How to get men to care about the environment

No, honestly I am not being sexist - it appears that "caring for the environment" has a metro-sexual flavor that is not in keeping with a "real man" image

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-03/green-men-get-men-care-about-environment/7808068

Well, it might explain some of the posters we get on here claiming that there is no reason to behave in an environmentally friendly way

Be reassured gents - we gals will not think less of you if you do care for the environment, if you admit that global warming exists and you want to do something about it. If you (((GASP))) say that you prefer windmills to those big hulking pollution piles of coal fired power stations! We will not think you have changed to a metro-sexual minnow if you actually think rain forests and coral reefs are cool!!

 

Image does not always comport with reality though. If a horse is stuck in a frozen pond, it is a man out there getting it usually. Men, at least in the US, are the ones who are out dragging car tires out of rivers, the ones planting trees, the ones cleaning debris from waterways/storm drains, the ones putting out forest fires, etc. Recycling is just a bunch extra annoying work. If you pick the things women do as the standard for environmentalism, then obviously women are more likely to be the ones doing those specific things.

 

It's OK I, like the author of the piece, was having a little bit of fun with an odd news item.

To continue the theme though - doesn't all those things you describe sound "Manly"? Certainly more masculine than screwing in an energy saving light bulb Lols!!

 

Here is the thing about recycling. In my city, all of the aluminum and a small percentage of the cardboard that ends up in recycling actually makes it to a recycler. Most of the cardboard and all of the stuff except for the aluminum end up in the landfill. So if I gather up all my plastics, make a special trip to the recycling containers and put it all in and drive home, I have worsened the environment AND wasted my time. How effective it is just depends on where you live. There may be no market close enough to you to where you can move the stuff into the process. Sure somebody, somewhere might process glass, but it isn't worth shipping it there. Most of my cardboard ends up in my landscaping under mulch and most of my newspaper ends up shredded and composted and put into the garden (except the glossy ads). All my non-meat/dairy kitchen scraps likewise end up being composted and put back into my garden along with as much yard waste as practically composts, saving it having to be hauled off somewhere. When I cut down trees, as much as possible, I use the wood as edging for different plant beds or to help control run-off. I don't do it in the name of environmentalism. I do it because it increases my garden yields, lowers my expenses, reduces labor over the long-term. These are things I, as a man, relate to. Maybe the problem is you are selling the wrong sizzle. Likewise, most of the light bulbs in my house are 10 year energy efficient bulbs. They are pricey, but I do it to decrease my energy costs, not to save the planet.

 

Actually this was the hidden message in amongst the journalist and myself making fun. We need to sell the right sizzle and that has not happened. Most environmentally friendly things we as the average person can do have multiple advantages such as money saving, cleaner air, better crops, less land degradation but that is not what is focused on.

 

So where and how do you live? In a big city in an apt is my guess and you live their for profit because that's where the money is. Where is your love for the environment again? I on the other hand did whatever it took in life to live in a small town in the mountains precisely because I love nature. I have always lived on acreage which I enjoyed taking care of and am currently retired and living on my 80 acres with gravity flow spring water in an off grid solar powered house I built myself with logs off my land. My greatest joy is taking walks on my own land and enjoying the beauty of it and watching everything grow into the diverse and wildlife friendly sanctuary I have created. Who loves nature here, you or me. You people are all talk and you love nature from your occasionall visits to a luxury lodge while having drinks on its redwood deck. I really kind of despise your type.

 

Give it boobs.

 

Didn't really read it did you???

Now correct me if I am wrong but are you not one of those who vehemently argues against intervening on rising co2 levels?

 

As I suspected by your op, what you are really implying is that if you don't believe in AGW you don't care about the environment

 

The Nazis cared more about the environment than anyone, and I really don't think they are emasculating.

But in all honesty, I get your point. I've been a vegetarian and environmentally conscious person my whole life, and I am a staunch heterosexual man, so I dont think it's unheard of. But anyone and almost everyone who hears this thinks that it somehow takes away from masculinity. I really don't know why, but yea, it is true. I know I may be biased, but the only way to get people to really care about the environment is to get them to be nationalistic. Because no one would actively harm their own country if they loved it so much. It worked for the Nazis. Hell, even Hitler was vegetarian.

 

I also recycle material and it is mostly to save money. You can make a lot of stuff out of old pallets. I have also recycled old tires and made flower planters out of them. Lately I have been hauling tons of horse manure and sawdust for my rather large garden. This stuff is a waste product to the stables and I get it free. Wood chips and sawdust used as mulch is also free. And my fish pond is made of recycled cement block. My food waste goes to the chickens except the greens that sometimes goes to the goats. I am male and I love to fish...so I want the water clean and clear as possible.

