"Just stop oil"
- Thread starter Diddums
- Start date
Caporegime
Lets be fair, the alternative is just not massive amounts of conspicuous consumption. How much of the crap from amazon do we need? I could do without 80% of the stuff I buy in a year. It sometimes makes my life easier or better. Sometimes its just something I want. I could 100% cut down on a large amount of it without a drop in quality of life.
As to driving, a huge number of journeys are cycle-able. People are just lazy. Its as simple as that. Look at the state of most peoples health in this country and tell me they aren't lazy.
No every journey can be replaced by alternative transport but plenty can. People are just lazy.
The idea that cars can be abandoned is silly for most of us but almost everyone I know makes no attempt to walk or cycle when they could just jump in the car.
Good point. That was Sunak's idea.
How's the life of a clueless protestor treating you?
I take it you don't have a car or are driven anywhere? Otherwise you're killing the planet.
If you purchase anything made of a polymer, be it an item for your house or any food products from the supermarket, then you're killing the planet and supporting O&G.
What are your clothes made from, all natural materials, as if you have anything polyester then you're killing the planet and supporting O&G.
Why don't you take some photos of your life showing the above and prove how natural and saving the planet you are?
Or don't and just keep cluelessly quiet with all your petroleum based products and fossil fuels in your life.
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Soldato
How's the life of a clueless protestor treating you?
I take it you don't have a car or are driven anywhere? Otherwise you're killing the planet.
If you purchase anything made of a polymer, be it an item for your house or any food products from the supermarket, then you're killing the planet and supporting O&G.
What are your clothes made from, all natural materials, as if you have anything polyester then you're killing the planet and supporting O&G.
Why don't you take some photos of your life showing the above and prove how natural and saving the planet you are?
Or don't and just keep cluelessly quiet with all your petroleum based products and fossil fuels in your life.
On the driving thing, this is definitely possible for the most part although the practical limit is that areas where this is possible also often turn out to be places with particularly high housing costs. I'd go as far as to say a lot of people would prefer to live that way but are effectively priced out of it or are put off by high population density issues that come with it. I'd say I 99% do this and only get in a car on rare occasions but sometimes it's unavoidable. In fact thanks to the magic of WFH I've probably cut out 70% of my trips that require wheels at all so that's been a big win. For me this is as much about circumstance/lifestyle as environmental concern, though.
On the plastics bit, the effort to avoid plastic packaging is genuinely really high still. It is probably easier to do if you drive which can let you access a greater range of stores with more packaging options. If you prefer to shop within walking distance then you're almost certainly going to be stuck carrying home several lumps of plastic somehow. In many respects I'd like to avoid plastic packaging almost purely due to the fact that it always seems to fill up the recycling bin very quickly because much of it is hard/formed plastic that requires a bit of arts and crafts to break down. The number of products that use e.g. cardboard or paper packaging does seem to be increasing but often represents a relative niche.
That said on plastics you wouldn't have to go out of your way to avoid them if they weren't effectively subsidised by the energy industry. But then maybe food shelf life wouldn't be so good - so it's a bit potato/potato... Or potato/pile of smelly mush. However you want to think about it. In some respects I think the war against plastics is a bit of a side show to climate change.
There are a lot of journeys which are "cycle-able" but you take your life in your hands doing so. But I dispute huge number of journeys - a lot of my friends and family have kids so that pretty much takes cycling out of the equation for much of what they do, at least half the people I know cycling or even walking longer distances aren't really a reasonable proposition due to health and/or age unrelated to being lazy, etc. I think people aren't really taking into account the broad range of circumstances.
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Soldato
Exact same situation here, and my new combi boiler is being fitted on Tuesday with the old hot water tank being removed.
It'll be around 10 years until we know what the mass market solution is, and by that time I'll be ready to switch again - and don't fret about having to install another hot water tank because they don't last forever and you'd be changing it out regardless.
The money you save on your gas bills in the interim will probably pay a good chunk off your future installation.
As for heat pumps, forget it for now as it's too early in the tech evolution.
Soldato
Nice rant there lol. I'm a massive hypocrite, in that I don't live off grid making on own power and living off home grown food.How's the life of a clueless protestor treating you?
I take it you don't have a car or are driven anywhere? Otherwise you're killing the planet.
If you purchase anything made of a polymer, be it an item for your house or any food products from the supermarket, then you're killing the planet and supporting O&G.
What are your clothes made from, all natural materials, as if you have anything polyester then you're killing the planet and supporting O&G.
Why don't you take some photos of your life showing the above and prove how natural and saving the planet you are?
Or don't and just keep cluelessly quiet with all your petroleum based products and fossil fuels in your life.
