I have a motorbike I use infrequently, I eat red meat rarely, and I have no children. I feel like I’m doing my part.
YSK that apart from not having a car, the single greatest thing you can do for the climate is simply eating less red meat
Submitted 8 months ago by Wulri@lemmy.world to youshouldknow@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/3041d99b-25ff-4dac-8c2f-21bda6a1210d.png
Comments
Kiwi_fella@lemmy.world 8 months ago
rayyy@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yes, but do you support those who have pollution spewing private jets like Amazon and Meta, to name just a few? Do you support candidates who will take necessary actions against climate change? Do you grow a garden and cut firewood?
Half the population could cease to exist without much effect but if a few thousand of the one percent ceased to exist it would make a massive impact.Kiwi_fella@lemmy.world 8 months ago
To answer your questions:
- No.
- Yes.
- I don’t have opportunity for gardening or a need for for firewood. Just this afternoon, I did just very successfully forage for yummy wild mushrooms for my lunch.
What do you do, stranger?
brown_guy45@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Nothing can stop me from eating pork, chicken and ark chocolate
ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Lucky for you, the upcoming Slim Jim Darque line of meat style snack product is coming soon. You can destroy three different ecosystems with a single snack!
slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 8 months ago
We can always hope for a heart attack
brown_guy45@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
I won’t be surprised if i get a heart attack in future
HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world 8 months ago
UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
piyuv@lemmy.world 8 months ago
How much less red meat to offset all the private jet that flew to Venice for bezos’ wedding?
Objection@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
“Your strategy, eating less red meat, pales in effectiveness to my strategy, blowing up Jeff Bezos’ private jet” alright, go blow up Jeff Bezos’ private jet then.
irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
No, its fine, he paid for a carbon offset. That makes everything ok.
0x0@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Don’t go pointing at the obvious now. It’s not them, it’s you! Do your recycling, stop yapping about jets… /s
slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 8 months ago
You’re right, better do nothing.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
That’s almost certainly the biggest dietary change you can make.
But for overall impact, there’s one winner and it’s bigger than everything else put together.
theguardian.com/…/want-to-fight-climate-change-ha…
Capitalism hates this one weird trick.
whoisearth@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
So I wanted to have 9 kids but ended up finishing out at 3. So technically a savings of 6 kids! I’m helping the environment!
Being pedantic a nebulous “having one fewer kid” means nothing unless there’s a benchmark. I think they mean “having one fewer kid as a country average” so if the average Canadian has 1.26 children per women we want to see it .26 per women.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
On an individual level I can’t unalive a child.
Well, with latest in Israeli technology…
booly@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
The big assumption is that the child you have will likely consume carbon-emitting goods and services at the same rate as whatever average they’re assuming.
Breaking down by country shows that people’s emissions vary widely by year and by country:
ourworldindata.org/…/co-emissions-per-capita
So if the UK spent most of the 20th century, and into the beginning of this century, emitting about 10 tonnes per person per year. Now it’s down to less than 5. Since your linked article was written in 2017 to the latest stats for 2023, the UK has dropped per capita emissions from 5.8 to 4.4, nearly a 25% reduction.
During that same 125 years, the US skyrocketed from about 7 tonnes to above 20, then back down to 14.
The European Union peaked in around 2001 at 10, and have since come down to 5.6.
Meanwhile, China’s population has peaked but their CO2 emissions show no signs of slowing down: ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-metrics
So it takes quite a few leaps and assumptions to say that your own children will statically consume the global or national average at the moment of their birth. And another set of assumptions that a shrinking population will actually reduce consumption (I personally don’t buy it, I think that childless people in the West tend to consume more with their increased disposable income). And a shrinking population might end up emitting more per capita with some sources of fixed emissions amounts and a smaller population to spread that around for.
If the US and Canada dropped their emissions to EU levels we’d basically be on target for major reductions in global emissions. If we can cap China’s and India’s future emissions to current EU per capita levels that would go a long way towards averting future disaster, too.
It can be done, and it is being done, despite everything around us, and population size/growth is not directly relevant to the much more important issue of reducing overall emissions.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
The consumption data is quite interesting. Takes into account the fact that we put most of our emissions in China, and shows what we actually consume per person. And indeed the UK and US have gone down, and India and especially China, have gone up. But that World figure seems pretty flat overall. And we all live on the same ball of slowly heating rock, and none of us are anywhere close to being net zero.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
The methodology here is kinda bs IMO.
They’re adding up the emissions of the descendants and dividing that by a parents life expectancy.
