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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 4:34:46 PM | Could I see myself in a relationship with an environmentalist? Sure.
I wouldn't find it a nightmare, because some of the stuff I already do.
I rarely fly, I boycott some products, I buy organic foods, I switch off crap not being used, and I'm a vegetarian.
But why would someone change their way of life to make someone happy? I've been in relationships with meat eaters and I could care less if they eat meat or whatever, because I care about the person so much, I see past all that minor stuff. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 4:36:33 PM | | I don't think I could live with someone who had absolutely no regard for our environment. OTOH, the other extreme would be just as uncompatible. I do recycle as much as I can, try to reduce waste, use cloth shopping bags etc. But, no way am I giving up my meat (and I don't believe that is an environmental thing anyway as cows graze on land unsuitable for farming and eat grain humans don't eat)! | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 4:43:35 PM | Just another freeky liberal idea to control the world. I enjoy baking and cooking environmentalists. Tastey. Fact: Mars has increased its temperature 8 degrees more than the earth over last 100 years. No SUVs there. Man made... Sillyness............. Al Gore's an idiot!  | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 4:53:06 PM | truth is people if we dont get our heads out of our a-sses our planet will die and so will all the life on it and it may already be to late to stop that from happening...or what really is the point of going to mars, oh they have discovered water water can support life humans can terrarform it...the rich leave this planet and move to another planet while the rest of us down here die from the radiation coming from the UV rays that have been blasting though the holes in the ozone layer
look even the polar bears dont have anywhere to go now soon they will be exstinct that just goes to show you how rapidly these changes are happening | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 5:00:27 PM | where do these people think leather comes from. Thats right the leather that went into your Nikes, your wallet, your belt.
Do you really think that it is manufacturered in some plant? | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 5:57:53 PM | Radicalism of any kind would be very difficult to live with, unless you were of the same particular mind set and level of fervour. Shoving a philosophy down another's throat rarely has a fruitful outcome.
There are many shades of green, and doing what each one of us can (or wants to) to recycle and thus reduce the continued extraction of limited raw materials, or try to eat a little lower on the food chain, just makes sense to me to make our societies and world a little better for everyone.
I'm no green radical, but I certainly could never be with anyone that was intentionally disregardful of the environmental implications of their actions. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 6:03:51 PM | Yes, I would date an environmentalist. I am one myself. I support the cause of taking care of our one Earth. My former boyfriend was one, and we had a good relationship right to the end.
Along with being concerned about the environment, most environmentalists are also politically progressive, which is something I seek in a mate. It's important that I am with someone who is also a liberal. Having the common values and beliefs strengthens a relationship. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:02:16 PM | @msg48
How does eating dairy products (e.g., milk, cheese and ice cream) harm cows?
Like all mammals, cows only produce milk after giving birth to feed their babies. In order to keep them lactating year-round, farmers artificially inseminate dairy cows and force them to give birth every year, which is not their natural behavior. A cow's gestation period is the same as that of a human mother, and each cow is expected to produce milk during seven of her pregnancy's nine months. With genetic manipulation and mechanized production, modern dairy cows produce 100 pounds of milk a day – ten times more than they would produce in nature. While cows can live well into their twenties, they are slaughtered for hamburger when their milk production declines, which usually occurs well before their fifth birthday.
To prevent baby cows on factory farms from drinking "our" milk, they are taken from their mothers within 24 hours of birth. While female calves are raised to eventually replace their mothers as milk producers, most male calves born to dairy cows are raised for veal. These baby cows are chained by the neck inside crates measuring just two feet wide so their muscles won't develop and their flesh will remain tender. When they grow large enough to turn a profit for the producer, these babies are sent to slaughter. from www.idausa.org/vegandays/faq.htm. Here you'll also find information on what is done to hens: wing clipping, de-beaking, being kept all their short lives in very small wire cages in filthy conditions, in vast warehouses. And 50% of the chicks are just "natural wastage", being as they are male and won't lay eggs, they get gassed.
There are many sites out there with this same information, worded in a more or less inflammatory manner. Ignore the emotive tone, the facts stand clear on their own. It takes no effort to find out this stuff once you are willing to type the question into a search engine. But the truth is hard to face, because you have to admit that if you support the milk and meat industries, you're contributing to the cruelty. As to the guy that mentioned leather, vegans and many vegetarians use substitutes: there are plenty of shops online selling vegan shoes, belts, wallets and motorbike gear.
