I wonder, as this world seems to crumble, how I should live. Should I aspire to waste as many resources, or more, as the rich or even normal persons do? Should I shield myself from the pain of frugality and responsibility to this world and consume like the locust, walking around like a hulk, smashing? Or should I prostrate myself, humble myself, pull myself down and refuse the good things that simply waste too much, even shaming others to do the same?
Obviously, simply pulling myself down and limiting everything would be misguided and almost pointless. If I managed to regulate how much I take in and counteract or nullify it, now that would be smart. But I've learned that as little as nullifying my breath would require approximately 400 plants, according to a NASA expert or spokesman. All the plastic, all the water used for food production (although not a relevant problem in my country), all the slave labor, pollution and waste and transport behind my being and property. It is daunting.
I took the decision of not eating meat or other animal products. It has by far the biggest impact on literally everything. Water, global warming, desertification, ocean dead zones and even disease (plant diseases don't typically translate into the human body).
A misguided one might consider: "Why not suicide?" There could be some logic behind that. Death means no negative impact, no impact at all. But, there are so many flaws in this argument. What if you could have a positive impact, quantifiable or unquantifiable? What about the massive impact you've already dealt to the world? If you died, and someone "better" were born thanks to your "sacrifice", then that person would still have to waste maybe 18 years of consuming and growing before really producing and having a positive impact. This isn't a "sunken cost" fallacy. That person would have to eliminate your impact up to your death as well as his own, doubling his work. Say this 18 year old commits suicide, then all that energy and effort that went into raising, teaching and feeding that person would be completely wasted and would have a huge negative impact, not just for the world, but their family and so on. Like buying milk and then spilling it, it would not establish the circle desperately needed in this world. Sustainability.
I want to make an impact, but... it is difficult.