However, if a society achieves net 0, then surely the emissions of every person there in are 0, so it’s disingenuous to count them at today’s rates.
Its an attempt to illustrate the environmental cost of over-population, but it needs to be considered within the context of that methodology.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
OK, if society achieves net zero, you can have as many children as you like.
But given that it’s been going up since the industrial revolution, and it’s still going up, it seems rather fanciful to suggest that it’s within our grasp.
A number of countries have reduced emissions massively, but realistically that mostly means “we’ve moved all our emissions to China”. I could buy green energy from my supplier, but for me that was still coming from a big coal power station a few miles up the road until last year when they finally closed it.
And frankly, if corporations can count the carbon a tree will capture over 30 years and somehow “offset” that against a dirty great factory when they hurl a few pennies at a third world farmer, then we can count the carbon our descendents will emit over that time as well.
paranoia@feddit.dk 8 months ago
Live Carfree (from petrol) - 2.4 Petrol to hybrid - 0.52 Electric Car to Carfree - 1.15
Seems they left out a pretty large item in “switch from petrol to electric - 1.25”
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
Yeah, that’s one that doesn’t take a lot of lifestyle change either.
Although it’ll vary based on how much you drive. My wife drives a tiny car and did under 3000 miles last year, so wouldn’t actually make a lot of difference for us. Might as well run it until it keels over, by which time electrics will be even better than they are now. Or enshittified beyond belief. One of the two.
bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
capitalism hates this one weird trick
Not for the carbon reduction, but for the reduced
slave laborwork forceBlackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
Starve the beast.
ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Hey, as it stands I’m just indentured. If I were cursed with a child, then I would probably do crime to provide for it and Then be used for slave labor once I was inevitably incarcerated.
It’s the circle of life.
remon@ani.social 8 months ago
So I just have to upgrade my lightbulbs 8 time and I’m effectively vegan!
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
I’ve got an LED bulb so efficient it glows slightly even when it’s not plugged in.
ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I had a buddy that ate 8 lightbulbs this one time. He just got a hospital visit and totally flunked his vegan exams.
Zacryon@feddit.org 8 months ago
Do billionaires count as red meat? I am asking for a friend.
CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 8 months ago
At least according to the USDA pork is a red meat. Presumably long pig is the same.
However, that particular red meat is ethically sourced and environmentally friendly to consume. The lack of sustainability is, in this case, desirable.
ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Imagine the cumulative collection of micro plastics and prescription drugs that a cannibalistic diet would cause. We already have prions to worry about.
Nangijala@feddit.dk 8 months ago
We rarely eat red meat in our household, but we do have a car. They fucked our local public transportation system so badly we ended up not having a choice 🤷♀️
0x0@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
You heretic infidel! You must use a bicycle! /s
Nangijala@feddit.dk 8 months ago
The mere thought of my boyfriend having to bike 90km to work on the highway is equal parts funny and terrifying, lol.
vivalapivo@lemmy.today 8 months ago
It’s never about personal responsibility. You can smug about not eating red meat, driving electric or not having children, but it doesn’t change the reality: the climate is changing.
TheBeege@lemmy.world 8 months ago
So… yes and no. Yes, most corporations aren’t mitigating their impact as much as they could, even if trying to maximize profit.
But something like consuming red meat… if people aren’t buying it, they’re gonna downsize operations. But that requires a huge change in the diet of a lot of people. So like… yes, but no? If enough people change, yes, but reality suggests that won’t happen, so no. I try to avoid beef, but I’m just one dude.
Here’s what I don’t get: methane is energy rich. Why the hell don’t they capture the methane and sell it? Yes, combusting it produces CO2, but CO2 has a lesser impact than methane, as I understand. So it’s a (minor) help for the environment and theoretically profitable. Why hasn’t this been done yet???
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Why the hell don’t they capture the methane and sell it?
It’s really hard. Most methane comes directly from the cow, and cows spend most of their time in air. The methane gets mixed in the air, in very small percentages. Extracting a small bit of methane from a lot of air is complex and energy Intensive, and methane is cheap.
So you’d spend a lot of money and power to produce very little money or power.
WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Affidavit@lemmy.world 8 months ago
That is a lazy response. OP is talking about actions individuals can take and you provided a single word response with a link to overall climate change sources, most of which individuals have no control over (beyond voting).
WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I provided a link that directly disproves what OP is saying. How is it not helpful?
Agriculture is provenly about 10%. That still a lot, sure… but it’s not close to what these people would have you believe.
