What can we do about climate change?

[georgarina]

I mean who to vote for, who to speak to??

I really feel the need to do all I can.

Relatives in California are on rationed water allowances and that will be coming here soon. Meanwhile everyone I know just avoids the issue or says "the only thing that will happen is some nicer weather."

It's so scary.

With all due respect if we all do fuck all nothing will change.

It is not even true that making changes would result in only marginal gain. Humans have the power to make a really big difference, if they were to cut household consumption.

Carbon dioxide is the main cause of human-induced climate change. It is a very long-lived gas.

Caused by burning of fossil fuels and the conversion of land for forestry and agriculture. We need to at least halve global carbon emissions by 2030 to avoid climate catastrophe

The government and businesses need to do something about it. How many of the current Tory party candidates are putting global warming at the top of their policy list...? None. It's all about the economy because all anyone in this world cares about is money.

Offset your carbon footprint- properly offset it- so you produce zero carbon as a family unit and you are actually contributing.

With all due respect, if everyone did this, it would only make a marginal gain at best, that's not to say people shouldn't try to be more environmental friendly,

I disagree. each tiny act of unnecessary consumption involves so much unnecessary carbon. Imagine, for instance, one piece of clothing/accessory. There's the energy and materials needed to extract the raw materials, get them to the factory, the energy to make the item. the energy to pack it and deliver it to the shop/warehouse. The energy to repackage it individually. Your trip to the shop or the delivery driver's trip to your house (plus further journeys if it is returned).

So many "little' acts that if everyone does some will start to add up. Of course, all the better if people feel able to do more and be more radical, but little acts by many people have a big Impact

I fear the changes we need are not compatible with democracy. A previous poster mentions banning flying or flying only for extremely exceptional reasons. In a democratic system who is going to to vote for a party that imposes such draconian policies. It was have a massive impact on the aviation industry too.

Small changes, going on holiday every other year, cutting out meat a few times a week and reduce and recycle aren’t going to cut it unfortunately.

Democracy works through compromise but climate change is so urgent and pressing it doesn’t allow for that. We need brave, daring solutions to the climate emergency not piecemeal actions that make us feel better about our lifestyles, but have no impact on the scheme of things. We have COP where the goal is to create a stable ecosystem, but, as we saw at the latest summit, every country has an incentive to free ride and let others swallow the costs of providing it.

And all the better if we divert the money saved from reduced consumption into green energy/ tree planting/ etc

And divert the time spent needlessly consuming towards campaigning.

We could do with a huge campaign for cheaper public transport for instance

Do you not think at some point the rationality of most humans will kick in?

We do not need to ban flights, we need to limit them. We limit other things that threaten our lives.

A previous poster mentions banning flying or flying only for extremely exceptional reasons. In a democratic system who is going to to vote for a party that imposes such draconian policies

Yes, I agree.

We do not need to ban flights, we need to limit them. We limit other things that threaten our lives

Carefullycourageous would that be allowing everyone a certain number of air miles or number of flights a year?

I do my bit where I can. I am one of those rare people who hasn’t concreted over my front garden. I walk for short journeys etc. recycle everything etc
One thing we can all do is stop buying crap. Chinese crap for starters. Crap little ornaments for the garden from B&M etc. Buy local where you can.
I do get pissed off with the rich elite speaking down to us though. Leonardo dicaprio has flown more miles in a year than I will in a bloody lifetime. I also think there is a real danger that the rich elite will carry on flying and buying cars but kid themselves they are environmentally conscious because they pay extortionate amounts for food that most people could not afford. I think flying and car travel will become the preserve of the rich.

Yes rationality will kick in but by then it will be too late. This sums up the situation quite well but the pertinent point is:

Immediate concerns will always trump eventual concerns—which is one more trick of species survival. But when it comes to climate change, even when we do try to think long-term, a lot of things get in the way. Paramount among them is that climate action requires a lot of right-now sacrifice for a down-the-line payoff.

time.com/5418690/why-ignore-climate-change-warnings-un-report/

Gas and oil companies are still investing many times more money in extracting fossil fuels than developing clean technologies. In fact they are exploring new opportunities for fossil fuel extraction.
We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. No new fossil fuel exploration as of now.

The time for small incremental change has passed.

However give it a few days, the heatwave will pass, peoples thoughts move on. Nothing will happen.

We need to let our politicians know we care about this. We need governments to take action now, and be brave enough to control big business. Globally.
Its our only chance.

