Trigger Warning: Community contains mostly bad environmental news (not by choice!). Community may also feature stories about animal agriculture and/or meat. Until tagging is available, please be aware and click accordingly.

🪲

Aussie Zone Rules.

Golden rule - be nice. If you wouldn’t say it in front of your ~~grandmother~~ favourite tree, don’t post it.
No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. You are allowed to denigrate invasive plants or animals.
Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here. Except invasive plants or animals.
No porn. Except photos of plants. Definitely not animals.
No Ads / Spamming. Except for photos or stories about plants and animals.
Nothing illegal in Australia. Like invasive plants or animals. Exotic microbes and invasive fungi also not welcome.
Make post titles descriptive with no swear words. Comments are a free for all using the above rules as a guide. Fuck invasive plants and animals.

🐝

/c/Aussie Environment acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Australian households embracing new habits to cut down on the 7.7 million meals wasted every day : EcoVoice – Environment News Australia (www.ecovoice.com.au)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

"Blame shifting" feels like a way to offset consumer guilt and permit bad habits.

If everyone bought food from places that don't waste food products, the big chains that DO would go out of business.

If everyone drove electric, oil companies would hugely reduce oil extraction.

If everyone went vegan, 20% of the entire planets greenhouse gases would immediately cut.

YOU are the enabler of these companies. YOU have the power to stop them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Like I said, I support people making better decisions. It's stupid not to do that when you can. Acting like changing consumer habits will somehow save the world is a smokescreen though. You can't buy your way out of a problem caused by capitalism.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

You're saying two different things. On one hand "I support people making better purchasing decisions", then on the other hand, "but it's meaningless".

God I can't stand people who argue for a systemic change of capitalism, but who are so defeatist to go "but my widdle purchasing power is meaningless uwu".

You LITERALLY CAN BUY YOUR WAY OUT OF CAPITALISM. What a moronic argument, if we all stop buying product A, companies have to stop selling product A. Except you're out here going "oh guys keep buying product A if you want, it's doesn't make a difference 😔"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Who is arguing that it's possible to buy their way out of capitalism? You or the other person? I'm honestly confused by the all caps. Also, maybe chill a bit?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The other person says "you CAN'T buy your way out of problems caused by capitalism", I'm arguing you can, and that pretending you can't is a scapegoat for lazy consumers. They're destroying my planet for their own convenience, whilst taking the high ground of "but an oil company once tried to suggest consumers were to blame". Consumers literally buy the product.

And tone policing is cringe, who tf cares if I use capitals??

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I mentioned the all caps as context for my confusion. I didn't tell you not to use them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Wow I am tired of the capitalist apologetica on what is allegedly a lefty site. "Trust me bro, we can solve everything if we just buy the right products! The invisible hand of the market will make everything alright! Just shut up and spend more money! Companies will totally just do the right thing! Trust me bro, just buy stuff!" Lol, this libertarian-ass high school economics-grade take needs to die.

Let me make it real simple because you seem to be incapable of nuance; we need better consumer behaviour AND systemic change. They are not mutually exclusive.

Take cars. If you have to buy a car now, yes, you should absolutely buy electric. Even marginally less emissions is a good thing. But if you want to talk about lazy consumers, let's start there. Or rather, stop there. Because the lazy consumer will buy the product and think they're doing their part while actually doing nothing to solve the systemic issues attendant to car-dependent culture. Even if every car on the road transformed into renewables-backed electric overnight, you'd still have the issues of outdoor green spaces being decimated to make room for highways and parking lots, low-density urban and suburban sprawl destroying native habitats, microplastics from tyres, and the lack of public transport for people who can't afford to drive. That's not even an exhaustive list. That's the real guilt offset, right there. Just buy the EV and feel good about yourself for spending money the right way.

But yeah, do go ahead and buy that EV if you absolutely have to have a new car. Less emissions is objectively good, just don't kid yourself. Maybe drive it to your local council and demand more green space, community gardens, high density housing, better bike lanes and more PT.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago

Make hay, this year's harvest festival will be bountiful with the largest strawman we've ever seen!

Don't buy an electric car. Bike to work. Take the train. Don't eat animals products, they're destroying the planet. Use a Fair phone, buy second hand, install solar.

Us lefties are weak, dependant on creature comforts. Cheap plastic clothing, $3 beef burgers, voting for cheap petrol at the pump.

Your initial conceit of not affording consumers blame is a big driver of that weakness. Consumers wasting food IS a problem. Consumers buying food from big food wasters is a problem. But if you aren't living clean green, how can you hold some lady running a business to any account?

Inb4: "it's all too hard, everyone is too busy to be that ethical, capitalism has locked me into being a bad person". Be better, be ethical.