Reply to do you know anyone in this affluent area that has altered their lifestyle to reduce CO2 emissions?

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Reply to "do you know anyone in this affluent area that has altered their lifestyle to reduce CO2 emissions?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In North Arlington, my wife and I feel like we are completely alone in our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. We have just one car that we use sparingly, and we use bicycles for our local errands. We keep our thermostat at 65F in the winter (and wear sweaters) and 79F in the summer, using ceiling fans to make the bedrooms more comfortable. [b]We greatly limit our international and domestic travel[/b]. We eat mostly vegetarian meals, and we never eat beef.

All of our neighbors have multiple large SUVs, and many neighbors have knocked their 2000 square foot houses down and replaced them with 5000 square foot homes. Some neighbors with 5000 square foot homes have only 1 child, so they don't truly need a huge living space. Many neighbors drive to work in their SUV without any other passengers to accompany them. They go on multiple international vacations a year (lots of CO2 per flight). Huge amounts of garbage are generated each week and placed on the curb, presumably to make way for yet more stuff that they are buying for their homes -- stuff that will probably end up on the curbside, destined for the landfill, a year or two down the road.

I've posted my frustrations in the "car and transport" section of this forum, only to be told by other posters that I'm jealous of my neighbor's SUVs and large homes. Despite a high level of education among DCUM posters, most don't appear concerned about the consequences of their consumerism, and can't even conceive of a high-income family exercising some restraint.

We are, in fact, a high net worth family, but we are striving to reduce our carbon footprint. We feel completely alone, like strangers in a foreign country. I'm curious if anybody else here feels the same way.

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OP, you are taking so many positive steps and should be applauded for them but until you do more than just "limit" your domestic and internatinal air travel (esp the international) you are doing far more harm to the environment than all the good you are doing put together. It is just the facts. [/quote]

And this is the thing that is so annoying about posts like the OP.

OP's family has decided that they'll limit but not give up travel, including flights.  They live in a SFH in North Arlington, even though they have just one kid.  I'm sure there are other things that aren't mentioned that aren't the environmental ideal.  So, OP has drawn a line for things that he (assuming here) and his family will do, and won't do.  That's fine, and something everyone should do.  But then he writes this passive aggressive screed ("I feel so alone in my fight against climate change!  Where are all the other like minded souls?  Woe is me!") that is, when you get down to it, just criticizing others for drawing that line in a different place than he did.  Anything less than his efforts are insufficient, and shows that others just don't care.  But there's no recognition that the line that *he* drew is completely arbitrary, and there are tradeoffs that he has refused to make because they are necessary, or would make his life too uncomfortable.  He's fine with his choices, but other choices are bad!

Short version, OP is a passive aggressive, sanctimonious hypocrite, but the most irritating thing about him is the complete lack of self-awareness.  [/quote]

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