The difference for me is that this can easily be something I'm using every day, so it's believable that there might be a cumulative effect. The replacement cost is trivial, and I need to do it approximately once per decade, so I might as well chuck out and replace my battered plastic spoons and spatulas now while it's fresh in my mind then not think about it again. But the rest of your list... I don't think of myself as particularly healthy, or particularly observant in this regard, but I ran through it and honestly most of the answers are "no":
> Does the kitchen of the restaurant I’m eating at care about that?
I'd worry less about one-offs than I would about long-term exposure here.
> Am I still going to drink 2 whiskeys tonight?
Possibly, and if I was going out tonight there might be wine. I'm not, I haven't been to a sit-down restaurant since September, and I don't have anything like that in the calendar for a few weeks.
> Anyone got any tiny individually wrapped shitty Halloween candy?
Nope. None in the house.
> How do those synthetic made-in-x-country gym clothes feel against your skin?
Levi's and a cotton shirt. Probably terrible for other reasons, but today isn't awful on the synthetic-fibres front. That's not true every day, but coincidentally I'm getting away with it right now.
> Wanna have a cigar?
I don't smoke.
> Are you breathing recycled air during an airline flight?
Haven't been on a plane in over a year, haven't flown long-haul in five.
> When was the last time you stretched your legs?
20 minutes ago. (purely by chance. Couple of hours before that, though).
> When’s the next time you’ll drink a plastic bottle of water?
This isn't something I regularly do. Might go months between them.
> Got a k-cup?
No.
> What’s the inner workings of that coffee machine do with the near boiling hot water?
The wonderful thing about pour-over coffee is that the inner workings are outer workings. It's slightly-less-than-boiling water on enamel into glass, and that's about it.
> When was the last time it was cleaned?
Lunchtime, when I gave it an extra rinse.
> What chemical was used on your toilet that your buttcheeks are now sitting on?
Mostly vinegar, as far as I can tell. Bleach for the ceramic, but I'm not sitting on that bit.
> Want some bacon? How bout a hot dog?
Yes. But sadly I do not have bacon. Or a hot dog. Nor can I exactly recall when the last time I had either was - over a month, certainly, probably more.
> Been outside recently without sun screen?
Yes, but given that I've been wearing a raincoat outside for the last month I don't think that's quite as relevant as it might be for others.
> I honestly think I just might forget and continue living in my blip of existence.
I'm not pointing any of this out as a superiority or a gotcha thing, but "continue living" pretty sums up my feelings about most of this stuff too. I'm not doing anything actively, really, to avoid pretty much all of the things you've brought up. Inevitably that's partially luck of the draw: I'm sure there are plenty of other examples you could give that I'd be equally at risk from, or worse. But it is striking just how alien that list of concerns is, from my point of view.
I think that says a lot more about differences in culture and choice architectures than it does about our personal preferences. You evidently do feel that there's an overbearing weight of attentiveness needed on avoiding more bad stuff, whereas I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where the mental effort to rule out Yet Another Thing just doesn't register. And I'm not sure what the right solution to that is.
> Does the kitchen of the restaurant I’m eating at care about that?
I'd worry less about one-offs than I would about long-term exposure here.
> Am I still going to drink 2 whiskeys tonight?
Possibly, and if I was going out tonight there might be wine. I'm not, I haven't been to a sit-down restaurant since September, and I don't have anything like that in the calendar for a few weeks.
> Anyone got any tiny individually wrapped shitty Halloween candy?
Nope. None in the house.
> How do those synthetic made-in-x-country gym clothes feel against your skin?
Levi's and a cotton shirt. Probably terrible for other reasons, but today isn't awful on the synthetic-fibres front. That's not true every day, but coincidentally I'm getting away with it right now.
> Wanna have a cigar?
I don't smoke.
> Are you breathing recycled air during an airline flight?
Haven't been on a plane in over a year, haven't flown long-haul in five.
> When was the last time you stretched your legs?
20 minutes ago. (purely by chance. Couple of hours before that, though).
> When’s the next time you’ll drink a plastic bottle of water?
This isn't something I regularly do. Might go months between them.
> Got a k-cup?
No.
> What’s the inner workings of that coffee machine do with the near boiling hot water?
The wonderful thing about pour-over coffee is that the inner workings are outer workings. It's slightly-less-than-boiling water on enamel into glass, and that's about it.
> When was the last time it was cleaned?
Lunchtime, when I gave it an extra rinse.
> What chemical was used on your toilet that your buttcheeks are now sitting on?
Mostly vinegar, as far as I can tell. Bleach for the ceramic, but I'm not sitting on that bit.
> Want some bacon? How bout a hot dog?
Yes. But sadly I do not have bacon. Or a hot dog. Nor can I exactly recall when the last time I had either was - over a month, certainly, probably more.
> Been outside recently without sun screen?
Yes, but given that I've been wearing a raincoat outside for the last month I don't think that's quite as relevant as it might be for others.
> I honestly think I just might forget and continue living in my blip of existence.
I'm not pointing any of this out as a superiority or a gotcha thing, but "continue living" pretty sums up my feelings about most of this stuff too. I'm not doing anything actively, really, to avoid pretty much all of the things you've brought up. Inevitably that's partially luck of the draw: I'm sure there are plenty of other examples you could give that I'd be equally at risk from, or worse. But it is striking just how alien that list of concerns is, from my point of view.
I think that says a lot more about differences in culture and choice architectures than it does about our personal preferences. You evidently do feel that there's an overbearing weight of attentiveness needed on avoiding more bad stuff, whereas I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where the mental effort to rule out Yet Another Thing just doesn't register. And I'm not sure what the right solution to that is.