Live Sustainably Now: A Low-Carbon Vision of the Good Life

by Karl Coplan

Any realistic response to climate change will require reducing carbon emissions to a sustainable level. Yet even people who already recognize that the climate is the most urgent issue facing the planet struggle to understand their individual responsibilities. Is it even possible to live with a sustainable carbon footprint in modern American society―much less to live well? What are the options for those who would like to make climate awareness part of their daily lives but don’t want to go off the grid or become a hermit?

In Live Sustainably Now , Karl Coplan shares his personal journey of attempting to cut back on carbon without giving up the amenities of a suburban middle-class lifestyle. Coplan chronicles the joys and challenges of a year on a carbon budget―kayaking to work, hunting down electric-car charging stations, eating a Mediterranean-style diet, and enjoying plenty of travel on weekends and vacations while avoiding long-distance flights. He explains how to set a personal carbon cap and measure your actual footprint, with his own results detailed in monthly diary entries. Presenting the pros and cons of different energy, transportation, and lifestyle options, Live Sustainably Now shows that there does not have to be a trade-off between the ethical obligation to maintain a sustainable carbon footprint and the belief that life should be fulfilling and fun. This powerful and persuasive book provides an individual-level blueprint for a carbon-sustainable tweak to the American dream.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published December 31, 2019

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm.... I admire the author and think this is such an important topic, but I had to make myself plod through this one and didn't find it actually helpful for my own family much at all. Coplan is a professor with a radically different life from most of us. He makes the rather long commute to work via a kayak and bicycles (one on each side of a river into and out of a city) much of the year, and an electric car when that's not possible. He keeps a notebook where he tracks almost all of his carbon usage (of transportation, heating, food, etc. costs) and manages to live on a fraction of the carbon output the rest of us do, but not through ways that work for most of us. He also has a cabin and a sailboat that he and his wife use often, which I concede doesn't harm the environment much, but which add to the effect of illustrating a life that's just so different from most of ours. He jumps into the carbon diary without giving much background at all for those who don't know how to track their own carbon footprints, and there's not much for actual helpful advice. I now know how much isn't possible to change in my Minnesota home to live more sustainably instead of what is. I think I would personally benefit far more from a book by a prepper or off-the-grid homesteader, even though I agree with Coplan's beliefs and values so much.

This works as an interesting read about his personal journey. As someone who lives an entirely different life and lives sustainably in entirely different ways, this ultimately was not nearly as helpful for myself as I hoped, though. Still recommended, as we all need to be thinking a lot more about all of this to prepare for the future.

I read a digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is a quick read, enumerating the author's strategies for changing your living practices to be more climate-conservation oriented. He explains a lot of the terms which get bandied about but which might seem confusing (carbon offsets, for example). He makes this overwhelming, anxious-making topic of climate disaster into something comprehensible, and offers practical suggestions for how you can make meaningful change in your own practices.

He uses the conceit of alternating chapters with entries from his "climate diary" as a structure, which on the one hand shows a practical example of what one's own climate diary might look like, but it quickly became something I skipped over because his life is very different from my own and reading more about the ups and downs of, say, canoeing to work, grew tiresome. The book is short enough though that I suspect without the whole year worth of his climate diary, it wouldn't have been long enough to publish as a volume. This might be more suited to series of journal articles, but the subject is of such epic importance that I see why he wanted the gravitas of a book.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Individual climate action is now more important than ever. #KarlCoplan

As someone currently looking into reducing her carbon footprint, this book was inspiring and instructive. I highlighted most of this book! Coplan keeps a monthly carbon diary, explains his carbon usage and then explains a science-y item of living sustainably. At the end he summarizes, there is no silver bullet but everyone must start somewhere and start sooner rather than later. Highly recommend for the eco warriors out there!

#livesustainablyNOW is out for purchase in December 2019. I received this copy via #netgalley and will purchasing it to pass around to the family next month.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Columbia University Press for the advance review copy.

Live Sustainably Now is so helpful I plan to read it again. It's a handbook for dramatically reducing your personal carbon footprint.

Not convinced individual action matters? Read the first chapter. Think avoiding single-use plastic is enough? Read the rest of the book.

Coplan not only lists which factors contribute to our carbon footprints but also explains what we can do about it. While many people in the zero waste/sustainability movement ignore the concept of privilege, Coplan is keenly aware that certain climate actions are only available at certain price points. He also points out that time constraints and differing physical abilities will change your "carbon budget." Where possible, Coplan suggests a variety of carbon-reduction measures, so that people can find something that suits them. Most significantly, Coplan puts his money where his mouth is. He doesn't just talk about sustainability, he /lives/ it. In the process, he shows us it's possible to live an eco-friendly lifestyle without living like a monk.

