing more ecological damaging processes so they can make a theoretical 5 billion instead of 4 billion. And then you have the general wealthy, celebrities and politicians flying private jets everywhere for trivial things like holidays, sporting events, concerts, or meetings where seemingly nothing gets done politically. Like premier league football teams flying often less than an hour to get to away games and I think Taylor swift was the person who polluted the most through the use of her private jet or something. They do all of this and its the general public that get lambasted for choosing to drive what they deem as unnecessary and yes I get there's the issue of scale but you can't tell me these people who get private jets aren't also making unnecessary car journeys.

And we have politicians earning a decent wage whilst writing off loads of different bills or random costs as expenses whilst they or their colleagues make comments about how life isn't that bad and ways that people can save money to survive which sometimes you can't help but feel they're just mocking the lower classes. Which leads me to how they seem to have successfully demonised those on benefits to such an extent where some are gaining less than say £400 a month to live on and making out they are the problem whilst they don't go after the wealthy or their donors for the tax they are dodging/ evading or even giving out government contracts in the height of a pandemic to the tune of billions to companies that were sometimes only just formed and potentially connected to MPs, who then decide its not in the government interest to look into that waste.

On the subject of money and benefits and the media and government demonising those on benefits we literally have a house of Lords where many sign in for the day to earn their £300 a day and fuck off.

I'm just in a mood at the moment with lots of thoughts and complaints that aren't fully linked but in my head I just can't separate them argh!

OP posts:
AdultOnsetAsthma · 02/04/2024 19:00

What annoys me is I ask for the happy meal book and I get a toy, every time.

I don't miss plastic straws, and I'd be happy to say goodbye to other plastic cutlery.

Mcdonalds fizzy drinks taste dreadful anyway, I always get a tea. (Misses the point)

Our government could legislate against so many environmental problems. But they don't.

I have to give Margaret thatcher her due for the fact that she was very vocal in getting the whole world to get rid of cfcs.

We need someone to do that but with plastic.

LittleMissCantBeWrong1 · 02/04/2024 19:03

Yeah. I’m utterly fed up of being preached to by the rich and famous who do not practice what they preach.

AdultOnsetAsthma · 02/04/2024 19:05

I suppose if I were very rich it would be easy to fall into the habit of taking flights everywhere for example.

There ought to be something in place to discourage even the rich. I'm not brainy enough to think of something though- money isn't the solution. There's always someone rich enough to pay the levy.

quizzys · 02/04/2024 19:08

AdultOnsetAsthma · 02/04/2024 19:05

I suppose if I were very rich it would be easy to fall into the habit of taking flights everywhere for example.

There ought to be something in place to discourage even the rich. I'm not brainy enough to think of something though- money isn't the solution. There's always someone rich enough to pay the levy.

Edited

Maybe something like a ban on private jets
A mileage limit per annum.
But you are right. The wealthy have influence and will not be stopped. The little people on the other hand....

AgentProvocateur · 02/04/2024 19:18

I would happily weave my own
clothes from local sheep and live off kale and turnip in return for never having to drink through a paper straw again.

alonglongshot · 02/04/2024 19:27

For me it's Formula 1. The pollution that these races create and we are berated for our (often essential) car journeys.

Imicola · 02/04/2024 19:33

I definitely get where you are coming from. We make changes to our lives but in reality our actions are not going to be remotely enough. We need huge changes from government, big multinationals and the global elite. But they are too busy jetting around, making more money than anyone needs and destroying the environment while they are at it.

On the flights, I think there should be some sort of individual credit system... only allowed so many miles per person by air and otherwise you'll need a less polluting mode of transport.

AceOfCups · 02/04/2024 19:35

I agree. It ridiculous that we are supposed to take Prince William’s Earthshot prize seriously when this man gets around via helicopter much of the time.

ditto Leonardo DiCaprio and his private jet trips and climate activism.

when these celebrities talk about the importance of reducing our carbon footprint they mean us, not them.

dimllaishebiaith · 02/04/2024 19:38

AgentProvocateur · 02/04/2024 19:18

I would happily weave my own
clothes from local sheep and live off kale and turnip in return for never having to drink through a paper straw again.

Im not sure it's worth the effort

I say this as someone who takes raw fleece, spins it and weaves it, trust me, accept the irritation that is the plastic straw 🤣

ButtockUp · 02/04/2024 19:47

alonglongshot · 02/04/2024 19:27

For me it's Formula 1. The pollution that these races create and we are berated for our (often essential) car journeys.

Absolutely.
What is the actual point of winning a disastrously polluting and environmentally unfriendly race?

quizzys · 02/04/2024 20:33

The guilt I felt when I just couldn't be arsed washing out two yogurt pots, and flung them in the black bin instead.

Are we being brainwashed by some holier than thous or what?

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