• bobbbu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    69
    arrow-down
    19
    ·
    edit-2
    11 days ago

    There is some hope if we chip at it as much as we can. No action is too small:

    • less travelling. Life is fun near home. Happiness isn’t tied to an airplane and a beach far away
    • eat less animals. You ll get used to whatever diet in a few weeks. It doesnt have to be vegan or nothing. Also, beans are delicious:)
    • bamboo toilet paper. Grows fast, renewable.
    • plant bushes, trees. Look up local resilient species. I’ve been planting everywhere I can. You can call your local municipality, they have regreening programs.
    • buy less stuff. Available tech is already good enough.
    • vote with your wallet. This is the only real power we have over corporations, imo. Lots of great easy to repair brands. Fair trade, etc.

    If we convince ourselves we are screwed, we ll give up. Be the hero of your own story. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET IT 100% RIGHT. Any improvement is improvement. We all live different lives, and the economy is hard on alot of us.

    I believe:)

    Edit: I get that industries/billionaires represent a majority of this issue. I also believe that change starts home. We gotta tackle this at every level, even if it seems lost. The alternative is watching it happen and wait for the others to change. This is a prime “tragedy of the common” problem. You drink filtered tap water? Well those plastic bottles dont get made, thrown away. Do this a lifetime and those bottles represent a hill of waste that never existed.

    I m rooting for you, for us!

      • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        11 days ago

        If we dont support billioniares business’, and turned “the individual” into an organized mass, it would work.

        I dont know if this opinion, to change using amazon and the other big retailers, will ever come though. I saw someone legit promoting aliexpress for a product not too long ago, and I was surprised no one gave them shit for it.

        If Working for and using, for example, amazon, was suddenly shamed and everyone stopped using it, it would stop making the billionaire at the top money. If no one buys the product, no one is willing to work for the company, the company would disolve. bezos still wouldnt be broke, or held to account, but this revenue stream would stop.

        Will it happen though? I feel like a nhilist for saying, I dont think so.

      • Fredthefishlord@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        11 days ago

        12% of global emissions are individual car drivers alone. The individual is a sizable portion of the problem, and we need a multi pronged approach that attacks corporations outsized impact and reduces certain emissions from individuals as well.

        • Auli@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          11 days ago

          There are over a billion cars on the road. Individually it is nothing and 12% is a small percentage. Where is the other 88. I’m sick of this blame the individual when companies are doing most of the polluting. We could stop driving all cars today and it wouldn’t help. But anything to keep arrow going up. Only thing people can really do is consume less but that is a hard ask for Americans who consume far more then other countries.

    • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      12 days ago

      and yes, more putting the onus on us, when all of our individual yearly pollution barely amounts to a day of pollution released by average industry.

      You know it was industrial propaganda that started the whole personal responsibility thing to begin with right? to shift blame away from themselves and onto you and me.

      I mean, yeah, you can make yourself feel good by reducing, but its doing fuckall compared to industrial release.

      • ClamDrinker@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        12 days ago

        I don’t think you should think about it in terms of blame, I think that’s a big part of the propaganda. Seeding of anger, frustration, and apathy. Rather than allowing empowerment, organizing, and hope.

        Blame should only be reserved for those that act with careless disregard. And doing things that are good for the environment shouldn’t be seen as ‘paying back’. You are actively doing more than you should and letting your actions speak louder than your words. And those actions can (and should) be part of building the collective that will force those truly responsible from stopping.

        That’s my one wish for lists like OP posted. It should always contain that the only lasting change is organizing.

          • ClamDrinker@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            11 days ago

            Did you respond to the wrong person? EDIT: Okay, you’re responding elsewhere, so you’re just not going to respond to leaving a nonsensical but also kind of vile comment? Crazy, considering I was mostly agreeing with you, other than saying you shouldn’t accept the propagandized idea that people are or should be doing something to make up for some perceived guilt. Rather than doing it to empower themselves and foster collective action.

        • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          11 days ago

          Industry doesnt need to overproduce so much product right now, but it does, and sends tons of it to landfill every quarter

          So if its already doing it, what makes you think they’ll stop doing it if sales reduce a few % points.

      • Auli@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 days ago

        If people didn’t consume so much corporations would have to change. But people need the latest phone, car and whatever else.

      • ItsMeSpez@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        11 days ago

        This is true but individual action is still necessary. Just because it’s important that we hold corporations and the wealthy accountable and curb industrialized pollution doesn’t mean that the average person isn’t needing to make significant changes. We can’t both maintain a consumer mindset and abdicate individual responsibility while also demanding sweeping societal changes.

