• Uriel238 [all pronouns]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    111
    ·
    14 hours ago

    Hank Green actually explained something optimistic after the Blue Origin rocket explosion (here on Youtube), that yes, there are big companies and big billionaires being superfluously wasteful.

    But there are a lot of us recycling our bottles and cans, and when we collectively do this, it makes more of a difference than rockets going boom, and jetsetting billionaires.

    Granted, we need to drastically reduce our ultra-wealthy for a vast myriad of reasons, but we do collectively make a big difference.

    • Avicenna@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 hour ago

      yes and no. be a good person do your bit but don’t forget to hold billionaires accountable (with more fervour than just a “yes but”) because they waste resources and fuck up the environment 1000 times more than an average individual and have no qualms about it. Nay they enjoy it and sometimes they even try to capitalize on it by acting as if they are on the team green (Taylor Swift). parasites are gonna parasite.

    • skisnow@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      10 hours ago

      yeah I really fucking hate how this particular meme format seems to subtly imply we can just stop making an effort. Always downvote whenever I see it.

      • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        edit-2
        9 hours ago

        Yeah, we could have a world in which we have ultra rich billionaires individually wasting that of a small nation on the regular and no one doing anything to try to offset it. I 100% get the defeatism, but it really does no one any good.

    • huppakee@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      10 hours ago

      You’re right, we can’t afford to either only recycle all our bottles or only drastically reduce our ultra-wealthy.

        • Kraiden@piefed.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 hours ago

          There’s only about 3400 billionaires in the world, and wood is a renewable resource, so we could burn the guillotines when we’re done with them and still be carbon neutral!

    • Fredthefishlord@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      36
      ·
      12 hours ago

      That’s what posts like this miss— collective action works, be it in collective bargaining, politics, or environmental action. It can be less effective than stronger actors, but it is still very effective. And often is more effective. People also miss that the average output of trash from middle class people is still a bit much.

      • m0stlyharmless@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 hours ago

        Another point is that there are many areas where existing recycling and other environmentally friendly approaches can be greatly improved. For instance, the infinitely recyclable aluminum beverage cans are only recycled at around 43% in the US. Despite any wasteful practices by the ultra-wealthy, this is an area where everyone still must be diligent.