this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
79 points (80.6% liked)
Green - An environmentalist community
5325 readers
1 users here now
This is the place to discuss environmentalism, preservation, direct action and anything related to it!
RULES:
1- Remember the human
2- Link posts should come from a reputable source
3- All opinions are allowed but discussion must be in good faith
Related communities:
- /c/collapse
- /c/antreefa
- /c/gardening
- /c/[email protected]
- /c/biology
- /c/criseciv
- /c/eco
- /c/[email protected]
- SLRPNK
Unofficial Chat rooms:
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Can I keep both and instead hold corporations responsible since they're responsible for like 90% of climate change causes.
No you can't. How do you think those corporations pollute? Do they do it for fun or because they have customers that feed their businesses? The idea that "heading corporations responsible" as if that won't change anything in your lifestyle is beyond naive. Shell pollutes because people buy and burn their fuel, they're not burning it in their headquarters.
In fairness, I once worked at a brewery, and the ridiculous and immense water wasting that went on there, as a result of procedures and policies that were simply lazy, were enough to more than overcome all of my water savings in a year, every single day.
They're not doing that because their customers like beer and keep buying it. They're doing that because water is cheap enough that the company doesn't see it as an issue to crack down on, and the workers doing various procedures that use the water can't be bothered to shut it off when they're not using it.
I'm talking even simple applications like a hose used to rinse off some equipment occasionally through a day. Rather than only turn it on when needed, install a shutoff valve closer to where it's being used, or installing a nozzle at the end, they just let the hose run the entire shift, with water running from the hose straight to the drain for the majority of an 8 hour shift, every single day.
Not gonna lie, while I still do lots of little things to save water around my apartment, that experience made me chill out about most measures to save water that were any sort of inconvenience to me at all. I still don't actively and intentionally waste it, but I'm far less strict with myself about it since learning that, as I said, all the water I save in a year is more than undone in a day at that brewery.
Businesses do lots of waste, I agree. But again, businesses exist because they have customers. Some people seem to believe that the climate crisis can be solved with taxes alone, but that's not how it works. Huge changes on all levels are required.
Water is basically free, and should be basically free, because you can't really "waste" it. It stays regional and assuming you live somewhere that is sustainable, i.e. not a desert, that particular anecdote isn't really a problem. I absolutely have no problem with a brewery, or any industry using "too much" water. Assuming of course that the water they are using and flushing down the drain isn't polluted.
It really depends on where you live. In Australia, fresh water is relatively scarce, and desalination is a difficult and expensive process. Any water used ends up in the ocean or another unusable location.
.
Seems like in a sustainable world, people shouldn't be living there. and the fact that it is Australia tells me people only live there because of some kind of subsidized extraction economy, which shouldn't be happening at all.
How about we nationalize the energy industries and incorporate the social/environmental costs of them into our long-term planning so that we can have our cake and eat it to?