You can care about something, but have other contributing factors to your decision that override that care.
I care about the environment, but I still drive an internal-combustion vehicle, because NOT doing so isn't really an option where I live.
I care about issues of poverty, but enough to minimize all our expenses in order to give away more funds, because we want to be able to enjoy our lives.
It’s not meant to be taken as an absolute binary; it’s a question one should ask oneself. If you think you “care” about something, but never allow it to influence any decisions, you should really question yourself whether you actually care or not. As you say, the answer might very well be “Yes, I care, but there aren’t actually any options to express my precise level of care. The choice I make might be the same as if I didn’t care, but that’s because choices are limited, and my decision is ‘rounded up’ to the same choice I would have made if I did not care.” It is valuable to examine one’s own choices like this, because it causes you to notice when an alternative which is acceptable turns up.
You can care about something, but have other contributing factors to your decision that override that care.
I care about the environment, but I still drive an internal-combustion vehicle, because NOT doing so isn't really an option where I live.
I care about issues of poverty, but enough to minimize all our expenses in order to give away more funds, because we want to be able to enjoy our lives.