Screw Light bulbs

Screw Light bulbs
Donna Green and Liz Minchin
ISBN 9781742580685
AUD$32.95

Attempting to navigate through the myriad of facts and figures pertaining to what is causing and what can be done about climate change is a business fraught with confusion, pitfalls and frustrations.

Statistics can be hard to come by, not always reliable (depending on who published them and why) and can be hard to understand without a degree in science, statistics or both. Personally, being a relative newby into the field, I often feel a lack of background information on some topics that are bought up at meetings and discussions. I tend to nod along in agreement without really understanding.

Enter Dr Donna Green (CSIRO and The University of New South Wales' Climate Change Research Centre) and Liz Minchin (The Age newspaper) and their wonderful book 'Screw Light bulbs' which attempts to guide those of us keen to do a little bit more than simply wade through the quagmire. Based on years of research and interviews it explains many examples of not only how governments, businesses and individuals can make a difference, but real life studies of those who have. The title may suggest that the book is critical of the small changes that so many of us are encouraged to make. That really in the grand scheme of things, changing your light bulbs or shower heads make such a minimal difference they're a waste of time. It is, however, more critical of the policy behind these campaigns. It says the public (and businesses) should be encouraged to change their light bulbs and much, much more, not only through positive marketing campaigns but through changes to policy that make some activities that are so harmful to our environment, not only attractive, but nigh on impossible to access alternatives.

'Screw Light bulbs' is divided into six fairly logical sections relating to the areas of our lives and lifestyle that are usually mentioned when discussing climate change

1. The implications, economic cost and importance of climate change as well as Australia's ranking and place in the world
2. Retail, shopping and consumption
3. Resources and energy
4. Transport
5. Housing and urban planning
6. Emissions trading, carbon taxes and other policy decisions

Each chapter or section is neatly divided into sub sections not only full of plenty of relevant positive examples from around the world but also examples of policy decisions that we are only now realising the implications of, including:

• Woking, a small town in the UK has operated off the grid for nearly 20 years, generating it's own renewable energy from a variety of sources and providing inspiration to many other cities, Sydney included.
• The key decisions made in the 1950s that sent Sydney spiralling from possessing a world class transport system into the traffic chaos it is now infamous for.
• How small, densely packed cities such as London and Delhi managed to rework and create efficient transport systems respectively, again providing inspiration to Australian cities, most significantly Perth.

This is an excellent book and whilst it's aimed at those of us already applying many changes in our lives, there is also plenty for those just dipping their toes into the subject who are keen to be in possession of (hopefully) reliable statistics and case studies before fully committing to changing behaviours.

As an added bonus, all royalties from sales of the book will be donated to climate adaptation work in the Torres Strait and to the International Women's Development agency.

www.screwlightbulbs.com