        • Trump Rapes Kids@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          11 days ago

          We can consume the wealthy and abdicate them of the responsibility of carrying on and also demand change. Especially if we consume them while they’re still alive, as a mob, and do it with dull forks.

          The survivors will be far more willing to listen.

        • SinAdjetivos@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          11 days ago

          We can’t both maintain a consumer mindset and abdicate individual responsibility while also demanding sweeping societal changes.

          And you think it’s the “demanding sweeping societal changes” that has to go?

          Maybe we need to start with the individualism and “consumer mindset”?

          • ItsMeSpez@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            11 days ago

            And you think it’s the “demanding sweeping societal changes” that has to go?

            Not even slightly. I’m just trying to point out that neither of them “have to go;” shouting down someone advocating for either form of action helps no one.

            • bitjunkie@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              11 days ago

              And this stance betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the relative scale of damage each causes.

    • cmhe@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      12 days ago

      Sure, we can do that, but keep in mind that unilateral individual actions will not make the difference, all you can do is trying to create more broad awareness, form coalition and support for tighter laws and regulation, in order to have meaningful effect.

      Also avoid blaming or moralizing individuals for their own choices, this will cause fatigue and infighting, which will distract from focus on policy change.

      • cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        12 days ago

        If we stopped emitting all carbon dioxide today, crashing the world economy in the process, we would still have to deal with the same temperature levels we have right now. We not only need to reduce emissions, but we now have to reverse it. Nothing short of an immediate global transition to nuclear power and/or nuclear fusion coming online will stop what is happening.

        • IlovePizza@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          12 days ago

          "If all human emissions of heat-trapping gases were to stop today, Earth’s temperature would continue to rise for a few decades as ocean currents bring excess heat stored in the deep ocean back to the surface. Once this excess heat radiated out to space, Earth’s temperature would stabilize. Experts think the additional warming from this “hidden” heat is unlikely to exceed 0.9° Fahrenheit (0.5°Celsius). With no further human influence, natural processes would begin to slowly remove the excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and global temperatures would gradually begin to decline.

          It’s true that without dramatic action in the next couple of decades, we are unlikely to keep global warming in this century below 2.7° Fahrenheit (1.5° Celsius) compared to pre-industrial temperatures—a threshold that experts say offers a lower risk of serious negative impacts. But the more we overshoot that threshold, the more serious and widespread the negative impacts will be, which means that it is never “too late” to take action."

          Source: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/global-warming-frequently-asked-questions#hide28

            • IlovePizza@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              10 days ago

              It just showed up at the top on search results. Sems totally legit, with references to scientific studies. Must be pre-Trump.

              • Nonconfrontational@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                10 days ago

                Considering they’re talking about possibly passing 1.5 by the end of the century, and that we haven’t blown past it in the last 5 years, I would take it with a grain of salt.

    • moodwrench@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 days ago

      No way… billionaires with yachts and private planes releasing more carbon in an afternoon then I use in a lifetime and I’M the one you think should wipe his ass with bamboo… get the fuck out of here. Eat the rich then tell me I’m not doing enough because I eat a burger and use proper toilet paper

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      11 days ago

      less travelling

      Lol. I don’t think anyone reading this is going to stop the minimal traveling they do in the short breaks from The Grind that they get while dipshit rich people are yachting and jetting all over the planet. And they shouldn’t. Average people shouldn’t have to give up any travelling whatsoever because their budgets prevent them from doing enough to actually cause significant harm anyway. We need to use force to make the real culprits adjust their habits.

      Other than that I fully agree.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      12 days ago

      And vote. Pay attention to issues and vote. Don’t get caught up in a single issue, or voting with emotions or spite: vote for your future

    • nkat2112@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      12 days ago

      I appreciate you. Thank you for posting that thoughtful and insightful comment.

      You’re awesome.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      11 days ago

      vote with your wallet

      “I don’t think I’ll super size it after all”, I saw as I drive past the MegaCity One GigaChad data center.

      • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        11 days ago

        The judge dredd universe is better then ours. The government has actually taken steps to address the housing crisis.

    • Shanmugha@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      11 days ago

      What a show of willful misunderstanding in comments. Thank you, and I am rooting for you too

    • Trump Rapes Kids@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      12 days ago

      Taylor Swift’s jets alone cancel out any benefit all of your steps might have for a few million or hundreds of millions of people.

      It’s wonderful to want to try to do something about this, but the only real way we have to do something about it is to stop the people and corporations who are the actual biggest contributors to the issue.

      I’m thinking less along the lines of voting and more along the lines of stabbing.

    • thanksforreading@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      11 days ago

      Individual action won’t fix systemic issues like major polluters being almost exclusively from industry but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the suggested actions in any case. Just don’t fool yourself that it is enough.