Our guest book reviewer this month is WCA supporter Diane.
If someone needs a subtle nudge, or more of a wake up call, to how dire the climate situation is and how they can start making a difference, this is a good place to start.
It’s a beginner’s guide to all aspects of planet damaging living that we can and must do differently.
Bought for me as a thoughtful Christmas gift last year by my daughter, it took me some time to get reading. I thought I was possibly too jaded from negative climate news to feel positivity about anything I could do that I wasn’t already trying. Environmentalism doesn’t feel joyful pretty much most of the time, but this book proved there’s always more to learn and new ideas.
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One of the most beneficial things you can do for climate anxiety is join a climate group. Isabel Losada would fit right in at Wanstead Climate Action. Pretty much every aspect of environmentalism that this book covered is something WCA discuss or are actively involved in.
Her mindset was entirely relatable and reading it has been a filip. I’m not going to call it an “easy read”, that would be a total disservice. It’s a good read with sobering facts balanced with action. I’d say she has a talent for explaining “sciencey stuff” and making it palatable to a non-sciencey brain.
Her principled rant in a wholefoods shop over plastic forks, and the list of the nonsensical plastic products we’re told will improve our lives was evidence that she hates plastic as much as I do. She links plastic production to fossil fuels – this shiny penny still needs to drop for many.
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There are chapters on food production and animal agriculture’s devastating impact on the environment. I have long been an admirer of Mr Riverford, Guy Singh Watson. I would definitely invite him to an imaginary dinner party. Isabel gets to hang out with him on his Devon farm. There’s the odd gem of a new idea – who knew Biodynamic wine is the greenest option and superior tasting. Good luck finding it.
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She covers the minefield of energy suppliers. How to make decisions on insulation, solar panels and upgrading boilers. Her quest to get an Energy Performance Certificate for her home is a hoot.
There are inspiring chapters on tree planting, compost, feeding birds and a list of native plants that’s given me food for thought to add to my garden in the Spring.
Published in 2020, used copies are available online. Now that’s joyful environmentalism right there, and if the likes of George Monbiot and Sir Mark Rylance felt it too, that’s all right by me.
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Wanstead Climate Action 