“Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle: Why Individual Climate Action Matters More than Ever” is a rambling, intriguing investigation into the notion of adopting a carbon footprint in line with +1.5C, ranging over the many complexities of measurement, allocation, and achievability. An architect by trade and a teacher in sustainable design and a prolific carbon crisis writer, Canadian Lloyd Alter does not really offer a neophyte a prescription on how to fulfil the book’s title, but rather he addresses the relatively educated concerned citizen with a far-ranging discussion into issues such as personal versus collective action; embodied carbon; the subtleties of aiming for a low-carbon living/commuting environment; and the now-long debated notion, explored by many designers, of sufficiency as preferable to either fully electrified or rendered efficient via technology. In the end, Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle settled nothing in my muddled thinking on the subject, but I recommend it to anyone commencing detailed exploration.
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