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Climate Change
Original poster

What are you NOT giving up for climate change?

280 replies

TheBeesKnee · 02/08/2023 22:43

As in, something you know would be beneficial and you actively refuse to do it.

I refuse to take 4 minute showers. My showers last 15-20 minutes, 30 if I've had a really bad day. A nice hot shower relaxes me and I can't abide the thought of feeling stressed in there trying to wash before the clock runs out.

To balance this out so that you don't all think I'm a terrible person, I was vegan for 10 years 🙈

Just wondering what others are clinging on to?

OP posts:
mkpka · 03/08/2023 08:15

Oh, actually (having read all the posts) - single-use sanitary products!

HappilyContentTheseDays · 03/08/2023 08:17

Can't give up the washing machine and tumble dryer. No place to dry stuff outside and indoors it would be very damp if I didn't tumble dry it.

In hot weather (not that we've had much recently), I use a portable air conditioner, I can't sleep if the temperature is too high in the bedroom at night.

I would love to give up the car but I can't - rural area, no transport and my new job involves lots more commuting.

mkpka · 03/08/2023 08:17

mkpka · 03/08/2023 08:15

Oh, actually (having read all the posts) - single-use sanitary products!

(Ah, for want of an edit button - I have given up single-use SPs. More coffee needed. 😫)

Runnersandtoms · 03/08/2023 08:18

Augustus40 · 03/08/2023 06:08

Cleaning wipes. They are indispensable.

They really aren't. I haven't bought any form of disposable wipes for ten years. I have felt no hardship.

Willmafrockfit · 03/08/2023 08:19

trying to eat less meat
have to use my car, to catch a bus i ideally need a lift by car to the bus stop!

meatbaseddessert · 03/08/2023 08:20

Flying

We live in a country with almost 100% renewable source power
We collect our own rainwater and deal with our own sewage
We have no children
I stopped buying clothes years ago
We grow our own vegetables and fruit
We have an electric car but all of our daily journeys to work are in public transport (which is also electric)
We are vegetarian and I don't eat dairy
Our carbon footprint is tiny compared to someone living in the UK with a couple of kids.

However we live 12000 miles away from family and friends in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

I'm not stopping flying.

WedTheBed · 03/08/2023 08:20

My car - I live rurally with the more dire bus timetables and routes; and the last time I called an ambulance for my sick baby they apologised and said it could take over 2 hours to get to us and recommended driving him to A&E if we could.

Eating meat - I could never give it up. It crosses my mind but meat is such a massive part of my diet tbh and I never feel satisfied when I choose a vegetarian option when out; as lovely as they might taste I always feel regret that I didn’t choose something with meat.

Short Showers - I hate feeling rushed, I love to just tip my head back and relax in the shower. They take as long as they take.

YourCrackersMiLord · 03/08/2023 08:21

The dog.

Deloresadores · 03/08/2023 08:30

Anything to do with climate change and various childless people arrive to crow about how they don’t care.
Obviously they will manage totally alone not rely on anyone else’s children to help them as they grow old.
Why these people are on MUMSnet is beyond me.

CoodleMoodle · 03/08/2023 08:33

Tumble dryer. I do hang washing out but I'll never give up my dryer if I can help it.

Eating chicken. Could live without other meat.

Car. We walk a lot but the public transport here is horrendous and extortionate. When we visit DM (London) it's buses all the way!

meatbaseddessert · 03/08/2023 08:37

Deloresadores · 03/08/2023 08:30

Anything to do with climate change and various childless people arrive to crow about how they don’t care.
Obviously they will manage totally alone not rely on anyone else’s children to help them as they grow old.
Why these people are on MUMSnet is beyond me.

Haven't seen the posts from child free people saying they don't care. The opposite in fact. We didn't have kids for the very reason of climate change so yours may be able to live a pleasant life.

Plenty from MUMS who won't give up disposable nappies, SUVs, disposable wipes etc etc.

Oh and you've just won Mumsnet bingo.

loislovesstewie · 03/08/2023 08:39

Well, you are a fool if you decided not to reproduce due to climate change.

Halfemptyhalfling · 03/08/2023 08:40

Cups of tea
Dairy
Meat
Baths
Dog

meatbaseddessert · 03/08/2023 08:43

loislovesstewie · 03/08/2023 08:39

Well, you are a fool if you decided not to reproduce due to climate change.

Charming.

kikigen · 03/08/2023 08:45

Flying.

kikigen · 03/08/2023 08:46

Although there's quite a few more on this thread I could add too....

tattygrl · 03/08/2023 08:48

Goggleboit94 · 03/08/2023 00:55

You understand that what’s happening is real right? The science isn’t made up. Does it make everyone feel better to pretend it’s not real and make little deals about what they’ll hang on to? If your kids are babies now it’s very unlikely there’ll even be coffee available to consumers when they’re adults. They’ll be lucky to have access to a functioning food system. My brother is a climate scientist and he is an absolute wreck knowing what’s going to hit us. It’s terrifying to see him like that, but he’s just going by the evidence. I just can’t get my head around whether people on here really understand what’s going to happen in our lifetimes, or if it’s too scary to really accept it and it feels comforting to have threads like this instead.