There are loads of arguments for veganism: that it does less harm to eat vegetable produce directly than to feed it to a cow and eat the crops (meat production takes 10 times as much land to 'grow' the same amount of protein as can be obtained from vegetable crops); the damage that milk products and meat do to human beings (if you've got furred-up arteries it's never the broccoli that is to blame). Dare to look just a little more deeply into what you're doing: there is plenty of information and evidence available. If you don't bother to look into what you are eating, I wonder how deeply you look into other aspects of your life, and if you don't want to know the facts, but only to skim along in ignorance because it is easier, I think this points to a likelihood of sweeping things under the carpet or ignoring problems in relationships too.
I think that aside from issues to do with ozone and global warming, there is a possibly more important one here: whether we want to live in an environment where people care about the suffering of creatures around us or not. If we want people to care, then I think we can change the emotional environment by showing that care ourselves. If we choose to ignore our relationship with the world around us, to behave like we don't care, then I think we're ill-equipped to deal with a special relationship with one person from that world, and I wonder how we would attract them. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:02:23 PM | Sorry MOD.....By now I should know better.....Point taken.
On Topic.
I support anybody that truly tries to make a difference within this world, be it in whatever capacity. Could I be with an Evironmentalist?, the answer is quite simply, yes.
I will be the first to say that I do not adhere to many of the points by the OP, but I do what I can. As should we all. To stand by and watch this world fade from view, knowing, that we are the primary cause, is in itself, deplorable.
That being said, I was happy to see recent developments reguarding new scientific data.
Perhaps we can all start doing something rather than point fingers, or believe somebody else will take care of it.
The problems are real, and the consequences are fatal. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:10:15 PM |
Could you live with an enviornmentalist or would you find it a total nightmare having to -
I am an environmentalist... but to some degree, and I think that's the key thing. If you're truly passionate about something--and it certainly doesn't have to be the environment--it's probably a good idea that your significant other is at least as passionate... or, if they don't feel that way, that they aren't a polar opposite to your point of view.
For instance, I think I'd probably be in trouble if I tried to live under the same roof as someone who didn't believe in climate change theory.
On the other hand, my roommate was vegan for a while--in part because she was dating someone who was VERY vegan. She and I were fine living under the same roof--vegan food was clearly marked with little green dots and it wasn't a big deal. Had it been he and I under the same roof though, there might have been problems in the long term. Even if you are preparing separate meals, you don't want the person across from you spouting facts about the cruel and unusual life of the cow you are currently eating. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:12:06 PM | Chicken is meat too. :)
BUT to each their own.
J
I choose not to have animals die for my pleasure (taste) but if others do that is the way of the world. It is their choice. | |
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M2k7
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Joined: 1/18/2007
Msg: 62 | |
| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:15:05 PM | | Well, i'm not a greeny. But for the most part I don't have a problem doing most of what is asked. The only real problem is when a political agenda has to become my own. I may not feel as strongly about something, and I don't want to be chastized for it. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:22:57 PM | Ultimately, its our connectivity with others that drives mental wellbeing, and from that, physical wellness.
Social consciousness is a logical extension of connection outside of our immediate networked concentric circles of family, friends, and peers/acquaintances. It has many components; environmental consciousness is just one of them.
Through social consciousness, we can evolve an understanding of personal actions and their consequences within society (in the modern age, that is local, state, national and global perspective, mostly due to corporate and government influence that extends well beyond national and regional geopolitical range).
Modifying personal habits and practices that reflect this understanding of personal cause and effect is good mental and social 'karma'. Its absence by ignorance (or preference) is not necessarily detrimental, but it is confining to intellectual and spiritual growth by connection outside of personal experience.
What we have is a continuum, a continuous gradient of comprehension and self-initiated changes in our daily actions. Think of as being a bell-shaped curve of social consciousness - from those who decline interest or action to those who are fervent practitioners (activists). Those who tend to have a moderate view that lies within about 30-40% of average, will probably get along with many others, because they do not practice lifestyle behaviors far outside of the norm. Extreme viewpoints, as Urban points out, tend to make poor bedfellows with moderate or polar (opposed) opinions, beliefs and practices. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/15/2007 7:23:35 PM | Good discussion! I do most of the things on the list, so I suppose the question for me would be whether I could live with someone who doesn't, and the answer boils down to whether my mate generally was conscious of the impact she has not only on the environment, but on other people as well. I'd have a hard time having a SO who had the attitude that she could do anything she felt like without worrying about the impacts of what she did. So once someone passes that filter it's a pretty natural step to consider the environment as part of daily decision making.
