We're All Climate Hypocrites Now: How Embracing Our Limitations Can Unlock the Power of a Movement

Description

Changing your behaviour matters. Transforming the system matters more. Our culture tells us that personal responsibility is central to tackling the climate emergency, yet the choices we make are often governed by the systems in which we live. Whether it's activists facing criticism for eating meat or climate scientists catching flack for flying, accusations of hypocrisy are rampant. And they come from both inside and outside the movement. Taking a tongue-in-cheek approach, self-confessed eco-hypocrite Sami Grover says we should do what we can in our own lives to minimise our climate impacts, but then we need to target those actions so they create systemic change. Along the way, he skewers those pointing fingers, celebrates those who are trying, and offers practical pathways to start making a difference. We're All Climate Hypocrites Now covers: How environmentalism lost its groove Why big polluters want to talk about your carbon footprint The psychology of shaming How businesses can find their activist voice The true power of individuals to spark widespread change. By understanding where our greatest leverage lies, we can prioritise our actions, maximise our impact, and join forces with the millions of other imperfect individuals who are ready to do their part and actually change the system.

Sami Grover is a green lifestyle blogger and self-confessed eco-hypocrite. He has spent most of his life trying to live a greener lifestyle and has written more than 2,000 articles covering everything from electric bike ownership to peeing on your compost heap. Yet he has only been marginally successful in reducing his own environmental impact. Active in the sphere of good-for-the-world business, he has developed branding projects for clients including Burt's Bees, Dogwood Alliance, and Jada Pinkett Smith. He believes that, in order to make a difference, each of us has to identify our greatest point of leverage and focus our efforts there. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and kids.

"A useful - and sprightly! - effort to get at the choice between individual and systemic action on the greatest problem we've ever faced. I found it a helpful spur to creative thinking and action, and I bet you will as well. Read it, and then get out there and change the politics and economics that are driving us towards - well, if not hell, then a place with a similar temperature." - Bill McKibben, author, The End of Nature "Sami Grover's wise book charts a middle way to win transformational change. He challenges us to embrace our climate hypocrisy as a goal to uproot the structures that are killing the planet without losing sight of the strategic individual actions we can take right now. We can't curate our way out of the climate crisis as consumers - we must replace the system that makes us climate hypocrites. We climate hypocrites have agency, in varying degrees, to take actions that multiplied by the millions will help to win the big changes we need to survive. With our eyes on the stars and our feet on the ground, we can meet ourselves where we are without guilt and act for a more equitable, just, and sustainable world. Let this book show you how." - Bill Corcoran, Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign "If you are a climate concerned person who struggles with the nuanced complexity of being "green," Sami's book will help you navigate this contemporary moral maze with intelligent bigger picture thinking plus a rich seam of strategies and initiatives large and small for a healthier planet." - Maddy Harland, co-founder & editor, Permaculture Magazine, author, Fertile Edges "We're All Climate Hypocrites Now is part eco-therapy, part climate strategy, and a fantastic antidote to the overwhelm that comes along with living in a global ecological crisis. Say goodbye to those little voices in your head (or those loud voices on Facebook) calling you a hypocrite because you don't bike to work, aren't vegan, fly to a protest, and still haven't taken out that loan for those rooftop solar panels. This book is a fresh and informative unpacking of why we must abandon the notion that individual eco-perfection is possible - or even impactful - in the absence of system-wide change. It's an inspiring call to let go of the "either or" mentality, to fully embrace the "both and," and to remember to go easy on ourselves and each other as we lean in even further into this painful, chaotic yet exciting time of (r)evolution." - Danna Smith, executive director, Dogwood Alliance "Nobody knows more about the business of sustainability than Sami Grover. He brings a welcome dose of wit, clarity, and levity to the green movement." - Brian Merchant, best-selling author, The One Device "On every page of this rip-roaring read I found myself, my partner, my neighbour, my colleagues, my family, and my friends and every holier-than-thou temptation, every emptying out of the compost bin, every person who berated me for traveling for work with refugees. Hypocrisy is in our DNA, and in this book it is both hilariously observed, with all the dry wit of a Brit, and pragmatically harnessed for good. I honestly could not put it down. It's a tour de force for hope. And kindness. And love for the world and the future." - Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts, University of Glasgow