[Arn_Thor]

A thousand small changes add up, however. Also, don't forget how those companies responsible for all those emissions make stuff that we eagerly buy up. The emissions are "their", but really on our behalf.

And I'm well aware of the hypocrisy in me typing this on a plastic keyboard in a plastic office chair wearing synthetic clothing. I could have carved keycaps out of wood and made a typing device with an Arduino, sourced sustainable wood for a chair and bought "green" cotton clothing. I didn't, because plastic is cheaper and more convenient. But I'm not blaming Logitech for making the products I'm happy to buy.

[vasco]

> A thousand small changes add up, however

You also start optimising your computer programs not by targeting the function that takes 90% of the time, but the utility method that takes 0.0001%, I see.

"Every little bit counts" thinking is one of the most destructive in society.

[Arn_Thor]

Nice straw man. Well done.

I'll gladly take an extra few minutes to make my pasta if it saves a lot of energy and emissions. But you do you, bud

[vasco]

It doesn't save a lot, while making you feel good for optimizing something very close to 100% useless, that's the whole point of my argument.

[anonu]

Changing people's habits because it's the "right thing to do" is not the way to solve climate change. The main reason why is that it's very hard to change people, especially so if the benefits are not immediate. What we do need is lots of innovative new technologies to solve the problem. Carbon capture is just scratching the surface.

[Arn_Thor]

There is no "the way to solve climate change" anyway. It's a challenge so huge that it will require us to change something about everything we do and the way we do it.

[Synaesthesia]

I do think that the way certain people live can be improved, look at the carbon use of rich people in the USA compared to the average person in other countries. Larger houses, cars, more of everything, it all adds up.

[anonu]

Its fine to think that - and you're probably right. But again the solution will never be to ask people to change their consumption habits and their way of life. Its a non starter. The smarter thing to do is tweak incentives. A simple tax on electricity for example: now its more expensive to heat or cool a large house, leads to smaller homes, leads to more energy efficient units. That has a way way more impactful result than telling individuals what to do and how to do it.