How much is too much?

[carbonmotion]

I know I'm gonna get blasted for this but here's my two cents worth on the enviroment. How much is too much effort?

I mean I'm a pretty concious person, I take 8 minute showers, I don't turn lights on when I dont have to, and I compost. Sometimes, though, I think alot of enviromentalists, instead of encouraging you, condemn you for the tinest things.

I was driving through my town in a impala and I stopped by this enviromental group stand to donate some money.... the first thing the girl said when I got out of the car was to tell me how much of a gas guzzler it was... jc, its not even a SUV. I don't need to be preached to about conservation by some 18 year old high school girl. So instead of donating, I was like... "**** that" and left. it's one thing to be aware, its another to be an zealot.

 

[SuperSnake2012]

You could say the same about some hardcore Mac enthusiasts

 

[beatsme]

I know I'm gonna get blasted for this but here's my two cents worth on the enviroment. How much is too much effort?

I mean I'm a pretty concious person, I take 8 minute showers, I don't turn lights on when I dont have to, and I compost. Sometimes, though, I think alot of enviromentalists, instead of encouraging you, condemn you for the tinest things.

I was driving through my town in a impala and I stopped by this enviromental group stand to donate some money.... the first thing the girl said when I got out of the car was to tell me how much of a gas guzzler it was... jc, its not even a SUV. I don't need to be preached to about conservation by some 18 year old high school girl. So instead of donating, I was like... "**** that" and left. it's one thing to be aware, its another to be an zealot.

don't let it sour you. I was talking to my prof after my networking class, and I told him I was going to put Windows Server 2003 on a mac mini, and I got a really thunderous "pfffft" from some buttwad in the back. That girl you met...her prejudice is her problem, not yours. And like that dude in my networking class, she neither knows you nor what you are about. So don't sweat it.

 

[Danksi]

I know I'm gonna get blasted for this but here's my two cents worth on the enviroment. How much is too much effort?

I mean I'm a pretty concious person, I take 8 minute showers, I don't turn lights on when I dont have to, and I compost. Sometimes, though, I think alot of enviromentalists, instead of encouraging you, condemn you for the tinest things.

I was driving through my town in a impala and I stopped by this enviromental group stand to donate some money.... the first thing the girl said when I got out of the car was to tell me how much of a gas guzzler it was... jc, its not even a SUV. I don't need to be preached to about conservation by some 18 year old high school girl. So instead of donating, I was like... "**** that" and left. it's one thing to be aware, its another to be an zealot.

We recycle and compost, simply because it saves us buying additional garbage tags! It's amazing how much space plastic and paper/cardboard packaging takes up in a couple of weeks.

We only turn the lights on when needed, as it saves us money.

We wear warmer clothes in the house, and turn the heating down, as it saves us money.

... our being 'green' is a by-product of us trying to save money.

 

[furious]

We recycle and compost, simply because it saves us buying additional garbage tags! It's amazing how much space plastic and paper/cardboard packaging takes up in a couple of weeks.

We only turn the lights on when needed, as it saves us money.

We wear warmer clothes in the house, and turn the heating down, as it saves us money.

... our being 'green' is a by-product of us trying to save money.

word

 

[Abstract]

Yeah, I did that type of saving as well at home in Toronto. But living in Australia, I try to do a similar thing. I wear as little clothes as I possibly can without getting arrested in order to save on A/C costs wherever I go.

Do you see how much I do for the environment? I endure so much.

 

[kretzy]

I'm pretty environmentally friendly but I always find it ironic when environmentalist groups hand out paper fliers that usually end up as rubbish.

 

[spicyapple]

I, along with a group of twelve, went camping and canoeing with a zealot environmentalist (who organized the event), and it was no fun. When we were looking for sticks to roast marshmallows, meat and other campfire foods, he scolded us when we broke branches off trees, instead of looking for dead branches on the ground.

This is in the wilderness next door to a logging site. He noticed another camping group doing the same thing (looking for sticks) and he had the balls to walk up to the three campers and scold them, too.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I, along with a group of twelve, went camping and canoeing with a zealot environmentalist (who organized the event), and it was no fun. When we were looking for sticks to roast marshmallows, meat and other campfire foods, he scolded us when we broke branches off trees, instead of looking for dead branches on the ground.

This is in the wilderness next door to a logging site. He noticed another camping group doing the same thing (looking for sticks) and he had the balls to walk up to the three campers and scold them, too.

