Changing the world, saving climate
Mohammad Shahidul Islam reflects on some critical ideas
Climate Change Begins at Home:
Life on the two-way street of global warming
Dave Reay
Macmillan
"Keeping Greenhouse Gas Online up to date can be hard work at the best of times. In March of 2004, the publishers Macmillan approached me with the idea of writing a book about how climate change is going to affect you and me, and how we affect it. It was to be called Climate Change Begins at Home: life on the two-way street of global warming. I jumped at the chance. Most weekends since then have seen me tapping away at this keyboard, doing yet another wordcount and losing more hair from my already draughty head."
This note is by Dave Reay who has created an uproar round the world writing an unconventional and peculiar book, Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the two-way street of global warming. The salient characteristic of this book is its simple and powerful metaphors with the funny jokes which sound a little ironic.
It is quite a useful book if we go carefully into trying to shrink emissions; it explains where some emissions are hidden and the ways to avoid these and points out easy ways to make reductions that seem obvious after we read them. Our lives, and those of the generations to come, are in peril in the face of global warming. Our common sense is unable to comprehend the quick pace of change occurring in the environment around us. Now, we must take back charge of the future. Dave Reay is not inviting the readers to make radical changes in their lifestyle to accomplish this. Instead, he exhibits how small and ordinary steps can help make our conditions better and make it sustainable for generations to come.
The author's method is well suited to the task. He invents a "typical" family of four, the Carbones, who could be our neighbors. There are John and Kate, with their two boys. Later, Kate will be discovered pregnant with Lucy. Lucy will become a guiding example for choices leading to alternative futures. Reay outlines the daily lives of the Carbones. There is the job of getting the boys to school, John and Kate to work, and the various side trips for groceries and the like. Grandma Carbone visits from her house across town. What contribution to greenhouses gases does this lifestyle make every day? Every year? What changes can and should be made? Or can this daily round continue without modification?
Reay's answer to the last question is a resounding "No!" He provides numerous examples of visible and hidden costs that perhaps only a few of us recognize. Is our house one of the "uninsurable" residences? Insurance companies view climate change and sea level rise as inevitable and know the risks are too high for coverage. There are more direct considerations than insurance, however. What will our next automobile be? Reay suggests we can review just what type of vehicle we really need. He favors the "dual-fuel" solution, since the overwhelming use of cars is local and urban. Can we resist the "upgrade" of our fridge to one that talks to us? If we need more space, is renovation more cost effective than shifting to a newer, larger residence? Finally, we can give thought to our workplace. How many lights, computers and other office appliances sitting there humming away drawing hydroelectric power for 24 hours per day, 365 days a year? What can we do about that?
Reay asks a good many questions of us all. He provides the reasons for the questions. One major factor behind many of them is the hidden "embodied" resource cost. That new fridge or upgraded personal computer arrived manufactured. The components, case and other parts required mining or other processing. While we are on the subject of hidden costs, what are we paying in "food-miles" - the shipping of foodstuffs from distant places that might just as readily be grown locally? Reay's approach is not preachy nor does he want us to don a hair shirt of guilt over our climate impact. He does, however, urge immediate consideration of what we can do to reduce that effect. The choices are all ours, not his. However, for us, our children and for the rest of us, it is important that we may confront the issue and make the decisions. The Carbones considered them carefully and implemented them without significant lifestyle adjustment. Can we keep up with the Carbones?
Climate Change Begins at Home should be enough to convince anybody that they should do something about climate change and that they can do something about it, while still enjoying a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. From page one, this book is not only informative, it is very entertaining and incredibly readable. This book is about more than doing our bit; it is an inspiring document to how individuals really hold the keys to the future of our own planet.
Dave Reay has succeeded where so many scientists, academics and environmentalists have failed - in bringing climate change down to the level of the ordinary family. If are not convinced about climate change and its deadly upshots, this book will change our mind. It may even change our life. This is a compelling call for every individual action on climate change across the world.