You’re totally fine to keep eating meat if that is what you enjoy in your diet. Don’t let them stonewall you into changing what you enjoy just to meet their standards.
If you want to seriously fight greenhouse gases, go after big industry. Agriculture barely scratches what they’re doing.
Allero@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Woah, didn’t know about cheese (although makes sense), coffee and chocolate.
Why do coffee and chocolate have such an impact?
Sphks@jlai.lu 8 months ago
Coffee and chocolate do not grow where you live. It needs to travel the oceans. (Unless you live in a country where it grows)
Allero@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Ocean travel us very fuel efficient, and also bananas don’t seem to have the same effect despite also coming from afar.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
because this is per kilogram, not per serving. you don’t eat a kilogram of chocolate in a day
Allero@lemmy.today 8 months ago
True, but still Why is it so much worse than other plant-based foods?
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
Although if you regularly eat a kilo of red meat a day, you should probably talk to your doctor about those blood spots when you wipe your arse.
Antti@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
Am I blind or isn’t chicken on that list?
salasin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Its under the name poultry
ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 8 months ago
For non English speakers, poultry is often used to refer to any edible bird: including chicken, duck, goose, turkey.
It may not be correct, but it be what it be.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s poultry.
remon@ani.social 8 months ago
“Poultry”.
Flagg76@lemmy.world 8 months ago
No the single greatest thing you can do is not having children.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Only true in the 1st world.
visnae@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Mussles for life
HatchetHaro@pawb.social 8 months ago
People here need to calm down. This isn’t about cutting out red meat entirely from your diets; it’s about lowering your consumption of red meats. If you really love eating meat (and I know I do), try replacing some of those with white meats like chicken or fish.
Humans are evolved to be omnivores; eating meat is only natural for us. And yes, corporations and capitalism are the biggest factors in ruining our environment. But like recycling, we can still do our small part by ordering a grilled salmon in lieu of a steak once in a while.
pwalker@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
luckily u didn’t suggest to cut the cheese 😅 cheese is life, I can eat less beef but not my cheeeeeese 🙃
remon@ani.social 8 months ago
Ok, what is the 4th best thing, then?
hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
That one guy eating rapeseed oil:
daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Taking planes, another big CO2 contributor. The sky is full of planes burning fuel.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Being vegetarian is worth about one return transatlantic flight per year.
Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
Me ordering a vegetarian meal in the airplane.
Woman yelling at cat.jpg
skisnow@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
perfect is the enemy of good.
I wish vegans and vegetarians would be a bit more willing to promote this viewpoint. It’s insane how many otherwise normal people will refuse a single vegetarian meal for no reason other than identity politics.
DarthFrodo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Most vegetarians and vegans will be happy about positive changes. They aren’t the loudest ones, however. Similar to feminism, the most radical opinions get much more attention relative to reasonable ones. Especially by those opposed to it.
When I was a meat eater I also saw it as an all-or-nothing choice though, as if I need to fully commit all at once, which was daunting to me. Then I tried to be vegetarian for a week which was surprisingly easy. Then I had a foot in the door, decided to continue, and replaced eggs and milk as well in the following weeks.
Some people might have an easier time replacing single foods, like buying plant-based patties instead of meat ones, or just trying out a few plant-based alternatives, and that’s great too.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world 8 months ago
YSK you should stop guilting us peasants.
Everyone knows who’s to blame.
Tired of this shit.Kyouki@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yeah let us do the microscopic differences while some industry totally ignores it…
kapulsa@feddit.org 8 months ago
Yes, that is great on an individual level.
But the best thing to do overall for our environment and climate is supporting protest movements, especially those employing nonviolent civil disobedience. Per pound/dollar/euro, they reduce emissions the most. But if you can, attend events in person.
This should not neglect that we need both individual and system change and they depend on each other. You should reduce your meat consumption and advocate for a world where everyone reduces meat consumption (and even become vegan or at least vegetarian).
the_q@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Also it’s morally the right thing to do if you have the choice.
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 8 months ago
What about ostrich?
Fleur_@aussie.zone 8 months ago
We can reach higher. Join me in end game environmentalism and become a serial killer today.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 8 months ago
What about not having children?
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Damn I am good.
I do like some meat products but I naturally lean towards a vegeterian diet simply because noddles are love and I dislike preparing meats.shplane@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Honest question, why is cheese so high but milk isn’t?
0x0@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Cute.
I’d be more interested in adding private and commercial airliners, long-haul trucks and tanker ships to the list for comparison.
AlfredoJohn@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
And oil production, manufacturing sectors, data centers, etc.