You seem to be forgetting that money has a footprint. No matter what you buy, even if it's a service not a product, somewhere down the track, the environment pays.
The more you spend, generally speaking, the worse it is for the environment.
Any time you buy something, anything, it's essentially a form of trade. There is the buyer and the seller. But the seller then uses that money to go and BUY something ELSE for himself! Or save/invest it. In which case the bank has access to it and invests in other businesses (who also sell products, or even if they are selling services, which need products to supply their services).
And even if you buy a service not a product, does the one providing the service then go and buy a service for themselves? Or do they then go and buy a product? And if they then do go and buy a service, is that a service that is going to support someone else selling more products? Probably.
I for one fail to see how an £8000 ebike is 'good' for the environment. Better than a non-ebike costing half that.
You keep talking about steaks and food as if that's all that matters.
For one thing, where does the money go?
When you buy a nukeproof bike for £8000, what do the company directors in turn spend that money on?
Who owns Nukeproof? SIGNA Sports United. Who is the CEO? Stephan Zoll.
"SIGNA Sports United had revenue of $1.11B in the twelve months ending March 31, 2023"
I'm willing to be that Stephan Zoll is not a vegan. I'm willing to bet he owns several high-performance sports cars, flies around a lot, and has a sizeable footprint.
You can't really buy your way out of climate change & environmental destruction.
I'm not forgetting anything. You have introduced a new dimension around money flows where it frankly it becomes impossible to track or consider what might have happened to the money you spent. Perhaps much of the £8K went on paying the salaries of those who built and sold the bike - and they in turn indirectly, perhaps several people removed, bought some services or goods from you (like those promoted in your sig) or someone you know, and so on.
I mentioned food because there's clearly a comparison to be made in energy terms, and that's what the original video I shared used. There are, of course, other comparisons to be made. Someone challenged me to show my workings so I did.
I agree spending money does have an impact. So does not spending it, as it is used by whichever facility you are storing it in. Which bank etc you hold your money and investments in apparently makes more difference than a ton of lifestyle changes, inc what food we eat.
The best option is simply to be as intentional as possible in your spending and saving, and clearly some choices are better than others. I've never spent more than £500 on an ebike or conversion. You certainly don't need to spend £8K on an ebike to have fun. But if you are spending £8K on something, there also more carbon intensive ways of doing so e.g short haul flights, etc. There are less carbon intensive ways eg outfitting your home with solar panels, giving it to an environmental charity. Personally, I'd rather spend £8K on solar panels or investing in renewable energy companies than spending it on an ebike. Perhaps you are the same. Or not. In either case, we can't know what happens to the money afterwards, a few exchanges later.
Of course, it is generally better to keep and maintain what you have (not true in some cases, eg some old power hungry appliances should be scrapped in favour of more efficient ones). But whatever you do or don't do, your money is doing something which can be more or less harmful to the environment. Unless you keep it under the bed. IIRC, the band KLF burnt a million pounds for similar reasons.
Frankly, I think it's time for me to duck out of this thread for now as it has become something of a moving target (and consideration of global money flows is beyond my level of expertise and curiosity) - and believe it or not, I'm not a salesperson for ebikes - simply open minded enough to consider them a useful part of the low carbon transport mix which the current evidence seems to suggest they are. I appreciate for some this challenges deeply held beliefs, and that's OK too.
) Road bikes that have been ridden maybe 200 miles. The reason for sale?
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On the very first page (and many after) as well...
