Climate change

[Aggy35]

Do you consider enviroment when making everyday decisions?
I am currently pregnant and the amount of single use items, stuff that is not needed etc being suggested to me is staggering.Are people really not aware ?

I have been actively trying to in the last few months. I've made a lot of eco swaps in the house
and are trying to find other ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Yet a lot of my family and friends are still going about their lives oblivious. I don't know if it's that they aren't aware or just don't care about the environment as they think it doesn't affect them. I have made a point to them not buy me any "stuff" for Christmas this year and I'm slowly trying to educate them! If you are concerned buy second hand, reusable, recyclable or locally made items where possible.

People are aware. They just choose convenience.

It will be more than just convience

It's also mental load And it's quite difficult and expensive to make the changes that matter most

It takes longer to walk somewhere then drive

It's expensive to insulate a home

It's harder to cook a tasty vegetarian dinner

Why argue with the kids about turning a light off that your smart meter says coats you 12p a year to leave on?

Yes, we do.

We have used keep cups and water bottles for years. We used reusable nappies for both of our dcs, (one still in them), reusable wipes, reusable nipple pads, reusable sanpro for bleeding after birth. Reusable bottles for expressed milk instead of the freezer bags.

What have you noticed in particular as a pregnant woman that you need to use single use items for? Maybe someone can suggest an alternative

I think having dcs made me more aware too BTW so get where you're coming from.

I spent 18 months trying to make lots of a changes and now feel like my footprint is far from perfect but definitely below average. More people need to be making changes and it's up to the government to move things in the right direction e.g cloth nappies need major advertising. It's far too cheap and easy to buy single-use plastic nappies and it's become the norm when we really need to be moving back to cloth. Also radical thinking from the government in terms of meat, aviation I could go on. The whole of society needs an overhaul really but the government are only concerned with making money which is so sad.

We do yes. We've changed everything we can, over a couple of years. When we can make a greener choice then we do. The bigger things include getting cavity wall insulation, having a green electricity supplier, green Bank, green pensions, electric car, permeable driveway and green roof, sometimes our bin is virtually empty. I am also a member of a couple of local environmental groups so a few weeks ago I ran a stall at an event talking about green swaps in the home, things like cleaning products, washable nappies, loose veg. It's really an all pervading part of our family life. But I have lines too, I'm not veggie or vegan, I would fly but not every year by any means, I've done up my house.

It's not just government

How would the pilots and baggage handlers react if you decided that we will have 90% fewer flights?

It's a huge revolution in how we live, many people would lose out so resist

We will all lose a lot more as a result

we try..avoid plastic etc....but i do feel that the protesters need to target china, usa and even germany as all pollute more than us.....

Reading all the information ahead of the Glasgow conference, it has become crystal clear the nothing we do as individuals will make any real difference.

China, India, the US and the EU are the big emitters, and China for example has clearly stated their emissions will continue to rise for years.

I have composted, recycled, turned down thermostats, and many other things my entire adult life. I feel it is all in vain.

I am sorry to be so negative, but after everything I have read and watched, I fail to see any chance unless the big emitters can change. So many documentaries just say the climate is warming. They do not suggest real solutions.

It has to be a top to bottom approach so personal lifestyle+ govt policy+ corporations + international co operation. You don't want to give companies any excuse for "oh but our customers demand single use/plastic wrapped/air freighted etc etc". But changes such as abandoning pursuit of economic growth must come from the top

It's not all in vain

Every little we shave off will help

It also helps to put pressure on government and industry

A little less conversation a little more action please dues spring to mind

The vast majority of our emissions come from burning fossil fuels. Roughly 25% from industry, 20% from transport and 20% to heat and power our homes and businesses.

We can all, consume a little less, consume more ethically, drive less, change to renewable electricity supply, when our boilers die change to ASHP, insulate our homes better. Some of these can be done now some will take longer.

I think the biggest thing we can do, and I'm so much more aware of this now, I stop buying stuff.
We went into a shop recently which sold only those popping fidget toy things. I just looked at this entire shop of weird plastic rubbish that's been transported from China just to end up buried in the ground within the next few years. I wish there was a way all of that could be banned. But people in China need jobs manufacturing plastic rubbish. It's hard.
Imagine if the government banned the import of pointless plastic toys. That would make a difference. Although who decides what's pointless? It's impossible.

Just trying to get pregnant made me aware of the single use heavy plastics. I know it's only a small thing but I don't use the plastic pee cups at home. I have a specific wide headed glass small pudding bowl. But most people are so funny about these things it not just convenience but a misunderstanding of their own body. I've found this when talking to friend about menstruatal cups and the don't want to engage with their cervix lol

I used a mooncup a really long time ago. They've been around for ages! I remember mum's in my nct group being horrified when I told then I used one (when not pregnant obviously). This was in 2014, so not that long ago. Now the ones I'm still close to all say they use reusable sanpro. Things have definitely changed.

I don't like menstrual cups anymore though, but do love period pants and reusable pads. My sister will never change willingly and says they're gross, but hey ho!

Per head of population we emit far more than China

And many of China emissions are a result of making stuff for us

It's that kind of buck passing that is replicated in the COP discussions

We need to be saying we will make change. And taxes on stuff associated with high emissions will raise to price you out of the market if you don't follow suit

@bordersmidgebites per head of population we emit about 2/3 that of China. Scope 3 (value chain) we do offshore slightly less than half our emissions.

Our consumption based emissions are 8t per head compared to China's 6.3t per head. USA on the other hand is 17.6t per capita.

www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-per-capita/

@bordersmidgebites your link has China pc emissions at 7.4 and UK at 5.6.

And here it is in action

All I was trying to say is that blaming China is wrong

It doesn't matter who is worst we are all dreadful and all need to do something and the more people go not me sir the more people will die

Bluntly

People will die probably in the millions now with changes that have happened
You won't be able to keep your current lifestyle
The longer we take to make changes the less your lifestyle will be maintained , The more it will cost and the more people will die

So squabble about who is bad and who is responsible for each unit of emissions , it's not important

Blaming China for making things you buy is a denial of responsibility

@bordersmidgebites I wasn't blaming China, or anyone for that matter. What is important is that we are armed with the facts that enable us to make educated decisions. Unfortunately there is too much misinformation and not enough good education (not you, somebody on another site was suggesting that net zero would mean all the trees would die).

For instance Environmental Performance Reports are increasingly common but how many people actually factor this into their purchasing decisions?

store.google.com/gb/magazine/sustainability and for fairness
www.apple.com/uk/environment/

Scroll down for the EPDs.

I guess i just feel that so much time has already been lost with disputes over facts

Facts that change all the time
Models that improve all the time
Yet the conclusions don't change
Everyone on the planet needs to change

.. it's not happening, years lost convincing enough people that it is
.... it's not caused by people , more years lost convincing enough people that it is
... now it's "we can't solve it , it's them over there that need to fix it"

And you can see the bad actors , those with vested financial interest, who you strongly suspect know but want to discredit everything as much as possible for their own personal short term gain

And then a volcano sprees out ash, lava and co2, h2so4.....

See, it's the " it's not people " response

Yes volcanoes have emissions. If it was only them having an effect we wouldn't having this problem

@IsleofRum volcanoes tend to have a relatively short term cooling effect they don't emit much CO2.