[romusha]

I wish there was also this environmental HAL for golf field, yachts, private jets and meat consumption

[noobermin]

While the usage per capita shoots up for the very rich, a huger fraction of CO2 output is from those below them, not exactly the poorest but people in the middle. Per capita doesn't help, you could execute the very rich tomorrow and still have irreversible climate change in 10 years.

[CM30]

It's less the absolute effect and more the feeling of "why should our lives be made significantly less convenient while those with seemingly unlimited wealth and power get to pollute as much as they like?"

If you want regular people to care more about the environment and pollute less, than you should have the rich and powerful lead by example, not push laws that seemingly do nothing while acting as wasteful as ever.

[mschuster91]

> Per capita doesn't help, you could execute the very rich tomorrow and still have irreversible climate change in 10 years.

The thing is, getting rid of the very rich and their indulgence in climate-devastating actions moves the goalposts/acceptable excuses for the lower classes ("but the rich are doing it too") as well.

[timeon]

> per capita shoots up for the very rich

This can be huge population. US CO2 output per capita is pretty big even if you compare it with EU.

[analognoise]

I care less about the environment than I do authoritarians being in power.

[goatlover]

Then out a carbon tax on those things. I can’t bring myself to care because I know individual choice isn’t enough. It’s a global systems problem.

[exe34]

It's pretty amazing how the same people who insist on the paper straws in their little plastic bags get so triggered when you mention reducing meat consumption. It's like they just won't survive if they can't have some taste of body parts every single meal.

[belorn]

People who care about plastic waste has better alternatives than paper. Reusable metal straws (the large ones) are superior to both paper and plastic straws, with the only draw side that you got to wash them as any other reusable eating utensils.

The main reason why plastic eating utensils are common is that it reduces the labor costs of serving food, which in turn allow fast food restaurants to charge lower price.

Reusable travel utensils and reusable drinking cups seems to also gained some traction for drivers, an otherwise large consumer of single-use utensils. A bit more work but far superior to paper and plastic in their feel and use.

(I prefer both utensils made from metal and eating meat. Eating meat with plastic utensils is just a terrible experience. Being against plastic has nothing to do with food culture or diet).

[mechagodzilla]

This feels like a (paper) straw man - there's probably a lot of overlap between people that intentionally reduce or eliminate meat consumption and also worry about plastic waste/pollution. Similarly there is probably a lot of overlap in terms of people that don't care about either. There are probably some people that worry about plastic waste more than the negative impact of meat consumption, but it's probably one of the smaller sections on that venn diagram.

[LightHugger]

meat consumption, particularly beef is the easiest way to be healthy and get complete nutrition. veganism is impractical for almost everyone and requires a lot of careful balance of nutritional intake as well as supplementation to stay healthy. For some nutrients, stores in your body are built up and deplete over long periods of time (years). Many classes of diseases completely go away just by eating plenty of meat.

[Angostura]

Really? The people interested in those two issues have a wide overlap in my experience.

[lebean]

Have y'all noticed that the same people who insist on paper straws also want us to use compostable plastic utensils? Like come on, pick a lane!