The particulars of how to live a respectful life together would just get sorted out as we go. Probably the most challenging part is diet, because it's a challenge for two people to live together who can't share meals, but not impossible. I'm a carnivore, but can't remember the last time I bought red meat in a supermarket. I used to buy organically raised beef from a neighbor until I moved out here to where I'm over run with deer, so I learned to hunt and butcher and keep my freezer full of venison. I know there are those who would find that offensive, but my reasoning, besides my fondness for meat, is that critters eating critters is a quite natural process, and in my state the deer population is managed at an artificially high level. I have no interest in shooting the biggest buck with the best rack, and given my rudimentary hunting skills I can make the case that I tend to mimic natural predators who kill the weaker, less wily ones.
I do think it's sad that caring about our impact on the only planet we have to call home is considered extreme behavior by so many, yet taking good care of our houses, cars, and other personal belongings is considered admirable. It seems to me like too often there is too much guilt associated with environmentalism. Rather than put together some nearly impossible to achieve list of preferred behavior, I think it's far more reasonable to just ask folks to include being a good steward of the planet as part of their daily decision making, and then make the best decision they can. Sometimes you'll make the most environmentally sound choice, sometimes other priorities will take precedence. All I'd ask is to consider your environmental impact as part of the process, just as we tend to consider the safety aspects of what we do, even if sometimes we go ahead and take risks.
I don't think any of us are in a position to cast stones at others. I drive a Prius hybrid, but put about thirty thousand miles a year on it, so I still burn more gas than many SUV drivers. I've managed to shrink my electric bill to a third of what the previous owners consumed, but in this state all electricity comes from burning coal, so I'm still contributing to greenhouse gas emissions on a larger scale than those who live where their power supply comes from other sources.
So for me, caring about the environment is all about respect and being a considerate person, and I do believe considerate people are best matched with other considerate people. Once that match is made, managing the household should work it self out pretty easily.
Dave | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/16/2007 3:07:06 AM | With genetic manipulation and mechanized production, modern dairy cows produce 100 pounds of milk a day – ten times more than they would produce in nature.
Excuse me rune:
Would someone please tell me exactly what continent Jersy cows exist in nature ?
Where is it that they roam free and live in the wild ?
All of these animals and plants are man-made.
Very very few of the foods you get in any store is truly natural.
In order to truly eat natural foods, you have to go out in the woods and dig them up. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/16/2007 4:04:58 AM | I do...
Recycle all waste
Switch off anything not being used
Cook real food (no processed foods)
Bycott products
But I don't...
Buy organic foods, cosmetics etc....
Go vegan or veggie
Walk or cycle rather than take the car on short trips
Avoid flying
Go on campaign marches/offer support to campaigns
So I'm kind of in the middle. Guess I would be the hard one to live with, huh? | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/16/2007 6:58:23 PM | I am a red meat eater and my culinary specialty is seafood. Being with someone who is a vegetarian would be difficult. However, I have a cousin who is a vegetarian who married a carnivore, and they have had a long and happy marriage. I would say that that would not be easy but it would not be impossible as everyone does have their own food preferences.
I would struggle with dating someone who believes in catch and release fishing, however. I believe strongly in the adage: "What is hunted shall be eaten." I believe that once a fish is caught it must be eaten unless the law dictates that a fish is too small and must be released. Hunting is no problem for me either, as long as what is hunted is eaten. People do have the right to catch and release, but I am very uncomfortable with it, and would prefer to date someone who eats what he catches. By adhering to this fishing philosophy, I am limiting my catch to what I can eat, thus keeping more fish in the water.
Interestingly, sportsmen (hunters and anglers) have their own environmental preservation agenda, which is good. I am aware of several organizations that push for environmental preservation that are run by those who hunt and fish.
I do have a problem with PETA members who attack others for wearing fur coats, etc. As a true liberal, I believe in the person's individual freedom of choice. People have the right to wear fur or use leather. I use leather because the material comes from animals that are also eaten. I don't mind the idea of wearing a bearskin fur jacket because bear meat is also eaten, but I personally would not wear a mink coat because minks are used only for their fur. That is my personal choice, and it is not my place to tell those I know who wear mink to not do so. I may state my preference and the reason for it but I don't want to impinge on someone else's rights by telling them what to wear.
Ecoterrorism such as PETA members spray painting people's fur coats is very harmful to the overall cause of environmentalism.
One of my friends has taken the time to testify in front of Congress about the dangers of nuclear power. He may be wearing a suit when he does so but he is going about the environmental battle in a more effective way, IMO than attacking others or just holding signs in front of a nuclear power plant.
There are many different ways to be an environmentalist besides some of the ways listed above. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/16/2007 8:26:27 PM | Interesting topic
I would classify myself as an environmentalist, but not a fanatic. I do drive to work and fly from here to there. I wish, though, that the world were such that I would be asking: Could I live with a non-environmentalist? That is, I wish we were in the majority and the others were considered the nonconformists....
