Cooler Smarter

Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living

Published Mar 29, 2012 Updated Jun 5, 2013

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The routine decisions that shape our days — what to have for dinner, where to shop, how to get to work — may seem small, but collectively they have a big effect on global warming.

Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living (Island Press) explains why your individual contribution is so vital to addressing this global problem — and shows you the most effective ways to cut your own global warming emissions by 20 percent or more.

Cooler Smarter powerfully makes the case that we can no longer afford to wait for someone else to solve global warming, and demonstrates how each of us, working together, can build a low-carbon future.

Cooler Smarter is based on an in-depth, two-year study by the Union of Concerned Scientists. While other guides suggest an array of tips, Cooler Smarter offers proven strategies to cut carbon, with chapters on transportation, home energy use, diet, personal consumption, plus tips and suggestions for how you can influence your workplace, community, and elected officials to make Cooler Smarter decisions today.

The book explains how to make the biggest impact and when not to sweat the small stuff. It also turns many eco-myths on their head, like the climate impact of food miles or the superiority of all hybrid cars.

With easy-to-use charts and tables, as well as success stories from the frontlines as citizens, companies, and communities across the country fight climate change, the book offers a wealth of science-based strategies that can help you achieve a 20-percent reduction in your carbon footprint—a step the book urges as an important “down payment” toward effectively tackling this problem as a nation.

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