Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution

Price: $25.99 - $16.99
(as of Oct 07, 2026 23:57:12 UTC – Details)


“A plethora of insights about nature and ourselves, revealed by one man’s journey as he comes to terms with human exploitation of our planet.” —Dr. James Hansen, climate scientist and former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Life on one-tenth the fossil fuels turns out to be awesome.
We all want to be happy. Yet as we consume ever more in a frantic bid for happiness, global warming worsens.
Alarmed by drastic changes now occurring in the Earth’s climate systems, Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist and suburban father of two, embarked on a journey to change his life and the world. He began by bicycling, growing food, meditating, and making other simple, fulfilling changes. Ultimately, he slashed his climate impact to under a tenth of the US average and became happier in the process.
Being the Change explores the connections between our individual daily actions and our collective predicament. It merges science, spirituality, and practical action to develop a satisfying and appropriate response to global warming.
Part one exposes our interconnected predicament: overpopulation, global warming, industrial agriculture, growth-addicted economics, a sold-out political system, and a mindset of separation from nature. It also includes a readable but authoritative overview of climate science. Part two offers a response at once obvious and unprecedented: mindfully opting out of this broken system and aligning our daily lives with the biosphere.
The core message is deeply optimistic: living without fossil fuels is not only possible, it can be better.
“In this timely and provocative book, Peter Kalmus points out that changing the world has to start with changing our own lives. It’s a crucial message that needs to be heard.”
—John Michael Greer, author of After Progress and The Retro Future
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B073SN835P
Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Society Publishers
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 7.2 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 387 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1771422437
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #892,373 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #97 in Sustainable Development Economics #167 in Green Lifestyle Self-Help eBooks #326 in Sustainable Business Development
Customer Reviews: 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (147) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers find this book well-researched and thought-provoking, providing an excellent overview of climate science and giving readers a lot to think about. They appreciate the author’s eloquent writing style, with one customer noting that he lives what he writes.