Get Sust! Issue 28

How to live a low-carbon life - the individual's guide to stopping climate change

by Chris Goodall

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the multiplicity of environmentally conscious choices you have to make every day, then try this book for size.

The author, Chris Goodall, is a former director of Which? Ltd, the consumers’ society that’s famous for its product reports. He has set himself the massive task of trying to understand “How our lives generate emissions and what we can do about it”, and this has culminated in a 300-page paperback that looks at all the main culprits: domestic heating, hot water and cooking, lighting, household appliances, car and air travel, public transport and food.

The first few chapters set out Goodall’s theses on environmental issues - the impact of low cost energy, why bother being “green” if no one else is - and summarise the main ways in which we all contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. And as well as a ‘conclusion’, there is an afterword, which mops up some of the recent developments such as the Stern Report

The text is written in an accessible style but is clearly the author’s personal take on the subject. He credits assistance from government’s Market Transformation Programme, Paul Waide of the International Energy Agency and several individuals, but says “Of course, these individuals don’t necessarily agree with the analysis or conclusions in this book”.

My slight concern is that this book is too heavy-weight for many general readers (not enough diagrams, dense text, academic-style references), but insufficiently technical for those in the know. And contrary to expectations this is not really a book you can dip in and out of, because you might miss some of Goodall’s detailed arguments and calculations.

However, for both sustainable construction students and professionals, this book is a useful read, not least because you can take time out to think about other aspects of carbon generation (food miles, for example), but also because it won’t be long before you’re faced with a client who has read it from cover to cover.

Learn more:

	•	‘How to live a low carbon life: the individual's guide to stopping climate change’ by Chris Goodall is published by Earthscan, £14.99 ISBN 1844074269 / 9781844074266. Order online for a 10% discount: http://shop.earthscan.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/773.
	•	There is a companion website which features supplier and product information and downloadable spreadsheets, plus plans for maximum carbon and cost reduction. See www.lowcarbonlife.net.