Yeah, for sure, there are degrees of success (as you suggest, "you might think it would be successful but it really isn't", or, "you spent loads of resources on something that felt good but achieved nothing when you could have done this unappealing effective thing"). I do think 'consume less, fix things, make reuse a hobby' is a good norm to work towards. I think the Restarters community is a good example (casual affiliation) [1]

I'm quick to defend the belief at a 'meta level'. It seems good to pretend we each can make a difference, in the same way it's useful to pretend free will exists: if you act 'as if' such a thing is true, then you avoid the outcome of acting as if it is false, one that seems to me utterly terrible - 'you could have made a difference, but you chose not to'.

I'd rather bring important but optimistic goals down a peg than abandon them - thinking I may as well leave things up to Moloch [2] leads me to despair.

[1] https://www.restarters.net/about [2] https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/