How Bad Are Bananas? Book Summary - How Bad Are Bananas? Book explained in key points

How Bad Are Bananas? summary

Name: How Bad Are Bananas?
Rating: 4.2 (137 reviews)
Author: Mike Berners-Lee

Mike Berners-Lee

The Carbon Footprint of Everything

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4.2 (137 ratings)

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What is How Bad Are Bananas? about?

In How Bad are Bananas? (2010), author Mike Berner-Lee provides readers with an A-to-Z guide of how they can start living a more environmentally conscious life and reduce their own carbon footprint. You may think you’re familiar with climate change and carbon footprints, but do you really know the everyday activities that contribute to the current environmental crisis? From grocery shopping to washing your clothes, you’ll learn how to be more efficient and less wasteful.

About the Author

Mike Berners-Lee is a professor at Lancaster University and the founding director of Small World Consulting, a company that specializes in measuring the carbon footprint of services and products worldwide. He is also the author of The Burning Question: We Can't Burn Half the World's Oil, Coal and Gas. So How Do We Quit? (2013) and a frequent contributor to the Guardian.

Table of Contents

Key idea 1 of 9

A carbon footprint takes into consideration many harmful gases, and the average size varies around the world.

These days, you don’t have to be an environmental scientist to have heard the term carbon footprint. It gets used a lot in discussions about global warming or climate change and refers to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) that gets released during certain processes, whether by a corporation or just one person.

However, carbon dioxide is but one of many gases that contribute to global warming and a carbon footprint. Such harmful emissions are known as greenhouse gases and some of them are far more damaging than CO₂. Methane (CH₄), for example, is twenty-five times as harmful as CO₂, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) is three hundred times worse. And then there are refrigerant gases, which are used in cooling systems and can be several thousand times more potent than CO₂.

In the United Kingdom, CO₂ accounts for 86 percent of its greenhouse gas output, while methane accounts for 7 percent, nitrous oxide 6 percent and refrigerant gases 1 percent.

Since we know how potent all these other gases are in relation to CO₂, a carbon footprint provides an accurate reading on all the major harmful emissions being released. This conversion method is known as carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO₂e.

The average size of a carbon footprint varies from country to country, but it tends to be bigger in the developed world. In Malawi, for example, the average carbon footprint of a person is around 0.1 metric tons of CO₂e per year. The average person in the United Kingdom, however, measures up at around 15 metric tons per year, while the average North American comes in at around 28, and Australians at 30 metric tons. As for the planet as a whole, in 2007 we produced around 49 billion metric tons of CO₂e.

Being British, the author hopes to help the United Kingdom reduce harmful emissions by a significant yet reasonable amount. Berners-Lee has laid the groundwork for such a reduction through what he calls the 10-tonne lifestyle, which would result in the average person going from 15 to 10 metric tons per year – a one-third reduction of each person’s carbon footprint.

In the blinks that follow, we’ll take a closer look at the steps you can take to adopt this lifestyle.

Text messages and emails are low impact, but these small things can add up quickly.

Over the past few decades, computers, mobile devices and cell phones have changed the way we work and communicate. But you may not be aware of the ways you can use this technology more responsibly.

For example, texting someone instead of making a cell-phone call leaves a smaller footprint since it takes up less energy.

In some ways, plastic is better than paper for the environment.

Most of us would probably guess that paper is better for the environment than plastic, but from the carbon dioxide equivalent standpoint, plastic actually beats paper.

That doesn’t mean plastic is good for the environment. On the contrary, plastic debris can linger in the environment for centuries and harm animals in the process. But as far as CO₂e emissions go, plastic is marginally better since it doesn’t rot and create methane emissions like paper does.

Different ways of traveling have different carbon footprints, with flying being the worst.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to know that the gasoline and diesel fueling our cars and trucks leave a big carbon footprint. To produce just one liter adds around 3.15 kilograms CO₂e to a carbon footprint. And in one year, the United Kingdom alone uses around 50 billion liters of gasoline, so its impact on our global footprint is considerable, to say the least.

But if we look at all the different ways to get around, you might be surprised at which method leaves the biggest footprint.

Local produce and meat from nonruminant animals have lower carbon footprints.

You may have heard that a vegetarian or vegan diet is better for the environment, but, in truth, what you eat is less important than where it comes from.

Local fruit will have a small footprint, but if you’re eating fruit that traveled halfway around the world to get to your supermarket, that fruit comes with a big one.

Your favorite beverages may have bigger carbon footprints than you imagine.

When it comes to thinking about your carbon footprint, you might not give too much thought to your beverage selection. But there’s a considerable difference between some of the options you have, whether it’s the kind of water you drink or whether you order a black coffee or a latte.

For starters, you should be aware that bottled water leaves a much bigger footprint than tap water.

You can clean up in more environmentally conscious ways.

When you leave your home, do you ever wonder: Did I turn the oven off? Or, did I leave the iron on? It makes sense to worry about potential fire hazards, but it also makes sense to question whether you’re needlessly wasting energy. So next time, before you leave, make sure you’ve turned the lights off along with all your other appliances.

You can also reduce your footprint by washing your clothes more efficiently.

Harmful gases can come from nature, but human-made emissions are much more numerous.

There are some folks who believe that the environmental damage caused by humans has been exaggerated, and that the harm we’ve done doesn’t hold a candle to what Mother Nature can do to herself.

One such example in this erroneous line of thinking is volcanoes, which are known to emit greenhouse gases even when they’re not erupting.

Eating in a more environmentally conscious way can greatly reduce your carbon footprint.

So, if you’d really like to start a 10-tonne lifestyle, one of the best ways to start is to look at your diet. Since it accounts for 20 percent of your own footprint, being more considerate about what you eat is the perfect place to start.

The first thing to do is eat less meat and dairy.

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Who should read How Bad Are Bananas?

Anyone curious about their own carbon footprint
Environmentalists in the fight against global warming
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How Bad Are Bananas? summary

Listen to the first key idea

What is How Bad Are Bananas? about?

About the Author

A carbon footprint takes into consideration many harmful gases, and the average size varies around the world.

Text messages and emails are low impact, but these small things can add up quickly.

In some ways, plastic is better than paper for the environment.

Different ways of traveling have different carbon footprints, with flying being the worst.

Local produce and meat from nonruminant animals have lower carbon footprints.

Your favorite beverages may have bigger carbon footprints than you imagine.

You can clean up in more environmentally conscious ways.

Harmful gases can come from nature, but human-made emissions are much more numerous.

Eating in a more environmentally conscious way can greatly reduce your carbon footprint.

Key ideas in How Bad Are Bananas?

A carbon footprint takes into consideration many harmful gases, and the average size varies around the world.

Text messages and emails are low impact, but these small things can add up quickly.

In some ways, plastic is better than paper for the environment.

Different ways of traveling have different carbon footprints, with flying being the worst.

Local produce and meat from nonruminant animals have lower carbon footprints.

Your favorite beverages may have bigger carbon footprints than you imagine.

You can clean up in more environmentally conscious ways.

Harmful gases can come from nature, but human-made emissions are much more numerous.

Eating in a more environmentally conscious way can greatly reduce your carbon footprint.

Who should read How Bad Are Bananas?

Categories with How Bad Are Bananas?

Books like How Bad Are Bananas?

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