[Andrew Spink · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the preface (the book as both a prologue and a preface, which is a bit excessive), the author tells us that the book is written for committed environmentalists. I would hope to put myself in that category, so this was clearly a book for me! He makes a strong case for setting clear goals for your carbon footprint and making sure that those goals are realistic, leaving room for 'fun' otherwise you are never going to keep it up. Despite the stated aim, quite a lot of the argumentation seemed to be aimed more at the general public, with quite a lot of explanation which I would expect everyone who laid claim to the label 'environmentalist' to already know. Perhaps he is really aiming more at those who call themselves that but actually don't know much or do much about it.

Between each chapter is a 'carbon diary' where he explains how he has applied his principles during a month. I found it hard to relate to those sections, he clearly is on a high income (two houses!) and has lots of time, for instance to travel by sailing. But perhaps some of his American readers will be able to relate more to that sort of lifestyle.

Indeed, one of the main things that struck me about the book was the light it cast on how difficult it is to live sustainably in America because of the poor infrastructure there. The idea of building a bridge across a river that you can only drive cars over and not bikes is extraordinary. We are indeed lucky (though of course that's not the right word, it didn't happen by chance) here in the Netherlands, with the good cycling infrastructure. The same applies to public transport. The last few years the trains here (and a number of other European countries) are 100% carbon neutral, with all the electricity coming from wind and sun. What is interesting is that the reason the Dutch railways gave for switching to renewables is that a major reason their customers choose for travelling by train is because it is more sustainable. If enough customers communicated that to Amtrack, would that also have an affect? Karl Coplan does touch on the insufficiency of individual action alone, but this is a nice example of how sometimes individual action is only possible if supported by the right political and social choices. Likewise, he calculates that increased insulation is not important in his situation but (having lived in the US and see the quality of housing stock there), that is actually mostly to do with fuel being far too cheap and so the investment in insulation not being earned back.

There are a few small mistakes in the book. "John Watt" should be James. The CO2 equivalent of methane is 25, not 30.

I don't know if much "committed environmentalists" will learn a lot from this book, but I would certainly recommend it for people, especially Americans, who would like to become one.

Disclosure: The book was a free copy obtained for review from NetGallery

[Hana Correa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 rounded up to a 4. This is more or less one man’s take on his mission to bring his own carbon emissions into the realm of what would be considered a sustainable number by expert standards. I started reading this book because I consider myself climate forward and believe that every level of engagement needs to do more, from the individual through the national governments. A stark characteristic mentioned in the book is that the typical emissions produced by one American lifestyle cause 2 climate related deaths in the developing world, these are dire circumstances to think in terms of. Most people agree we need to do something, there is less agreement as to what we are supposed do. This book does provide some good ideas as templates. Some of these things are very achievable, like reducing red meat consumption and air travel. Others like switching out your vehicle to electric or hybrid models are perhaps not as easy. As someone who has tried, I have experience in this regard. Some aspects that are missing here are how does the working poor of America achieve these targets? Many working poor lack the ability to invest in electric vehicles and lack the resources to pay extra at the grocery store for organic foods. This is an interesting case study and certainly the more information supplied on this topic, the better. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Monica Bose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this guide to reducing your carbon footprint. I couldn't put it down!
This book is an excellent hybrid between a personal carbon journal and an informative explanation of climate change and how our actions impact it. I gained a lot of new insight from it even though I have been focusing on increasing community and personal responsibility on climate change for many years now. I love the charts at the back and plan to use them myself. Go get this book and let's all renew our commitment to the Earth and try to make a dramatic shift away from fossil fuels.

[Brooklyn Flick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know who this book was aimed for because it isn’t helpful for me nor can I imagine it would be for anyone in any powerful position…disappointing when env reading is this lackluster :(

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A personal, practical guide to low-carbon living. For the past decade, Coplan has restricted himself to four tons of carbon a year—40% of the average American’s annual emissions. The book does not advocate joyless self-denial. In fact, it contends that a decision to “sweat the big stuff” by selecting sustainable electricity, heating, transportation, and food options leaves latitude for indulgences. Incisive comparisons are made to other social revolutions that required laypeople’s action, including abolition, temperance, and the civil rights movement.

See my full review at Foreword.