Well, will anybody (except the wealthiest and big business who got the recent tax cuts that increased the annual deficit) be able to afford plastic straws or other wasteful things by then?
Lots of topics thrown in here (plastic straws?) that have nothing to do with climate change. And little insight into where on the planet all that plastic is entering the ocean.
Physicist son and I agree that nuclear power is the only viable option to reduce carbon emissions, and people who are not promoting that vigorously are not serious about climate change.
Well, this is topical because the solar panel installers are coming back today to finish our roof installation. But the decision, like most people’s decisions, was economic. Electricity is a huge cost. So are these panels but we anticipate a three or four year payback and an increase to the value of the house.
So in a similar vein, homes on the beach in Malibu are still commanding huge, ever increasing prices. The buyers must not anticipate any sort of ocean front housing price collapse or the demand for those homes would be decreasing.
Those who claim they are concerned about climate change are still flying around the world to climate conferences. I guess they haven’t heard about video conferencing.
So no, now that I’m at the time of life when I can travel and when I must travel to visit family, I intend to fly. I also enjoy steak a few times a month and I intend to keep eating it. I also drink milk for good bone health and I intend to keep drinking milk, real milk from cows.
I am aligned with my D but she pushes me to do better. She doesn’t use straws unless they are metal, minimizes driving, recycles/reuses/repurposes. As a family, primarily for health reasons, we try to eat vegetarian at least a few days/week. We shop local, I got rid of my car and take public transportation or walk, and we try to do our part as much as possible. That said, we do fly and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
I don’t think plastic is the devil it’s made out to be. IMO, we could do a much, much better job of recycling and reusing.
I do think we can make a difference if everybody pulls together. I remember visiting Texas beaches when I was a kid, and there was always a ton of tar on the beach. It was standard procedure to have to clean the tar off our feet when we came inside. For many years now, I have seen no tar on the beaches. Smog has also been reduced a lot - remember what LA looked like in the 1970s? I remember visiting there as a teenager and thinking that the world was going to pot, it was so brown and hazy there.
Trying to stick with OP’s topic, I would try to steer my kids from taking a Greta-like approach because it is counterproductive.
Like @MomofJandL points out, nuclear is a potential path we can take. Also, so much of what we think we are recycling ends up in the landfill. Seems more prudent to point out some specific things kids can / should / will be addressing in their careers rather than trying to boil the ocean with bravado.
My adult D is on top of the situation and keeps me abreast as information changes so rapidly. She’s good about making sure I’m connected to resources. I do like how our roles are reversing makes me realize I did a great job as a parent!
Oh good grief. Greta Thunberg is going to be blamed for teen suicides? People really really want to silence this young woman.
People are capable of being concerned about multiple issues-they don’t have to choose just one. 
For whatever reason, people fear the invisible radiation that they believe that will come from nuclear power plants. But they do not seem to fear the greater levels of radiation from coal power plants (in addition to other pollution):
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/
https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/do-coal-fired-power-stations-produce-radioactive-waste/
https://phys.org/news/2015-09-radioactive-contaminants-coal-ash.html
Climate change is real and is worrying, but it is hard to get people to understand and to be concerned about the incremental changes already taking place. And it is not easy to get people to change their ways or to recognize that their individual actions have an impact. If high tide floods your road a little more often, you deal with it… Those trying to change things have to present doomsday scenarios in order to get anyone to really pay attention. I applaud the youth who are bringing this to the forefront.
My kids are worried about climate change, the oldest more so than the others and have more to be concerned about than we older folks do. He has triggered some pretty significant anxiety attacks by reading too much on the internet. He hopes to move to a location where he won’t need a car at least to commute. All three are worried, but he is the most “doomsday” about it.
We try, but certainly are not great, at reducing our impact. Our town has started recycling food waste so we are doing that. However, at the same time due to the international situation, much of the plastic we used to recycle (or at least believed was being recycled) no longer can be. Only type 1 and 2 can. Even yogurt containers tend to be Type 5. I also still drive to work alone (no public transit or carpooling possible as I work for a small company in a suburban location) and fly for vacations. None of us are vegetarians, although we avoid beef.
I am somewhat hopeful that we can find our way out of this before it is too late. As other have said, we have come a long way on other environmental concerns with air and water pollution down in many cases from the 1970s and before.
I vow to never fly a private jet or sail on a motor yacht. 
DD is the most in tune to environmental issues. To that extend we do try to eat locally sourced meat and vegetables, forgo plastic straws when eating out, etc. However as much she enjoys fresh berries she prefers to get them at the grocery store rather than pick from our abundant berry patches! It’s better in theory sometimes I guess.
People are capable of being concerned about multiple issues-they don’t have to choose just one. 
True enough, which is why I put the qualifying word “more” before worried.
As far as plastic, it’s more of a waste management problem than a plastic problem.
But for poor countries, the problems are all the same.
There’s more important things to be concerned about in life than climate change. No one has ever had control over the weather in human history, so it seems unlikely that we would suddenly have it now. It’s almost insulting to hear people talking about humans as some kind of scourge or “earth disease” as if we’re not allowed to have a natural habitat of our own. I have news for you. We’ve been in our natural habitat all this time and we’ve thrived. We’ve been building wonders for many thousands of years!
Same views, yes, but we don’t really focus on climate change as much as doing what’s best for the planet. As I tell my kids in school, pretty much everyone wants clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a nice place to go outside without seeing trash, etc, so there are things that are easy to do toward that goal.
As a family we not only recycle, but also buy recycled. My youngest is having good success turning our farm into a permaculture farm. We eat less meat and definitely don’t feel a need for more stuff in general. We combine errands to drive less.
But we still travel. I can’t fathom giving up travel. No need for a private plane though.
It is nice sharing with kids how much has improved with changes already made. It tends to inspire them to know things can be different.
As a general correlation that I see, gals tend to care more than guys and college bound students care more than those who aren’t heading that direction. It’s not a perfect correlation though and more don’t care than do when it comes to adjusting what they actually do.
Hey.
You are currently living in an ice age.
It will warm. There is nothing to be done.
https://geology.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/ice_ages1.gif
Get over it.
There is also a complimentary graph that shows that you are currently at a geologic low for CO2.
That’s why greenhouse nurseries actually pump CO2 in. Because plants are currently starving. Generators are used to increase CO2 up to 2000 ppm. Because that’s what plants evolved to like. That’s a CO2 level 5 times what it is outside.
https://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/prod1;gs_greenhouse_heaters;pg111081.html
https://fifthseasongardening.com/regulating-carbon-dioxide
Merry Christmas.
One prime thing to do is to stop buying new stuff. I’ve tried to show my kids the great stuff in antique stores and thrift shops. Reusing rather than buying new. Yet IKEA and places like it are full of young adults buying junk made in China where coal fired plants are mushrooming.
Furniture, kitchen tools. dishes, lamps, decor. etc. all very available used.
My kids also own used cars that they will keep until they wear out.
There is concern about this worldwide. Dismissing people with “get over it” isn’t going to make them go away.
My kids, my wife, and I are on the same page on climate change. We think that it is real, but that there is not much point in panicking about it unless you have a solution that is actually feasible. We also see the technical, economic, and political problems in trying to solve the problem.
“One prime thing to do is to stop buying new stuff.”
My youngest is shockingly good at finding old stuff and reusing it efficiently. I suspect that in many parts of the world this would be a very common skill.