It's always been my understanding that you bring in everything you need and don't consumer the natural resources of the forest. Even something as "innocent" as gathering dead branches or dried leaves for kindling is a no-no because it can disrupt the natural cycle of the forest.

One person doing it one time isn't a problem. But hundreds or thousands of people doing it will damage the ecosystem in/around the camping area.


Lethal

 

[iAlan]

Well,

I live in Tokyo (always use public transport, in fact have no car)
Seperate my garbage (actually required by the Tokyo Municipal Government)
I take short showers (usually late for whatever I have to do so no time to take long showers)
Wash all clothes together (don't have white stuff that needs seperating)
Wash with cold water (no hot water attachment in my laundry)
Don't use heater much in winter (G5 keeps my small apartment warm)

List could go on

I guess environmental conciderations are a way of life for me...
But I am in no way an environmentalist

 

[asxtb]

Tried to cut back on A/C this summer. Ended up with a bad mold problem and had to throw a bunch of stuff out. So much for trying to save energy.

 

[Danksi]

Tried to cut back on A/C this summer. Ended up with a bad mold problem and had to throw a bunch of stuff out. So much for trying to save energy.

Seems one of the problems with modern houses, certainly here, is that they're basically sealed and you're then forced to use the extraction systems (heating/bathroom/kitchen) otherwise damp will build up - no natural airflow to take it away.

 

[emw]

So last night I sat down and watch ABC's Last Days on Earth documentary. Now, aside from being completely depressing, it did get me thinking even more about environmental practices I, as well as our government, should be promoting.

How much is too much? Well, when you consider the impact of ignoring environmental problems, the question should be "how much is enough?" Now, this isn't all from watching a show last night - I've long paid attention to the issue of global warming, or climate change as it's now being called. I think last night, though, was one of those "ah hah" moments where I really started thinking about what I should do.

Will I become an activist? Probably not, but I should look to improve on my environmental lifestyle. Sure, I recycle and try to do what I can to conserve energy around my house, but I know there's more I can do. Composting, for example, would be a good thing, I think.

But to really make an impact, it's big business — the auto industry, manufacturing, etc. — that need to clean up their acts. 25mpg for a sedan? I know we can do better, even without hybrid technology. But the public has to be willing to live with certain limitations, including maybe sacrificing some of our disposable lifestyle.

I don't claim to be an expert on the solution — but I know there's a problem that needs to be resolved, and we did to get to work on it quickly. As I kissed my kids goodnight last night, I couldn't help but think about what kind of world I want to "leave" them.

 

[miloblithe]

Tried to cut back on A/C this summer. Ended up with a bad mold problem and had to throw a bunch of stuff out. So much for trying to save energy.

My apartment building requires tenants to run their A/Cs 24/7 for precisely that reason. They figure it's cheaper than fixing mold problems.

I try in other ways though. As to the OP, it sounds like the issue isn't really how much is too much to do for the environment, but rather how ineffective are tactless kids at promoting causes they believe in by harranging people.

 

[Danksi]

IMO Hybrid cars are for the 'rich'. They cost more than a 'normal' car, you have to be using it a lot to get any real $ saving out of it - once the warranty ends, you risk incurring huge costs maintaining the battery system etc.

Rather than fixating on global warming, which is arguably either naturally occuring, or created by industry or both of these... we should simply be pointing to the smog and localised poor air quality in big cities and addressing those issues.

Surely if each city addresses those localised problems, a little at a time, the overall picture will be brighter?

 

[CompUser]

My parents are no entirely ecofriendly. Their car of choice are SUVs. My dads gets 14mpg and my moms gets 16-18mpg average. We use A/C pretty much all the time during the summer unless its a cool night. We don't budget our water really, we have a well. We don't have a compost pile, mostly because my mom thinks it will smell and will be unsightly, nor does she want to walk outside into the woods every time she wants to throw a away a potato peel. Our house has high ceilings and vaulted ceilings thus we have to use more oil to heat our house. We recycle our recyclable products though and we don't throw oil into the sewers.

We help the environment in 2 large ways
- 4 Acres of land, 2 of which is land, more room for the little squirrels, deer, bears
- My dad says "I help the environment more than tree-huggers in a week than they do in a year" cause his company makes emissions reducing equipment for power plants.

