How Bad Are Bananas

Our book recommendation this month comes from Joely Slinn, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Sustainability Officer

For those of us seeking to improve our daily impact on the planet, this book is a useful tool for just that. The How Bad Are Bananas? book by Mike Berners-Lee breaks down the science of climate change into simple terms and presents the carbon footprint of almost every consumption, travel and food choice we make every day – from washing up, to purchasing a takeaway curry, right through to buying a new house. The book presents the idea of a 5 tonne lifestyle; which is some way from the average carbon footprint of a person in the UK at 13 tonnes per year.  

The book has become a talking point for the sustainability team at WNC and has led to many interesting conversations in the office about the carbon impact of our tea and coffee habits, as well as the emails we send and receive! We have also recently made use of the accompanying How Bad Are Bananas? carbon footprint game by Future We Want, to help with our public engagement activities. The game is a simple higher or lower concept where players compare the carbon footprint of (most of) the products and activities included within the book. The game has so far proved an excellent tool for starting conversation about the climate and helping people to consider their choices and hopefully make some impactful changes. Some days it is hard not to feel overwhelmed by the climate crisis, but this book makes our individual impact feel more meaningful and I think we can all learn a thing or two from it.