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I tried to live for 24 hours without using oil-based products. It was ridiculously impossible
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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Interesting read.
I think what she is missing here though is the relative quantities of the petroleum and carbon involved. Using a bamboo toothbrush or even a polyruethane foam matress is totally neglectible if you still use planes, daily drive a car, or regularly eat meat.
Decarbonization is a numbers game.
But yes, we should become more aware how much is made from plastic and is not really needed. Especially packaging.
To paraphrase a saying from memory, it is better to have 100 people doing zero petroleum imperfectly than 10 people doing it perfectly.
Save the oil we have for things that actually kinda need it, at least stop burning it for personal transport.
Agreed, additionally, reusable products count towards sustainability, or at least I'd like to think it helps some.
Why does meat use oil, except for cooking?
The whole production process from growing plants down to delivering it to the last commercial freezer.
Here's a podcast introduction to this (several episodes): https://www.tabledebates.org/fueltofork
Not OP but pretty sure the implication is that the carbon foorprint from eating meat is ridiculously higher than what you'd save through either of the two examples they gave. Had nothing to do with oil, but they mention petroleum and carbon.