[ArnoVW]

It is my understanding that solar pannels have an ROI that is ever shorter. Hell, in many countries there are companies that arrange installation and financing, and that have good prices due to centralised purchasing.

But that is another discussion. The real point is in the first R of the hierachy of the three R's : Reduce, Re-use, Re-cycle. No need to compensate huge use of energy, if you're not using the energy in the first place.

Some of the things we do in our household to reduce energy / CO2 / oil footprint (by decreasing order of impact):

   * own a house that is well insulated
   * instead of heating it, put on a sweater
   * instead of using an A/C, close shutters during hot parts of day during hot season
   * go on holiday by train or car
   * own a tiny car, that is 10 years old (we have two boys)
   * use the car only for exceptions (I bring the boys to school in a bus, train for work)
   * no red meat, very little other meat
   * buy less stuff
   * recycle packaging / paper
   * when we buy stuff, take into account packaging (reusable bags for rice, pasta, nuts, chocolate, etc)

For the avoidance of doubt, these are not choices given by economics. We're in the top 5% earning. We simply have made a choice to limit our impact whenever we can. And honestly, I can't say that our lifestyle is suffering.

Does this eliminate our footprint? No. But we are using, by my account, 20% that of an average American household. Can everyone do all of this? No, probably not. Buying a well-insulated house is expensive. Not everyone can use public transport. But if everyone made an effort, the world would be a different place today.

[wyattpeak]

I'm not arguing that people can't reduce their carbon footprint, I'm arguing against a lazy suggestion that people don't actually care because they continue to buy any oil-based products, which is essentially unavoidable in modern society.

[lupire]

How are your going to convince 2 billion other people to do the same thing?

It doesn't matter if only you reduce.

[ArnoVW]

One person at a time. By leading by example, without being judgemental.

Big changes in society never come at once. Womens right, black rights, gay rights. Progress is made bit by bit.

And even if things don't budge, and it stays with just me. All human endeavour is pointless in the end. Each of us has to define what is important to him or her.

[jl6]

100%.

Nearly everyone can do something to reduce their footprint.

We need to encourage more small changes and avoid bashing people for not doing a complete lifestyle redesign straight away.

Just to keep it concrete, there’s huge benefit to reducing meat consumption - and you can still capture a lot of that benefit without going 100% vegan.