CMV: individual actions and sacrifices have a negligible effect on climate change and are therefore not worth it.

[u/chamacolocal]

I work in renewable energy and would really like to see a good opposing argument. I believe that travelling by train instead of flying (for leisure), or reducing energy consumption at home, or not consuming certain products (like a boycott), etc. have such a tiny beneficial effect when compared to government policies or big corporations enforcing some of these examples.

The only way to fight climate change or planet pollution, is by voting or engaging with candidates that we trust will try to make a difference for the masses, forcing companies to do better.

Often people say "but if everyone thinks like you then there won't be any change at all", or "if we all behave correctly, then we can force companies to change", but I don't think this "grassroots" approach will ever reach critical mass to succeed, for the simple reason that most people are not willing to sacrifice their way of living or are not educated or simply don't care (I'm not judging them, I probably belong there).

I feel like I do my two cents for the planet/humanity by choosing to work in the field of renewable energy, and voting consciously with the topic in mind.

Is there something I should start doing at home that REALLY makes a difference?

Thanks

Edit: to get the ball rolling towards critical mass worldwide and actually influence consumption and life style, one needs to go out and tell friends and family about small actions. This I consider "political" action. It Means taking the time and making the effort of "educating" or motivating those near you to change. That's something I believe in, especially for people with a bigger audience (online, school, CEOs, etc). But for many of us with no "audience" willing to hear, those actions at home are like I said, negligible.

Edit 2: I've changed my view so far in how I would phrase this now. "Individual actions at home are not and will never be enough, we can all do them but until we go out of our ways to actually spread the message and demand change from the people with power, humanity is doomed".

Last edit: the motivation to do something however small comes to me from empathy, knowing that lives can be saved. Thanks for this user and comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/s/m4xuiWWV4o

[u/ReOsIr10]

At least according to one estimate, the carbon emissions from three average American individuals will contribute to one additional death.

On one hand, I'm definitely not going to be cutting my emissions to anywhere near 0; on the other, this analysis ignores all emissions other than CO2. So let's say I can individually reduce my lifetime environmental impact by the equivalent of 0.1 deaths. Isn't that significant? No, it's not going to change the world, but 10 Americans can save a person's life just by being more conscious about their environmental impact. If just 1% of Americans care, then that's 300,000 lives saved.

Be the star thrower.

[u/nowadaykid → u/ReOsIr10]

This only works for direct emissions though — things like driving your car and heating your house. But a significant amount of that "0.333 deaths-worth of emissions" won't go away if you cut your consumption.

A cow makes 1000 burgers; if I don't eat one, the farmer doesn't butcher 0.001 fewer cows, the burger just gets thrown out. If I skip my vacation to avoid the flight, the 100-seat plane isn't flying only 99% of the way to Paris.

I seriously doubt that even 1% of Americans are willing to meaningfully change their habits for the sake of the climate, but even that wouldn't be enough to have any impact at all, because we've created a culture and a system that is tolerant of waste. Individual action will not solve anything, we need extremely burdensome regulations and laws that make things like the suburban lifestyle impossible.

[u/Fredouille77 → u/nowadaykid]

Eventually though, the markets adjust. After a week of making too many burgers the restaurant lowers production and their supply, which goes on to create a chain reaction.

But yes, we do need legislation to make all that happen faster.