this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2025
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Not to be that person, but my parents are completely incapable of comprehending this.
Not intellectually, but pragmatically and philosophically. They're like 60 years old, and even if it affects them in their lifetime, they'll be "dead in 20 years".
And on a low level, they're kind of right because most ordinary people aren't to blame for this, so shaming "parents" makes no sense.
Shame the international petroleum conglomerates, plastic producers, shipping, etc. You know, the actual emitters in the billions of gigatons.
A lot of ordinary people voted for politicians that promised them cheap gas and cost of living, instead of the ones wanting to build a sustainable future.
A lot of ordinary people also say they want to do everything they can against climate change but then fail to make their own simple sacrafices like reusable cups, walking instead of driving, keeping the heat lower in winter etc. Everyone wants to end climate change but without sacraficing any modern conveniences
I gladly vote for politicians who will pass climate laws and regulations, but individual actions by me will not change anything.
Not all your actions are equally meaningless. If you take short showers the lower demand for water and gas/electricity won't do much but for certain alternatives a critical mass is needed and adding your weight to that mass can matter. Take diary for example, soy milk has existed for ages but the increased demand the last 20 years result in increased supply. Same goes for alternative meats. More people biking increases the need for infrastructure, if enough people make that decision that will change road design which will in turn result in it being less attractive to drive. Same with public transport.
Climate laws and regulations will have a much more traceable impact, but the untraceable results of your individual action also has an impact.
If you care about having a large impact without large sacrifices there are articles online that go deeper into this.
Please explain to me how personal (urban) use could ever produce substantive changes in resource management and climate change. I'd love to see it.
Let's use California water as a case study. In a dry year, urban use is 11 % and agriculture use is 61%. Explain to me how collective action by all the urbanites to reduce water consumption by 90% would meaningfully move the needle on water management.
If everyone thinks their changes don't matter then i guess they don't, if everyone thought their changes did matter then we could see meaningful progress. Just because other sources are still producing doesn't make your efforts meaningless. There is also something to be said about secondary effects of minor changes, like inspiring others to commit to changes or inspiring new innovations or ideas to improve things.
Edit: id also like to add that new law and policy often comes with minor efforts on the consumer. Take recycling and organics bins for example. The consumer now has to sort their trash instead of throwing it all in 1 bin and I've met many people who think this is some big scam or conspiracy to control people or something.