Hi there. It seems that minimalist and zero waste movements have picked up some steam recently in many first world countries as a reaction to the consumerist, greed-based lifestyles promoted and upon realisation of our impact on the world. As an aspiring zero waste minimalist and general conversationalist, I am interested in your opinions, so I'll bombard you with some questions.

Do any of you lead a minimalist or zero waste life, or are you aspiring to or making the transition right now?

What is your opinion of the movements?

Are you opposed to the lifestyles?

Why are you/do you want to be minimalist or create zero waste?

What is minimalism to you?

Are you a minimalist in some or all parts of your life?

What challenges did you run into when making the changes, and how did you overcome them?

Is there anything you recommend to those who are still just aspiring?

Does minimalism imply frugality?

Do you have anything else to add?

Humanity has wiped out 60% of animals since 1970, major report finds

Don't misread the headline like I did when I saw it! This isn't about extinctions: we haven't killed off 60% of species. We have reduced the population of all animals by an average of 60%.

Let's assume that they have full control over congress, so politics isn't an issue. I think looking at what a good global climate policy would be useful, because it allows us to see where we stand. It could also serve as a platform for future candidates.

It seems to me that the new president should take a wide-ranging series of measures to curb emissions in all the major domains: electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. [1]. You might argue that measures taken in isolation from other countries are not sufficient. While that's true, someone has to start. The US taking the lead on climate change would have a profound impact on all other countries. The US could use its very strong diplomatic weight to pressure other countries to adopt similar measures.

So what should these measures be? The major one would seem to be a carbon tax, applied to all major sources of emissions: energy production (coal plants, ...), agriculture (cattle and meat imports), jet fuel (current taxes are very low), etc. Another one could be a tax on imports depending on how much the exporting country does against global warming. Maybe a new kind of free trade alliance among "climate-virtuous" countries could be created.

Any thoughts? Have any serious global policy proposals been made and studied in the past?

[1] : https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/My-plan-for-fighting-climate-change