I happily accept that and have neer claimed otherwise as much as I believe in climate change. I'm not a protestor (they're mentalists), have gas central heating, a car, wear clothes probably made in a sweatshop by 3 year olds then transported around the world by oil powered ships, take medication, eat animals (again hypocritical of me) and completely accept that the planet's ******.
I don't fly around the world in private jets going to climate change meetings though, or fly in helicopters over oilfields whilst telling others how bad they are. My next car will either be electric (yes that damages the planet too) or a V8 Jag as a huge **** you to JSO.
Caporegime
How old are you? How on earth do half the people you know have issues preventing them from walking or cycling a few miles? If people aren't ancient or have horrible health issues they can exercise and it almost certainly will do them good. As to cycling places with kids, you just have to adapt. Get a cargo bike if you need to or simple leave more time to walk/cycle with them. How many children are going to school more than 2 miles from the school. Not that many.
I know there are loads of circumstances that stop people from doing this but this is the weakest excuse people use to dismiss the idea that we should almost all be doing more.
"What about the people that can't"
Well they can't so they won't. Its the massive majority that can that should. Just because some can't doesn't mean that most shouldn't.
As to safety, a massive part of the danger on our roads would be removed if more people cycled on them because they would stop driving like dangerous ***** around cyclists after their 3rd close pass. They might think "huh, perhaps I should wait to pass cyclists safely because that was quite scary having a 2 tonne lump of metal pass too close to me on a blind corner at 40mph.
Soldato
Soldato
Drove one this week, a Volvo hybrid courtesy car, felt weird as ****, I was glad to get back in my diesel planet killer!Maybe just compromise on a hybrid?
Hehe, I do try
Most are hypocrites unless disappearing into the wilderness to live in a hemp tent. It's almost impossible to eliminate the reliance on fossil fuels and maintain our own lives, let alone cut it out for the whole of society.
It doesn't matter what we do in our small little country. Even if we switched to all electric cars, lorries and buses overnight, with a magic super infrastructure. We would make minimal difference to any global temp increase, merely delaying hitting a certain target by an extra few weeks.
The developing world and the likes of China and India are doing more harm than we could ever hope to help with.
Soldato
Hehe, I do try
Most are hypocrites unless disappearing into the wilderness to live in a hemp tent. It's almost impossible to eliminate the reliance on fossil fuels and maintain our own lives, let alone cut it out for the whole of society.
It doesn't matter what we do in our small little country. Even if we switched to all electric cars, lorries and buses overnight, with a magic super infrastructure. We would make minimal difference to any global temp increase, merely delaying hitting a certain target by an extra few weeks.
The developing world and the likes of China and India are doing more harm than we could ever hope to help with.
I live in a rented flat. Let's say one of the windows is broken and stuck open. I say to my landlord, "please get this fixed, as outlined in our rental contract this is your responsibility". My landlord then proceeds to call me a hypocrite because I'm still sleeping there and paying rent. He walks away and my window is still stuck open, but I do not pursue this further as I know he was right in his accusation.
Soldato
It will take precious resources to make another window though, that the planet can't afford. Just do your bit and knit an ethically sourced wool jumper. /sI live in a rented flat. Let's say one of the windows is broken and stuck open. I say to my landlord, "please get this fixed, as outlined in our rental contract this is your responsibility". My landlord then proceeds to call me a hypocrite because I'm still sleeping there and paying rent. He walks away and my window is still stuck open, but I do not pursue this further as I know he was right in his accusation.
I'm 42.
Gone are the days for instance where my mum would drag us kids down the highstreet for shopping on foot, most of those shops have moved to out of town parks and what were once those family homes are now prohibitive for young families to afford, etc. related to schooling at least around where I live a lot of families have been pushed out to what were new builds 20 years ago on the edge of town or outlying villages putting a lot more beyond sensible walking/riding distance than in the past.
EDIT: It isn't just that people are ancient or decrepit it is the mixture of health/age and the changes with modern life which a lot of people seem to be ignoring, or at least the realities around where I live an work, maybe it is different elsewhere, when I lived in London I didn't even bother owning a car but that is another story.
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Soldato
Unfortunately the farm that the wool comes from produces too much carbon and methane emissions. The only way to avoid charges of hypocrisy is to live naked outside under a cold pile of leaves and use your natural ability to shiver to fend off death by exposure.
Of course your opinion is invalid if you do this as well because who wants to listen to an extremist who is permanently covered in mud and tiny bits of leaf litter and has their tackle out?
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Soldato
Thanks. I didn't know those existed (all the sites I read talk about heat pumps and not electric combi boilers). I'll do some research.
Woman drags climate activist by the hair to stop her from blocking traffic
A furious woman has gone viral online after she dragged a climate activist off a road by her hair to stop her from blocking traffic in Bottrop, Germany.
youtu.be