this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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People don't want to hear about their personal responsibility to consume less, but it's true. Corporations aren't run by Captain Planet villains polluting for the same of pollution. They sell what people buy.
You can buy a bag of bite sized croissants individually wrapped in plastic and wholey wrapped again. I'd like to think this was an isolated incident but the general census is this is what every one of those cunts does because it's cheaper and easier.
Sure consumers buy... But the producers bear the responsibility. There's only so much boycotting small groups can do. Others will still buy. The mentality of wrapping every fucking thing in plastic is what need to change.
It is true that corporations need to change, but when that happens it means you also will have to change. So why wait? Change now. Use less overall, and look for better alternatives for what you still use.
The sentiment here is good, but be careful not to fall into the "personal responsibility" trap that the fossil fuel and soda industry established back in the late 80s/early 90s. The sad truth is that personal responsibility in solving climate change is wishful thinking. The carbon footprint of all of the major corporations is so many orders of magnitude larger than any plausible percentage of individuals who do their part by being as environmentally conscious as possible that it doesn't matter unless we regulate them and to do that we have to redefine the laws of campaign financing and abolish Corporate Personhood aka, Citizen's United for a start.
It's pretty bleak. Source: was going to be an Enviornmental Scientist and I decided that was too depressing and life it too short.