I think that there are many things that we need to survive, but we have many things that are not absolutely necessary. For example, many things that almost everybody has in their home could be removed in order to help the environment. A gas stove is a perfect example. People have these because it is much too inconvenient to light a fire and put a pan on top every time, but stoves are a large carbon contributor. I think that people have a natural desire to make things more convenient and quicker but do not realize the impact that it has.

I do think that a lot of things that people buy are unnecessary, but I think the bigger issue is how it is being produced and runs. I think that just getting rid of whatever you are using (like a stove) to make a small impact on your carbon footprint would be a huge inconvenience to many people. And its not to say that we can't slightly inconvenience ourselves to help save the environment, but I think if companies changed how and what they produced, we could have a systemic change rather than a personal one.