 

[CompUser]

IMO Hybrid cars are for the 'rich'. They cost more than a 'normal' car, you have to be using it a lot to get any real $ saving out of it - once the warranty ends, you risk incurring huge costs maintaining the battery system etc.

Rather than fixating on global warming, which is arguably either naturally occuring, or created by industry or both of these... we should simply be pointing to the smog and localised poor air quality in big cities and addressing those issues.

Surely if each city addresses those localised problems, a little at a time, the overall picture will be brighter?

Hybrid cars are a complete waste of money unless you want to lower the world pollutants in the air by .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%

You have to roughly pay $10,000 more for the hybrid version. You would have to do a lot of driving for the car to pay off. $10,000 car buy a lot of gas. And yea, buying a new battery isn't going to be very cheap. Additionally, in 15 years I wonder how many of those will be leaking battery acid into the ground in a junk yard.

 

[Danksi]

My parents are no entirely ecofriendly. Their car of choice are SUVs. My dads gets 14mpg and my moms gets 16-18mpg average.

If you need an SUV then you need an SUV - of course if they ran for a year on an ounce of chip fat, that would be great and I think the auto industry can do better.

As for A/C. For anything over 40KmPH it's generally better to close the windows and use the A/C - uses less Gas, because of greater aerodynamics. Better not to use A/C either, but some countries have very hot summers.

We live in an area with four-full seasons. Our Ford Focus wagon was struggling with our local lifestyle, especially during the winter. We looked at trucks, SUV's and in the end picked up a litte (but AWD) Subaru Forester. Hopefully a good balance between the utilitarian vehicle we wanted and reasonable gas mileage. We don't tend to use it, we prefer to walk, but when we do, we USE it.

 

[miloblithe]

How does one need an SUV?

 

[Danksi]

How does one need an SUV?

Perhaps an SUV is a very bad example (a hummer would have been worse).. but if you need a pickup or heavy duty vehicle for your work or your way of life, then fine... SUV's are generally bad at most stuff.

 

[miloblithe]

Certainly. It's hard as hell to haul lumber in a compact hatchback. But it would require an odd definition of "need" to say that 99.9% of SUV owners need an SUV.

 

[emw]

Hybrid cars are a complete waste of money unless you want to lower the world pollutants in the air by .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%

You have to roughly pay $10,000 more for the hybrid version. You would have to do a lot of driving for the car to pay off. $10,000 car buy a lot of gas. And yea, buying a new battery isn't going to be very cheap. Additionally, in 15 years I wonder how many of those will be leaking battery acid into the ground in a junk yard.

The point is, the problem is real and we should be addressing it. By purchasing hybrids and enforcing to companies that we want this type of technology, then it will improve, and wide adoption of clean technology will generally improve the environment. Will hybrids do it alone? Certainly not.

Also, the price premium is dropping significantly, with it now being closer to $2,000 on some models.

 

[jelloshotsrule]

Hybrid cars are a complete waste of money unless you want to lower the world pollutants in the air by .snip1%

You have to roughly pay $10,000 more for the hybrid version. You would have to do a lot of driving for the car to pay off. $10,000 car buy a lot of gas. And yea, buying a new battery isn't going to be very cheap. Additionally, in 15 years I wonder how many of those will be leaking battery acid into the ground in a junk yard.

believe it or not, it's not all about saving money on gas. the fact is, you USE less. the amount of crap you spit out the back of your car is also less and/or cleaner.

your point about what is in the battery and how to dispose of that in the future is very valid/important, however.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

Certainly. It's hard as hell to haul lumber in a compact hatchback. But it would require an odd definition of "need" to say that 99.9% of SUV owners need an SUV.

The problem is, most people who have them think they "need" an SUV to go 10 blocks down the street for a quart of milk. Unfortunately, they fit rather well with a large segment of American culture, where style is valued more than substance. Unless you're hauling large quantities of cargo on a regular basis, you don't "need" a pickup truck with an with an enclosed rear and a $10,000 markup.

 

[carbonmotion]

The problem is, most people who have them think they "need" an SUV to go 10 blocks down the street for a quart of milk. Unfortunately, they fit rather well with a large segment of American culture, where style is valued more than substance. Unless you're hauling large quantities of cargo on a regular basis, you don't "need" a pickup truck with an with an enclosed rear and a $10,000 markup.

here in detroit you can get a big suv for hella cheap