Consumers Guide to Effective Environmental Choices Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists

From one of the most prestigious nonprofit organizations devoted to environmental issues comes a clear, practical, and rational overview of the relationship between consumers and the environment.

Paper or plastic? Bus or car? Old house or new? Cloth diapers or disposables? Some choices have a huge impact on the environment; others are of negligible importance. To those of us who care about our quality of life and what is happening to the earth, this is a vastly important issue. In these pages, the Union of Concerned Scientists help inform consumers about everyday decisions that significantly affect the environment. For example, a few major decisions — such as the choice of a house or vehicle — have such a disproportionately large affect on the environment that minor environmental infractions shrink by comparison.

This book identifies the 4 Most Significant Consumer-Related Environmental Problems, the 7 Most Damaging Spending Categories, 11 Priority Actions, and 7 Rules for Responsible Consumption. Learn what you can do to have a truly significant impact on our world from the people who are at the forefront of scientific research.

"[S]ound, practical advice, based on thoughtful analysis of how our ordinary daily actions affect the environment." Booklist

A clear, practical, and rational overview of the choices consumers can make that will have a large positive impact on the environment — and of the highly touted concerns that are not worth worrying about.

Michael Brower, Ph.D., is a physicist and expert on energy and environmental issues. Warren Leon, Ph.D., is deputy director for programs at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Since 1969, the Union of Concerned Scientists has brought scientists and citizens together to work for a healthy environment and a safe world.