Philosophical question of the day

[Angilion]

Maybe not food is vastly deflated in value, If people knew the time needed and benefits of organic food more the price of real food would double and more people would have re-thought the move from farm to city.

There is a sinister interest in the de-valueing of food i think.

Assuming that's true for the sake of argument, could we return to a labour-intensive agrarian economy like we had in the medieval period? How could that happen? We'd have to cut population a lot too - how could that happen?

It might be a more sustainable system, but I don't see how we could get from here to there even if that system did work. We don't know that it would, so it would be a big gamble. It's something I'd play with in a god game, where I could just start over if it didn't work.

EDIT: Even "medieval period" is a bit much. The move from farm to city that you refer to had already started in England by the late medieval period due to increased efficiency in farming and the subsequent reduction in labour required.

 

[adolf hamster]

Citation needed, but i i remember hearing in australia someone did this as a business but instead of trees they'd shoot camels, apparently its a big problem for the ozzies with methane and local ecology disruption.

 

[Efour]

Do it with pencils.
They have both wood and carbon/graphite.
You probably need to warehouse about 9000 tons of pristine pencils per year.

Totally logical

 

[LeMson]

Do it with pencils.
They have both wood and carbon/graphite.
You probably need to warehouse about 9000 tons of pristine pencils per year.

Totally logical

We should bring back lead pencils for a carbon free pencil, just a stick of lead

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Can’t you just identify as carbon neutral? It is 2020 after all.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

OP needs to read a dictionary to learn what "Philsophy" is.

 

[dowie]

Could one become carbon neutral if one had the money, by just buying up a load of woodland and leaving it?

Yeah, you don't need to directly buy land/plant trees yourself - carbon offset programs already exist.

 

[dowie]

If you had a low carbon footprint you could offset it i guess. I would love to do this buy a few acres of woodland and look after it.

Indeed there are billionaires out there throwing away good money, Give me some and i would buy bare land and turn it into forest and look after it and unlike our forestry departments i would not be planting them just to cut them down either. They stay there unmolested so if you have a few k spare im willing to be a custodian.

Why don't you then? You shouldn't need someone to give you money to do this, forestry land in greenbelt areas is fairly cheap.

 

[PapaLazaru]

Yeah, you don't need to directly buy land/plant trees yourself - carbon offset programs already exist.

Yes but someone will always take a cut. This is purely theoretical, rather something I would do. My question was more about taking ownership of something that already exists and filters carbon, then claiming it against my own carbon footprint.

 

[Minstadave]

I think you should change the word 'philosophical' to something more accurate.

Like 'stupid'.

Of all the people on here to criticise someone for posting stupid threads you would seem to be in the most precarious position.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Of all the people on here to criticise someone for posting stupid threads you would seem to be in the most precarious position.

I said it was a stupid question not a stupid thread. A stupid question can still form the basis of an interesting thread, which this is, unlike the grossly uninteresting and vapid threads which I start.

 

[dowie]

Yes but someone will always take a cut. This is purely theoretical, rather something I would do. My question was more about taking ownership of something that already exists and filters carbon, then claiming it against my own carbon footprint.

Sure, you could do it yourself - seems a bit inefficient though unless you're getting some enjoyment from it/treating it as a hobby etc... like driving out on weekends to managing a small woodland in the UK etc....

You can just pay someone to conserve much larger chunks of say the Brazilian rainforest, get a much bigger bang for your buck, bigger scale etc..etc..

Obvs the ego/personal vanity project aspect of it isn't there but if the actual goal is this "philosophical" offsetting your carbon emissions then these schemes are available.

 

[Rofflay]

Why don't you then? You shouldn't need someone to give you money to do this, forestry land in greenbelt areas is fairly cheap.

NI is heavily populated and no one wants to sell. Why should you have to pay the prices they want? But i do plan on looking into it in the next few years i plan to move again but it aint no small feat to go live there.

If you meant buy it and be a custodian for free and not live there i mean otherwise, I want to live on the land as well. But where do you save 10k? How many peeps here have 10k? Life is hard enough when you are born with zero getting 10k spare for land is quite the saving when you also risk being refused planning permission. That is the biggest fear finding land that you can get refused permission on.

 

[dowie]

If you meant buy it and be a custodian for free and not live there i mean otherwise, I want to live on the land as well. But where do you save 10k? How many peeps here have 10k? Life is hard enough when you are born with zero getting 10k spare for land is quite the saving when you also risk being refused planning permission. That is the biggest fear finding land that you can get refused permission on.

Well that is a different proposition, you said nothing about living on the land too in your previous post and that isn't what the OP is referring to either.

As for how to save 10k, well open a savings account, invest in an equities portfolio etc... live within your means and put a bit aside.

 

[FoxEye]

Do it with pencils.
They have both wood and carbon/graphite.
You probably need to warehouse about 9000 tons of pristine pencils per year.

Totally logical

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a tree is an example of a device that actively takes co2 out of the atmosphere.

Whereas a pencil I believe does not.

 

[katie279]

Or if you had enough money, could you be carbon positive.....?

https://www.pinnacledigest.com/pinnacle-tv/bill-gates-backs-carbon-engineering/

40 million trees from one plant is a start....

 

[Efour]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a tree is an example of a device that actively takes co2 out of the atmosphere.

Whereas a pencil I believe does not.

Grown wood is stored carbon. It doesn't matter how it's kept. It's not burnt to release more carbon. It takes less space to pack all them delicious pencils.

 

[FoxEye]

Grown wood is stored carbon. It doesn't matter how it's kept. It's not burnt to release more carbon. It takes less space to pack all them delicious pencils.

But of course you can only product pencils by cutting down trees, preventing those trees from extracting more carbon.

And you'd need to buy and store more wood every year.

Whereas just owning a forest means you are continually removing carbon. You don't need to keep adding more forest each year (unless you wanted to).

Unless I'm missing something here they are not similar in terms of how the scheme would operate.

A tree is a device to remove carbon - a pencil is just stored carbon.

 

[dowie]

And you'd need to buy and store more wood every year.

Whereas just owning a forest means you are continually removing carbon. You don't need to keep adding more forest each year (unless you wanted to).

Unless I'm missing something here they are not similar in terms of how the scheme would operate.

A tree is a device to remove carbon - a pencil is just stored carbon.

The tree dies naturally, decomposes and some of that carbon gets slowly released over time... or you cut it down and then store that carbon in the form of pencils I guess?

 

[Efour]

Lol I started it as a joke but yes the carbon cycle goes on life and death. Physically removing a chunk from the cycle is also a benefit.

Yes it's good to have "real" trees too.

I do not know if industrial carbon capture took off, I know there was talk to storing it in old oil well reservoirs, back in the day, but that's a whole 'nother box of issues.