This. This is a bloody depressing thread. It's understandable that people can't do everything eco friendly and can't give up everything, but the smug glibness on this thread is thoroughly distressing to read.

I've just completed a course in climate change and left feeling so hopeful that people really do care. This thread is really challenging that hope in me.

tattygrl · 03/08/2023 08:50

Chocolatefreak · 03/08/2023 07:05

'I won't give up my SUV'

The amount of entitlement in these comments is staggering. This is exactly why strict constraints of carbon use need to be imposed by governments - impacting all of us; rich or poor, in terms of travel, all consumer goods, consumption of meat and dairy. This is the only thing that will give us even a modicum of comfort in the future.

The alternative is horror and suffering for everyone.

Couldn't agree more. Some comments are reasonable, talking about things they would genuinely struggle to give up etc. Others are pathetic and entitled. Evidence that some people really don't look beyond their own comfort.

Rattlethestars · 03/08/2023 08:51

My car. It's a necessity for our family. I have health problems (walking can flare up my symptoms) and my son is autistic. He also has allocated transport for school as it's out of catchment area (9 miles) so the taxi is necessary for him to attend school.

Meat. I don't believe vegan diets are always the way forward. I also have several food intolerances/sensitivities that would make eating a balanced vegan diet nigh on impossible.

dogsweetdog · 03/08/2023 08:57

Travelling. We are making a conscious effort to fly less and will try and go by train, but won't give it up altogether.

KateJohns · 03/08/2023 09:05

I'm giving up nothing.

There's people right here on MN doing 20+ loads of washing a week. I do 2.
There's people driving massive cars they can't drive just to do the shopping and take the kids to school, I don't have a car and use public transport.
There's businesses pumping pollutants into the atmosphere on an industrial scale, I barely use hair spray these days.
People jet around the globe in hugely polluting aircraft to go on business meetings, holidays or stupid stag dos and dumbass weddings, I have never flown or left the country.
Huge metal ships haul the overly wealthy around the globe and pump out pollutions to take Arseholes from one shit hole to the next shit hole whilst cooking up metric tons of future wasted food for the 200 buffets they serve a week, I've never stepped foot on a cruise liner.
Even down to barges on the canals sitting with their diesel engines running for hours pumping out exhaust fumes to keep the occupants warm, I barely use my gas heating in case the bills is too high.
Etc

How did Lee Evans put it?
"You got the Chinese bellowing out shit from coal fired power stations, Americans driving around in giant 4 x 4 Humvees, Las Vegas is lit up like a giant Christmas tree every night but they reckon if I turn off that little standby button on my TV..."

But...
People will justify why they need their car.
People will justify why they need to do metric tons of washing a year.
People will justify why they need to fly in planes or cruise on ships 'to relax' after spending 200 hours that year stressing themselves out to pay for the holiday to undo the stress they only got whilst working to pay for the holiday in the first place.
so on and so on

My 'Footprint' is the size of a gnats bollock and whilst businesses and governments and people don't change, there's shit all else I'm willing to go without.

lljkk · 03/08/2023 09:17

MN used to have light-hearted threads. <muse>

bladebladebla1 · 03/08/2023 09:23

Deloresadores · 03/08/2023 03:55

I’m vegan 5 days a week and vegetarian for 2. I don’t fly, I recycle and cook from scratch as much as possible to avoid too much plastic waste. I have an electric car but I use public transport and walk as much as I can. In the next feel years I’m moving to solar and heat pumps. My house is well insulated but I will improve that.

There are parts of the world now which are a lot further along with dealing with climate change and who are suffering horribly. Where women, children and the vulnerable are fighting to simply exist.

I don’t believe it’s too late and I loathe the idea that “I’m alright Jack” to hell with everyone else and to hell with the future.
No one is perfect but everyone can do something and everyone can put pressure on leaders and industries to do their part.

If you can’t afford to change your car or if you can’t use public transport then just do what you can.

But glorifying your efforts to contribute to climate collapse and the destruction of the future seems pathetic.
I think the people who moan about not having plastic straws are some of the most pathetic! Get a grip!

I wish you all had a little more empathy and could for one second imagine the life of someone in the Horn of Africa fighting to exist. Or someone in Pakistan who lost everything in the flooding. You’ll probably say that people have always been poor but if you look at the statistics then climate change is making them a whole lot poorer.

But at least they don’t have to deal with the trauma of plastic straws.

👏

Parky04 · 03/08/2023 09:26

Due to the tepid temperature of the showers in my gym, 2 minutes in the shower is enough!

BHRK · 03/08/2023 09:29

Flying, though I’m struggling with it and really hope they find an alternative fuel soon!

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