OK, thinking constructively, what am I doing?

vegan household
recycle as much as possible, including plastic film/bags to supermarket, spent shoes and fabric not suited to rags.
Composting all organic waste
Gardening to promote wildlife/biodiversity
bee and insect friendly planting
no pesticides/weedkillers
leave wild areas, overgrowth and woodpiles
reframe ‘weeds’ as wildflowers, eg dandelions are a hugely important early source of food for bees!
cultivating as many native trees as possible
electric car (second hand, charged on 100% renewables as much as possible (charged at home) otherwise public transport
if i have to get a taxi/uber I actively seek out an EV or hybrid
no excessive journeys - shop in one go rather than nipping to shop for odd things. Wfh where I can.
buy second hand as much as possible
80% wardrobe is second hand (except underwear, socks, tights, most but not all my bras).
mend clothes with holes in, prolong life as much as possible (eg by dying faded jeans back to black)
washing only done on full loads on eco mode
no tumble dryer, love my pulley maid!
wear clothes for as long as possible, until too many unrepairable holes or the fabric goes thin, crunchy and rips easily.
clothes past use are turned into rags or recycled
rags are washed and reused until they fall apart. Muckiest jobs use the oldest tattiest rags, then they go in bin (if gross) or recycled.
Non-toxic cleaning products, use as little plastic as possible (most now recycled plastic bottles). Investigating the tablets that you just add water to. Love vinegar!
Shower according to need. So if in office or socialising or hot/smelly then shower. No longer assume this is daily, if wfh and no need. If I know I want an evening epsom salt bath or will be gardening and needing a shower after, then I don’t shower beforehand.
don’t leave tap running or shower running beyond direct use. Need to save more grey water for garden though.
second hand furniture (‘vintage’) where possible. Fix up any breakages. try to rehome anything surplus to requirements via freecycle/olio
no buying tat - special occasion tat, festive stuff etc. no new seasonal decor except natural stuff - gather pinecones for autumn/winter, holly or ivy at Christmas (have plenty Christmas decor already).
Christmas tree in pot reused for several years (although the heatwave just killed off our 4 year old one sadly).
most decor stuff is second hand anyway (prefer vintage stuff) - not buying any more as have plenty
toiletries all vegan/non-toxic brands, tend to be slightly better on recycled plastic. Try to avoid unnecessary things. Use bamboo plastic free toothpicks/floss
reusable san pro
no fans, air con etc in home but we do however have air filters in house for asthma/allergies which cool air a little. Try only to use if needed.
try to responsibly reuse/recycle or dispose of everything we let go of - it’s our responsibility
no kids (currently doing IVF but likely to be childless)
elderly mum lives with us so one less household out there
turn off lights, turn off plugs, heat only on if below 18c. Insulated house so better than some
consider source/impact of all new things purchased new (eg paint, lighting) to try to chose least harmful most sustainable options
bank with nationwide for more ethical investment

stuff I do that impacts
overuse iphone/stream tv - energy/server space
email clutter/junk - need to unsubscribe and delete
pension fund mainstream provider need to investigate
my rescue dog (ex street dog) - no regrets here!
the historic impact of all the ‘stuff’ I have now
Ttc/IVF - so much plastic waste from needles and meds. Pregnancy tests etc.
covid tests, so much plastic
probably more…

I try and make sustainability a daily concern though, factors into everything. It’s like a game now - how can I be as green as I can? Not perfect but working on what I can. If this happened globally, surely it would help somewhat? Lots of small changes aggregated will have an impact! If not, at least I know my conscience is as clear as it can be.

Oh, we have a 100% renewables energy tarrif (not cheap though so won’t be available to all given current price madness unfortunately). I want to look at solar panels etc too but DP currently needs some more convincing on the economics.

also need to grow more food. We already buy as much organic as we can (incl veg box) but noticing post Brexit the range is decreasing and also shops have more long distance imports (we avoid these!). Avoid food waste too, but could do better on weeks when we are too tired/ill to meal
plan.

But if there is some kind of "rationing" system, the rich will just buy the rations of the poor, in just the same way that the carbon trading scheme for industry has been abused. If the "allowance" couldn't be bought/sold, then those who don't want to fly have a wasted allowance they can't do anything with. The idea of flight levies was to discourage flying by increasing prices, but that was a failure, for the same reason that people wanting to fly just found the money to pay higher fares! Then you have the suspicion that levies are more about raising money for Govt than for protecting the environment. There are no simple answers and little trust in government (of all colours in most Western countries), so we can't expect politicians to deal with it anyway. So how do you limit flights in a fair and controlled way that won't be abused?

