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Owning tropical fish ‘as bad for the climate as riding a motorbike’

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richiev

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Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/11/tropical-fish-pets-environment-climate-change-motorbike/

Get around the paywall: http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ndroid-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

This is something I struggle with personally. Such a wasteful hobby. The lights & heaters & pumps and electric, all the water, so many chemicals that shouldn't be going down the drain, all the equipment that's tossed, the impact to the ecosystems, the damage from transport. Hard to simultaneously love the nature related reef hobby and assess the nature impacts.
 
I also have issues with a hobby that:
I can have my fingers broken (caught between magnets)
Potentially electrocute myself
That can Flood house/floors
Potentially start a fire
And could unleash aerosols (from palys) that could put everyone in the hospital

That being said, with the current tank we have
Downgraded from 100 gal to 55. And only having one tank as much as I would like another!
On the solar circuit so drawing as much power as possible off grid
Using natural sea water to reduce RODI usage
In the past made our own water using sediment filter and two carbon blocks so no waste from RODI. No longer doing that but our freshwater usage is way down.

Keep equipment in decent condition so it can be given away or sold to other members and reused. I think I have only thrown away one item since the new tank is up.

Go to HTA vs aquatic collection to save on gas and other CO2 emissions as much as possible.

And of course propagate healthy fish/coral practices as much as possible.
 
richiev said:
Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/11/tropical-fish-pets-environment-climate-change-motorbike/

Get around the paywall: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/11/tropical-fish-pets-environment-climate-change-motorbike/&oq=cache:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/11/tropical-fish-pets-environment-climate-change-motorbike/&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRg60gEINjc1MmowajSoAgCwAgA&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

This is something I struggle with personally. Such a wasteful hobby. The lights & heaters & pumps and electric, all the water, so many chemicals that shouldn't be going down the drain, all the equipment that's tossed, the impact to the ecosystems, the damage from transport. Hard to simultaneously love the nature related reef hobby and assess the nature impacts.
Click to expand...
I agree. It’s a problem. I try to mitigate as Mike said but the bottom line is that this hobby based on a love of nature is bad for nature. The more involved you are, the worse it is. Most people get around it by ignoring it, like a lot of uncomfortable subjects in our world.

Separate but analogous topic, gas blowers used for yard work are terrible. Like many many times worse than driving a gas car. Using a gas blower for an hour is supposedly equivalent to driving 1000 miles in a gas car as far as emissions/pollution. So I have an electric car and solar panels to reduce my impact, but then I have landscapers who blow leaves for an hour with poorly maintained blowers every week, more than canceling out all my other efforts. There are lots of other examples out there.
 
JVU said:
I agree. It’s a problem. I try to mitigate as Mike said but the bottom line is that this hobby based on a love of nature is bad for nature. The more involved you are, the worse it is. Most people get around it by ignoring it, like a lot of uncomfortable subjects in our world.

Separate but analogous topic, gas blowers used for yard work are terrible. Like many many times worse than driving a gas car. Using a gas blower for an hour is supposedly equivalent to driving 1000 miles in a gas car as far as emissions/pollution. So I have an electric car and solar panels to reduce my impact, but then I have landscapers who blow leaves for an hour with poorly maintained blowers every week, more than canceling out all my other efforts. There are lots of other examples out there.
Click to expand...
Many of us (eg me): global warming is going to ruin the world for the end of our lives and our descendants. There will be no coral left. I better do more composting.

Also many of us (eg me): oh, work is willing to let me fly business class to europe? Put me on that plane! GTFO of my space!

Really hard not to be a hypocrite.
 
I'm well aware of the impacts my hobbies, activities, and lifestyle have and I've come to conclusion that I'm not going make changes that take away from my life enjoyment and convenience. In this case, reef keeping is a passion hobby I'm not giving up. That being said, I make every environmentally responsible effort I can make that I have the means to and is not a hinderance. Solar, EV car, religious recycling, composting, buying quality over junk quantity, public transport when convenient, etc. I don't keep points between positive and negative environmental impacts I have to make myself feel better.
 
JVU said:
I agree. It’s a problem. I try to mitigate as Mike said but the bottom line is that this hobby based on a love of nature is bad for nature. The more involved you are, the worse it is. Most people get around it by ignoring it, like a lot of uncomfortable subjects in our world.

Separate but analogous topic, gas blowers used for yard work are terrible. Like many many times worse than driving a gas car. Using a gas blower for an hour is supposedly equivalent to driving 1000 miles in a gas car as far as emissions/pollution. So I have an electric car and solar panels to reduce my impact, but then I have landscapers who blow leaves for an hour with poorly maintained blowers every week, more than canceling out all my other efforts. There are lots of other examples out there.
Click to expand...

Damn, really? I have an electric blower, but my power doesn't come from solar I wonder where that lands my blower on what it contributes via electric production.

The environmental impact our hobby had really depressed me when I was working in wholesale. The most productive collection areas have middlemen and exporters. Middlemen hold the fish in bags, exporters export them in bags. Wholesalers deliver/ship them in bags and the LFS sells them in bags. Our facility was smaller, and weekly we would fill an entire dumpster with dead plastic bags. Thats a lot of plastic to be tossed.
 
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