FAQs
Here is a selection of questions that I am frequently asked. If you have a burning question, please refer here before contacting me.
If your question is not here and you have failed to find an answer by consulting Google, using your common sense, or asking someone with superior intelligence, you may send me your question via the Contact page. I will aim to keep this section updated with commonly asked and thoughtful questions.
Please note: sending the same question multiple times does not make it a commonly asked question. (This is directed at you - wozzasgonfishin@hotmail.com. Sending "vegans are wankas" seven times is not going to make it appear here. Please note that it is spelt "wanker". Correct your spelling before resubmitting.)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a quiet environmentalist (QE)?
Contrary to popular opinion, quiet environmentalists are not simply shy people who care about climate change. They are the subset of the population whose climate change anxiety has been compounded by the terrible realisation that everybody around them is emitting gargantuan amounts of carbon and doesn’t seem bothered about it.
Now that they have noticed that their own species is blissfully driving itself toward air-conditioned self-destruction, it is very difficult for them not to notice. As a result, they are forced to spend most of their waking hours in a moderate state of distress and anxiety, perpetuated by the fact that they have to keep pretending they are “absolutely THRILLED to hear about Baby Number Three and the new Land Rover!”
We’re ecstatic. Really.
Quiet environmentalists are generally very polite, so most people probably wouldn't even know if they’ve met one. There’s at least one or two of us at every workplace, classroom and mandatory social engagement. Council meetings, working bees and community gardens tend to attract at least half a dozen. A folk festival can unite thousands.
If this makes you feel slightly alarmed, don’t worry. When you buy a coffee on the way to work every morning and never use a Keep Cup, we won't say anything. Like I said, we’re very polite.
We have noticed though. And we’re quietly judging you.
How often do your blog posts come out?
Once a month. On the first Sunday. Generally in the morning (Australian time).
Can't you send us something mid-month too?
No. Nothing is so urgent that it can't wait till the first Sunday of the month.
Well, climate change is actually very urgent, but considering most people’s attitude to the carbon problem is just to do nothing and hope someone else sorts it out in the next decade or two, holding off on posting a new blog till Sunday should be fine.
Why don't you blog more than that?
Because I'm very busy. And you already get enough emails.
Who are these audacious bloggers and companies thinking we need to hear from them multiple times a week? We don't. We all have other things to do. (Like reading the thrice-weekly ramblings of all the other bloggers, NGOs, companies and media establishments we regretfully gave our email address to.)
A fortnightly email is tolerable. A monthly one is much better. That should give any non-QEs sufficient time between posts to try to implement some positive environmental changes into their lives. Or, at the very least, to sort out their overflowing inboxes. If buying a bag of lentils feels too overwhelming, this month’s task can just be to unsubscribe from the 20% Off This Week Only emails that you’re still getting from a spa on the Gold Coast you considered visiting while on holiday there four years ago.
Monthly blogs also gives me sufficient time to do some thinking between posts. I think the internet would benefit from people doing a little more thinking than posting. At the moment, the trend seems to be the opposite.
On occasion, I might even take a month off. That way we can all have a little rest from each other and our overwhelming inboxes. Please don't email me a thank you. That will just defeat the purpose of the email-free month. Your gratitude will be assumed.
What should I expect if I sign up to the mailing list.
An email. On a Sunday.
These questions are a little tedious.
[Update (Oct 2024): TQE posts will be even less frequent for the time being as I am currently working on another blog and a novel. I also have a full time job and other tiresome human obligations to attend to, therefore I will continue to post, just less often. Regular readers will be delighted with this news as they also have tiresome human obligations to attend to and were starting to feel anxious about the carbon footprint of all of this long-winded grumbling.]
Why doesn’t this website have lots of links, graphics, pictures or videos?
My (lack of a) website design is intentional. Thank you for noticing.
I briefly considered paying some twenty-two-year-old upstart, whose hourly rate is more than I earn in a week, to make this site visually pleasing, connected to The Social Media, and optimised for search engines.
I decided not to.
That would have resulted in more website visitors, which is unwanted. Specifically, I would be putting myself at great risk of accidently attracting the Twit-Tokker Illiterati.*
*DEFINITION:
The Twit-Tokker Illiterati (TTI)
NOUN
Denoting or relating to a subculture of people possessing the following characteristics:
a) A sixteen second attention span;
b) The belief that being socially engaged means following a lot of people online;
c) A general disdain for all reading materials that are not written as Top Five lists.
