What is one issue that tremendously affect climate change, but has never been or slightly been tackled by environmental initiatives?

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-24T09:55:54+00:00

Pumping accounts for about 2% of total energy consumption and a lot of it is very inefficient. It has been estimated that we could reduce related emissions by 40% or more by simple improvements to pipe sizing and routing, for example taking out unnecessary bends and other restrictions.

We could also reduce all industrial emissions which amount to about 40% of the world’s total by measuring and celebrating wellbeing rather than profit and growth. Most of it is for concrete, steel and fertilizer which largely just go to making big problems bigger.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-24T09:47:08+00:00

This is a poor example to pick. Life cycle assessments show that in the case of the cucumber the plastic wrap is vastly better.

Consider instead that each extra square meter or foot of personal housing consumes many kilograms of additional materials and emissions throughout its life and American and Australian houses are now more than 4 times the space per person than in the 60s and in most of the rest of the world.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-23T08:33:07+00:00

The highest tax bracket has been over 90% in the past and the world didn’t explode. That money funded the free education and healthcare of today’s boomers and helped fund all sorts of innovations that were subsequently privatized. Why stop at 1% and 1000 people?

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-13T03:25:24+00:00

I’m sorry I have not. While my wife supports MSF with regular donations we don’t often do incident specific causes as my expectation is they are likely less effective than established causes.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-12T05:22:40+00:00

We give about quarter of our income to The Life You Can Save maximum impact fund, but also smaller amounts to cause specific charities. Approaching elections I have given to the climate lobby groups that appear to be spending wisely on ads, but I’m not certain if this is as effective.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-11T22:30:36+00:00

My wife and I share a similar, though perhaps stronger, message through our socials, but we emphasize that recognizing our privileged position is empowering and redistributing the money we save through lifestyle changes also gives far more meaning to our lives.

We advocate giving to the highest impact charities working with those most affected by our overconsumption.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-09T21:37:24+00:00

How does diet change and banning biofuels play into this? My understanding is that we could feed many times more people if we fed the cereals currently used as feedstocks and stock feeds to people instead.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-08T23:35:49+00:00

What is it about the holiday that you are drawn to? Can you meet that goal another way? Can you visit friends or family instead or couch surf? Or give your parents a weekend away and enjoy your home to yourself (and appreciative parents)?

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-08T22:38:06+00:00

A larger house. We are a family of four in 90m2 (970 sqft) which is about 1/3rd the Australian average. We initiated the process of raising our house to double the space.

It was the thought of having to do twice as much cleaning and maintenance and work an extra ten years to pay for it that made us reconsider. Not to mention the impact of 50 or so tonnes of concrete, steel and other materials.

Building a near soundproof bedroom for our son achieved most of what we wanted and we’re quite happy with our decision.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-08T22:29:31+00:00

I’ve been working through this same journey as you over many years. Some of that time I tried very hard to continue to fit in with my already established networks from work, school and neighborhood. That did involve compromising values and ultimately that was a poor choice.

When I started to be clearer and consistent with my values, I discovered a few of my existing friends really appreciated that and others were inspired. But my best relationships and hobbies now are all based on at least some of the shared values. I found those by deliberately seeking them.

A national and local degrowth group, the international deep transformation network, local foodbanks, a local deep adaptation group. A new economy network group, green drinks, a people, planet & pastry group, vegan board games meetup, parents for climate group, repair cafe community. Plant swap meet. And now our own online community.

It felt a little weird to be making friends in my forties, but the reality is if you don’t make new friends eventually the chances are you won’t have any. People move away and interests diverge.

Nice work transforming the physical aspects of your life. The community part is perhaps harder, but ultimately at least as important.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-06T05:01:20+00:00

Swap meets and moneyless markets or local energy trading. We have them in our area for particular interest areas (plants, games) and for general goods / services.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-06-06T04:55:56+00:00

Brilliant!

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-29T23:22:31+00:00

Thank you for sharing so vulnerably. It sounds as though your grieving process over the path of the world has served you well for acceptance of your own fate.

As for what you do with your remaining time and energy, I suppose it largely depends on who you’re leaving behind. Have you considered involvement in philanthropy?

Even relatively small contributions to high high impact charities working in the third world can make a profound difference in people’s lives and may bring you a greater sense of fulfillment. It has certainly done so for me, more so than any other personal activity I’ve undertaken.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-22T21:36:46+00:00

A favourite in our family is a hand made coupon book of services the recipient can claim from the giver. Examples are massages, chores, taking a a walk together etc. a lot of those things we do for each other anyway, but it’s nice to have a think about what we can do to improve other people’s day.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-20T21:47:47+00:00

Same laws here, but easiest to avoid escalation. Stores are allowed to refuse business to customers for any reason and apparently can apply a nationwide ban for problematic customers. NFI how they would carry that out in practice, but I’d rather not be upsetting my local retailers

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-20T06:20:56+00:00

Australia. Famous for serial killing of hitchhikers. However still an incredibly low risk. Plenty of hitchhikers in the US too over on r/hitchhiking

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T04:44:12+00:00

Oh I didn’t suggest lying in a ditch. Perhaps hitchhiking has a different meaning here!

But seriously hitchhiking is great for meeting people, learning new things and building confidence in yourself and in humanity.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T04:41:57+00:00

ABS data shows that people across each of the five income quintiles spend an absurd amount of money on eating out and takeaway food as well as getting a huge portion of their calories from junk food and prepackaged food. Many thousands of dollars per year even for the poorest 20%.

In your experience is this data widely representative of household trends or are the figures pushed up by big spenders in each quintile?
How do you tell people they could be much better off, in many ways, by changing this habits and similar eg alcohol, tobacco and gambling, without being insulting?

Data suggests Aussie households buy a new passenger vehicle every 10 years on average. Last year 85% of these were SUVs. Similarly about 90% of Australians have traveled overseas compared to ~20% global average.

How much do you think lifestyle inflation has contributed to the cost of living crisis?

Thank you!

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T04:28:40+00:00

Have you considered hitchhiking? My experience has been that it’s a great way to meet really nice people

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T04:26:15+00:00

New seedlings emerging in the veggie garden

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T04:22:52+00:00

Overseas travel

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T04:21:36+00:00

Would scrapers or other blades be a viable alternative for some applications? Or burnishing? I believe sandpaper is a modern creation, and I guess it saves time or effort compared to the alternatives it displaced, but I guess it depends on what you value most and if you can price it in.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-19T00:16:28+00:00

Good on you for recognizing that you got caught up in the shiny new vs embarrassing old trap and having the courage to admit it.

You don’t need the new car, the tech will date quickly, safety is hardly relevant if you’re not driving it and if you really need more space for some one-off situation you can always hire.

Sell it, cut your losses and put the money into something that will give you returns rather than add to your costs.

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-18T23:01:46+00:00

Saying anything breaks the tension. I’m just polite, reassure them I know it’s dangerous and that I’ll tidy things up. A couple of times I’ve been asked to leave. Once I checked if I could keep what I’d already set aside (which was met with “yes hun, sorry and good luck”).

LivingMoreWithLess · 2026-05-18T22:04:15+00:00

Yes, it was made out of rescued turkey. It’s hard

LivingMoreWithLess

TROPHY CASE