 

It's not that we don't care about the environment, it's that we think differently. I am only going on the US not tackling Australia's wildlife problems...You see we as a species are not forgiving when it comes to predators that prey on our livestock...Thus we have all but eliminated the wolves, bear, and mountain lions in the lower 48 states. As a hunter, by culling the herds of deer and wild hogs, we help to ensure a healthy population. I average between 2 - 3 dozen hogs a year which most is donated to hunters for the hungry, and I hunt in a 5 deer county, so I can legally take 5 deer in one season, I usually only take one or two. My property has several Audads on it which I have heard are not good eating, so I do not hunt them. I've been in Europe and goat is not one of my favorite meats.

Some people may think of this as cruel, but as a species, humans are omnivores and to be truly healthy we do require both meats and vegetables in our diet. And frankly, spending less than $2 on a bullet, is a lot less than $1.75 a lb for hamburger...

 

I think men are naturally more inclined toward the conservationist side of environmental stewardship because it is more tangible and practical. I don't do wood chips even though I know a couple tree guys who could get them to me for free because the raw wood sucks nitrogen from the soil. I live in red clay america so nitrogen-loss is a little more of a concern for me. The manure would require a bit of a hike for me to get so I don't do it either other than I buy a lot of processed bagged organic fertilizers at the end of season sales in order to have for next year. I eventually want to have my set up such that there is no need for any external inputs that do not originate from my property, but I started off with land that had been mismanaged, so it is faster to bring in things for now to get me to that point. My land is rolling terrain and a prior owner would just plow the whole thing and never managed runoff so there was a lot of top soil loss. The most immediate prior owner overseeded everything and let it sit fallow for a few decades which stopped the runoff problem, but maintaining it as lawn instead of field further strained nitrogen. It is a work in progress, but I should get there before I croak.

 

Wood chips used as a mulch will only take nitrogen from the soil surface. It won't harm plants in the ground and makes great soil after decomposition. It also saves a lot of work. My entire garden will be no till this year. The wood chips I get also has horse manure in it. Alabama also produces a million tons of chicken litter a year. It has been a real help for cattle ranchers because it make the pasture land grow like crazy. You can spread it anytime except between February 15 and November 15 to prevent leaching into ground water and rivers. I live on solid rock and hard clay. Manure is the best thing you can get to loosen hard clay. My garden is a variation of Mitleider gardening and considering we ain't had any rain lately it has been working well. I am trying to get to the point I never have to water. Biology is ethe key to good soil. A good aerobic compost tea should get your lawn growing well. You can brew it in a trash can and put the compost in an old pillow case to keep the trash out and spray with a garden sprayer or a hose. It also helps not to bag the lawn clippings. Let them stay put and feed the lawn.

 

You can spread it anytime but 8 months of the year LOL. If it works for you, go for it. LIke I said, importing manure is not a small task for me so my time is better spent doing other things, like sitting in the A/C posting at PF

 

If you want a good garden or a good lawn you have to work for it. This time of year I work in the early morning and late afternoon. I take plenty of breaks and I like it. A lot of my lawn is now pasture. The goats cut the grass and eat the weeds. They also reproduce and add value....and entertainment.

 

Keep jousting them windmills,Don Quixote.

Windmills combat "AGW"
or "Climate Change" or whatever.
That nonsense is nonsense.
Pardon me while I burn 1 ton of wood today.
And still my "Eco-footprint" will be less than yours;Hypocrite.

 

The best way I know to get men interested in conservation is to show them the fish kills, the destruction of hunting grounds, and reduction of all kinds of wildlife habitat. In MHO

 

Men are the ones raising our sons as Boy Scouts, teaching the principles of Leave No Trace, etc.

 

I am not able to have livestock both because of zoning and restrictive covenants that overlay part of my property.

 

They are not nearly as strict here. I see all kinds of livestock inside city limits in most towns.

 

Yep. My city is having a war on poor people and only poor people are heathen enough to raise and slaughter their own chickens and such.

 

I am talking cattle and cattle ain't cheap. Of course there are also goats and chickens and such. I would love to have a hundred head.

 

My Dad used to tell me that when he moved to his 20 acres of awesome redwood forest in N. Cal, he agreed with the Sierra Club. He felt as does Bower Bird that nature had to be preserved. Then he watched the Sierra Club collapse his local economy. Who would want to live in an area of almost no jobs?

Finally he changed his mind and told me what the Sierra Club is for, "I am against."

I sold Dad's 20 acres for a lot less than we pay for a lot in my city where the size might be 6,000 or more sq feet. A lot less.

I mean a super lot less. Why did his 20 acres go so cheap? Darned near no demand. People won't live where gasoline costs extreme prices if they don't have to. I had a sister teaching school that could barely get up to ten thousand dollars per year. She loved the area so paid the price.

 

I find men considerably more 'environmental warrior' than women. At least that's the case where I live (a very green, alternative type area). The women are the one's buying new furniture and driving gas guzzlers, the men are micro-managing the recycling bins and riding bicycles to work.