I'm not sure there's a problem with rationing flights and allowing the rich to buy poor people's rations, as long as you set the rations at a low enough level. Poor people who really value their flights (perhaps because they have family members overseas) will be able to use them. Poor people who don't value their flights will be able to sell them for cash. Middle class people will be restricted to fewer holidays but basically be fine. If they have loved ones overseas then they'll have to make sacrifices and see them less often - but at least it's much easier to keep in touch than it used to be. The rich will still fly a lot but they'll have to pay through the nose for it. Overall there will be fewer flights which is the important thing if we're not getting hydrogen planes any time soon.

Only thing that would make any difference would be closing the huge powerplants owned by Bezos and the super rich. The ones telling us to turn off light switches. Soon as they do that, I'll start turning off lights etc. Until then I'll carry on because they act as though the risk they tell us exists, doesn't exist, and that's suspicious.

@ihavenocats Surely Jeff Bezos building a nuclear fusion plant is exactly what you'd expect him to do if fossil fuel use was leading to climate change? His behaviour is completely consistent with there being a huge risk from climate change.

There are loads of these threads. All our recycling, being forced / trying not to to buy plastic covered fruit in supermarkets etc, buying shampoo in a bar or refilling containers of it, is minimal.

The huge Scottish conference this year achieved nothing. What a joke. Until they cut greenhouse gases, address the real huge culprits, it's not going to make enough difference.

@Phrenologistsfinger Thank you for such a comprehensive list! I’m going to save it to refer to. Sadly even if I did everything on the list it would be balanced out by my MIL’s Christmas tat purchases alone, but at least together she and I would emerge neutral vs if I did nothing…

I think the big elephant in the room is time, isn’t it? Click-buy new-Amazon Prime, bin this instead of Freecycling it, let old emails pile up, new clothes instead of mending, bin a tampon instead of washing a mooncup – all so much easier and we’re all time poor. Wonder if cutting working weeks to four days universally would have a climate impact beyond commuting, but by facilitating a slower way of living? Or whether people would spend their extra day buying shit in B&M?

Thinking out loud, I like the idea of personal carbon budgets, when it comes to flying. There's a ridiculous statistic floating around - something like 2% of all flyers are responsible for 90% of in-country flights. I would like to see that acknowledged and money raised from frequent flyers to repair the damage. I get pissed off at celebrities jetting everywhere, just to lecture us on using less carbon!

Always see people saying to eat local not imported- actually the environmental impact of some imports is better than buying local. The impact of food is largely at the production not the transport stage so it’s better to buy imported plants than local animal products.

I found this helpful to see what actually has the most impact:

www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2021-04/Environmental%20Perils%20of%20Perception%202021_0.pdf

biggest thing by far is having one fewer child.

From the list in order:

1. Have one fewer child - I have one child, environmental reasons are one of many for this but not the biggest factor if I’m honest.
2. Not having a car- I don’t, but my husband has a family car he needs for work. We will run it to the ground then switch to electric.
3. Avoiding one long distance flight- never taken a flight that lasted over 6 hours. Flown once in past 3 years to visit family.
4. Buying energy from renewable sources- was with bulb who did that but now they’ve gone into administration I don’t know if that’s still the case.
5. Replacing car with electric- see above.
6. Eat a plant based diet- I do this.
7. Recycle as much as possible- I do this.
8. Hang drying clothes- I do in summer, in winter we need to use the electric clothes horse or nothing dries.
9. Replace light bulbs- done this.

I still have plenty of things to work on but there’s not much of the top 9 I can change.

I’ve been a bit disheartened by the rash of what model is your air con posts over last two days, it feels like an indication of changes people will make.

They’ll buy something for comfort that makes things worse.

How can behaviour switch away from this to better solutions?

@MarshaBradyo I don’t think behaviour change at scale at speed is possible without legislation – it needs legislation the way smoking inside needed to be banned, and then legislation supported with choices and financing.

I don’t know how to legislate for “eco air con” only which is why I’m not a policy wonk! But accelerating renewables and making solar accessible and affordable would be a step towards mitigating the impact of air con. But you couldn’t really tie air con installation to solar panels because it would prohibit the poor and flat-dwellers from cooling their homes.

Really it needs mega funding from billionaire wankers busy jetting into space to just pour money into supporting behaviour change through finance.