To believe most people who say they care about the environment are hypocrites?

[SharpUmberLeader]

I hear so many people talk about reducing waste or going green but they still fly multiple times a year, buy fast fashion, or order takeaway in plastic containers. AIBU to think most people aren’t actually practicing what they preach about sustainability?

We do our bit, buy second hand clothes, drive EVs, use public transport where possible, recycle, but what is really needed is an overall reduction in consumption.

I work in local govt in transport and I feel as though we are pissing in the wind. For all my working life (25ish years) environmental concern has been a policy driver, but if people are to change their lifestyles then the govt needs to put funding into supporting that! When I go on govt webinars and such like about forecasts of what is going to happen, (increasing and more widespread flooding, air born insect related diseases migrating due to increasing temps, mass human migration - just three things that come to mind) and the changes that need to be made to try to get us anywhere near the targets, it's very sobering.

But i honestly think growth isn't really achievable if you want to effect real change on climate, and growth seems to be what everyone in power wants.

As plenty of PPs have said, the government needs to actually mandate some changes.

Making people feel individually responsible for climate change is a con. The only things that will achieve enough change are laws to make unsustainable practices illegal, taxes and international cooperation.

Absolutely.

Yes, absolutely. It's just a way to turn us all against each other. Again.

I don't drive so do agree.

The green commitment Welsh governments so keen on has lead to spending in my tiny bit of Wales getting South Wales Metro - we are on far edge of it just reaches us - so should see benefits at some point - but rest of wales isn't getting that.

We also have electric buses - but services have been cut and prices keep going up and up - last time by losing the cheaper ticket options . DH manages to commute in to nearby city with foldable electric bike and train - but if we were drivers would just drive.

I suspect we're going to find out....

Yes but none of that will replenish the planet to replace that we're using resources quicker than it can renew.
Deep green is the only way but no-one will be doing that we don't have the infrastructure & in any case there's too many people

Yep. It would help if the big companies that are doing the damage it would be great. But consumerism consumes is.

People believe we can consume our way out of this.

I think the issue got to the point of no return before any State/country thought to turn the ship around policy wise. Policies that would incentivise not punish or charge for it.

Yanbu. Most people are so detached from the consequences of their decisions, it is just hard to take on board the impact. And there is alway someone worse, so it easy for people to think "well, my bad choices don't count as much as that person's!"

I cook from scatch, with food farmed locally wherever I can. As a two-person household we probably take an international flight every two or three years. I recycle as much of our waste as possible. I don't want to be part of the problem, but there's no fast food delivery or convenient short cuts in my life. I can eat out, but at huge cost if I want naice well prepared food, or cook it myself, so I generally shop in person and cook everything we eat.

YANBU, the super eco head at my work, who lectures all of us, flies to four to six foreign holidays a year and bought a massive petrol guzzling SUV.

@yellowkeyring the hypocrisy is quite breathtaking. We don't have EVs, because there's insufficient charging options, but the person who buys our house will install PV panels and battery storage systems etc. and have low costs for fuel. We are not doing so because we are nearly 70 and planning to move soon so the £25k we'd have to spend would be a cost not a benefit. But if someone buys our house, that we have happily lived in for 28 years, then it would be the first improvement I would make. However, there is no payback for us.

We probably shall spend the money on the house we downsize into, but we won't pay the envionmental costs twice.

The only truly environmentally friendly people in the world are those who have no choice but to go without modern conveniences, tribes that still live in the Amazon jungle etc. people who preach line about using a coffee cup made from recycled bamboo and claiming they are living an eco- friendly lifestyle are a bunch of cunts.

I'm sure you are right, but once that Amazonian tribe discover waterproofing, do you think they are going to give it up willingly?

This just isn't true. In 2021 around 2.1% of all goods produced in China were exported to the UK. We are not a huge market - and we have no coal power plants because we closed them all. China has over a thousand and is approving another 2 a month on average. It makes me laugh though when people 'don't want to blame other countries' and try to blame individuals - like someone ordering a few keyrings from China could possibly make any notable impact.

People just love to blame people who fly though, which is also ludicrous when just 2.5% of the world's CO2 comes from flying. But I guess it's something that people can feel superior about if they don't holiday abroad - and we know how people just love to feel superior on here!

Only governments can change what is happening and as long as China, the US and India aren't interested the rest of us are just wasting our time. We still need to do what we can of course and things like recycling, reusing, doing what we can for wildlife and reducing consumption in every way are still important - but I'm afraid we just aren't going to save the world.

I care about environment, l don't drive a car, but l do fly a few times a year..l recycle but that's about it. Me giving up flying won't help the environment.

You're not wrong. Will they also embrace contraceptives as a trade for low infant mortality, longer life spans and fertility treatments.

None of it will matter, at some point it will all be irrelevant, the planet will just kick us all off and start again with new life.

Just ignore them. It's the best way YANBU.

Just because someone says they care about the environment doesnt mean they have to be perfect.
We have family abroad, so we do fly quite often. But we are vegan, i get groceries with tupperware to avoid plastic. We have electric cars and a solar roof.

I know its not perfect, but id like to think we are doing our part. If everyone would just do anlittle bit, it would already make a big difference.

Does that mean we shouldn't do anything to be more sustainable/ environmentally friendly?

It may make little difference on a global scale , but it can make a difference on a personal one.

Examples being , taking glass to the bottle bank instead of putting it in my bin means my bin isn't overflowing by the collection date. Walking short journeys instead of driving means I don't need to fill my car with petrol as frequently.

@Mairzydotes if you want to recycle your bottles or fill your car up less, then of course nobody is going to stop you.

For me, it's not that people shouldn't be sustainable if that's what they want to do, it's this belief that it actually makes any difference long-term that bothers me for some reason lol.

It wouldn't, though.

Unless every single person on the entire planet committed to it, nothing will change.

The fact that you're vegan and use solar power is irrelevant to the planet's future when we have celebrities in private jets everyday, and massive companies like Amazon or Apple existing.

Being vegan is far from being good for the environment. Massive hypocrites