If I loved someone, I could live with them, regardless of whether they ate meat or drove a van, but would I love someone who thought that I was an idiot for my beliefs and an extremist: absolutely not.
If you love the guy and he respects your views, you can live with him, as long as you also respect his views.
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet".....Albert Einstein | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/16/2007 9:18:21 PM | | One sometimes has to make the distinction between obsession and practicality. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/17/2007 9:01:20 AM | Environmentalists?
You mean...a granola-eating, hippy dress wearing, vegetarian, whale picture sporting, scent of rainforest inscense-burning, VW Microbus/Vanagon driving yogab---h?
I don't know...I don't think that would fit my "artsy" motiff...for example:
She would say, "Why do you eat meat...you know you can taste the fear of the animal's death in that hamburger patty..."
...And I would say, "Ohh...and like an alfalfa sprout likes languishing in the digestive juices of your stomach?"
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/19/2007 5:24:12 AM | why so many stupid ignorant responses.
I dont wear a hippy dress, im in jeans most of the time. And no i choose not to wear leather wherever possible. I do buy vegan trainers and boots from an online store.
I dont preach to people to go veggie or vegan, thats their personal choice. Look its not me contaminating my body with dead flesh, you are, thats up to you. I went veggie at the age of 13 following a biolgogy lesson at school where we talked about the way animals had steroids and anti biotics pumped into them. From that moment i knew going veggie was right for my body and for the environment as well as the animals. Decided to go vegan just over a year ago as organic dairy was so difficult to find, thought i may as well give it up completely, so i did.
Iv only ever seen whales in their natural habitat once in my life and it was a most moving experience to see them jumping in and out of the waves, such beautiful graceful rare creatures.
Dont drive a VW either, though in my teens did spend a wonderful weekend touring in one, with my very first boyfriend, great fun, dont knock it till youve tried it.
I dont think there is any reason to make fun or critisise someone for following something they feel passionate about. For me the envrionement is extremely important. My children will be living on this planet after iv gone, i want to make sure its left in tip top condition for them. I also happen to find this place rather beautiful, why try and damage it?
And as for people refusing to give up meat, thats fine, just think about buying more ethically produced meat. Respect your bodies, dont contaminate them or the environemnt you live in, you can still enjoy eating meat just think more about buying from organic farms where the animals have been kept in good conditions and fed their natural diet without the drugs and cruel treatment.
Love n light
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/19/2007 5:27:23 AM |  
I AM LOOKING FOR EXACTLY THIS KIND OF WOMAN
Actually...I have learned how to fight the eco fight.....and WIN...and ya don't do it by running off and hiding in the woods....although those days were fun.......
Right now, I am making it happen...the revolution is being WON........we are now in positions of Power.....elected, appointed, or hired.....serving on local planning commissions, township supervisors, chambers of commerce...ENGAGING communities in dialogue instead of whining about it to our brothers and sisters....
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/19/2007 6:40:41 AM | I think that environmentalism is a full blown religion to many...it's part of the globalist, socialist political control agenda .
The scarey part is that this religion is presently being forced on us all.
I believe in protecting the environment , but I'm more moderate and I believe that nature should serve humanity , not the other way around.
So.....I might find it difficult to live with an environmentalist, if she were a zealot. | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/19/2007 6:46:46 AM | I would consider myself an environmentalist. I do all of the things on that list other than vegetarianism, flying and organics. (Mind you I actually have valid reasons for eating meat and avoiding organics. Odd but true.)
Yule/Christmas we usually spend quite some time separating the plastic from the cardboard from gift packages to be recycled. And no matter how you expain to people that standard wrapping paper is not recycleable... argh! lol | |
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| environmentalists
Posted: 2/19/2007 6:54:39 AM | But Cedar, nature and humans should be working in harmony together, it can be done. I dont see that its anything like religion at all. Religion is something people do for their own reasons or have been bought up in a particular faith, it has no impact on anyone but themselves. Envionmental issues are something totally different, we do them for a reason, one where we can see results, global chaos is something happening right under our noses that we can all see and feel the affects of, religion is man made and their is no living proof it has any significance or truth to it.
As for being forced up on people, the governments up till now havnt really made much of an issue about it, though soon in the UK there are discussions about taxing heavily bigger vehicles, hitting people financially for wasting energy and refusing to recycle waste. Its all being done for a reason. Thankfully the government have finally realised they have left it too late, its going to be in the news a lot, all over the world. | |
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