While their numbers are estimated to be in the millions, they were not formally recognised as a group until 2018 when they flocked en masse to the technological elixir that is TikTok. The short-form video hosting service has revolutionised the lives of the TTI as it has made the burdensome tasks of reading and thinking almost completely obsolete.
My no-nonsense, text-heavy website is aimed at deterring all such people.
Why aren't you on social media?
See answer to question four.
I’m busy and so are you. Do you really need to get each blog post emailed to you then shamelessly repurposed for every one of your feeds? I don't think you do. You have better things to do. Just check your emails once a month then move on to something else.
What is the "Further Reading" section for?
Further reading.
Is the advice you give appropriate for me?
This blog is not a self-help guide, but I do spend quite a bit of time pointing out what people are doing wrong, so I can see why some people might misinterpret it as an advice column.
My ramblings come from personal experience and a general obsession with all things climate change, but I am not a climate scientist nor a healthcare professional. I’m just an ordinary suburbanite office worker that put in a small amount of effort and got his carbon footprint below three tonnes per year. (The carbon footprint of the average Australian is 15.4 tonnes.)
Any suggestions that I make are just my opinions. This is a blog, not a peer-reviewed journal. I highly recommend considering everything you read online critically and doing your own research before making any major lifestyle changes.*
The Further Reading section is a good place to start. Your local library is even better.
NB. If you have a disability, a health issue or are a minor, please consult a parent, guardian or professional before embarking on any major lifestyle changes. That said, they're probably basing their advice on something they read online too, so you might want to get multiple opinions before doing anything.
*Switching out a disposable dish cloth for a washable one does not constitute a major lifestyle change. If that is what I have recommended in this month’s blog post, nobody needs to do sixty hours of additional research and recruit twenty participants for a double-blind study. It’s a dish cloth. Just switch it over and move on.
This blog is Australian. Why is it www.thequietenvironmentalist.com instead of www.thequietenvironmentalist.com.au?
Australians are quite lazy. I figured getting them to type in the first part of the web address was already going to be a difficult enough undertaking. Adding an additional .au to the end would surely be a step too far.
Isn't it more important that we fight climate change through political action?
Yes and no. Policy change is vital if we want to avoid hitting a 2.9-degree warmer planet sometime this century. That's the only way we'll overhaul our energy, transport, construction, agricultural, travel, and manufacturing industries. Leaving big companies to sort things out themselves isn't working very well.
If you are one of the people involved in work that aims to reduce carbon-emissions on a grand scale or halt biodiversity collapse, well done. You are essential to the planet.
All those that are not currently involved in planet-saving activities, are more likely part of the problem—that problem being too many people in developed countries burning inordinate amounts of fossil fuels, eating obscene numbers of factory-farmed animals, and buying a bunch of plastic wrapped crap they don't need.
Everyone’s furious at fossil fuel companies, but unwilling to drive or fly less. Everyone’s furious at Big Ag but unwilling to eat less meat or dairy. Why should we expect those industries to change anything when we demand ever more of what they are selling?
Policy change is vital, but so are lifestyle changes. Everybody needs to stop pretending that what they do doesn't count. It does.
But I'm just one person. Climate change is not my fault!
Human beings are responsible for global warming and the mass biodiversity loss that is taking place right now. If you are reading this you are likely a human, therefore you are not exempt.
That said, to anyone reading this who happens to live in a developing country and who is experiencing economic hardship, this is not directed at you. If you're living in a one-room home with a dirt floor and twelve relatives, your carbon footprint is already extremely low and climate change (largely caused by the wealthy) is most likely a contributing factor in the difficulties you are now facing.
On behalf of everyone in the world that is rich enough to have been on a plane, my apologies.
For all us jetsetters, we need to start having a good hard look at our lives, take some responsibility for our actions, and put a bit more effort into not being a climate jerk.
What do you want me to do about it?
Well, you can subscribe to this blog for starters.
I’m definitely not trying to save the planet, but if I can make a few of my climate-killing neighbours start thinking more about how their everyday actions impact the environment, I'll consider it a win.
Can I do something straight away?
Yes. If you want to do something straight away, you can make a $5 donation to a charity that helps climate-impacted people and/or animals in a developing country. I have included links to a few on the Resources page.
It will take most people a while to detox off fossil fuels but a Humble Apology Donation is something that can be done now. That should compensate for all the climate killing you’ve done today, at least.
Then google ‘what goes into a recycle bin’. You think you already know, but you probably don’t.