Description

‘Improve your happiness and wellbeing while also reducing your carbon footprint? Many would argue that this is too good to be true; Dunn and Zhao expertly show us that it is not’ Hannah Ritchie, author of Not the End of the World

What if the most effective ways to fight climate change made you happy? What if we could make ourselves, and our planet, happier at the same time?

Psychologist Elizabeth Dunn and climate behaviour scientist J. Z. Zhao challenge everything we think we know about sustainable living. While most climate advice demands self-denial – eat less, travel less, want less – this groundbreaking book offers a counterintuitive truth: you can make your life better while saving our species at the same time.

Dunn and Zhao reveal how tweaking everyday decisions around food, travel, housing, and shopping can nudge us toward a tipping point of mass action – without tipping us into burnout. Discover that:

Joy is a powerful climate strategy: When you like the changes you’re making, you’re more likely to stick with them – and spread them.
You don’t have to go vegan or give up flying: Smart substitutions (chicken over beef, carry-on over checked bags) make a real dent in emissions with less personal friction.
Small talk matters: Normalizing climate conversations with friends and family helps shift social norms and catalyzes cultural change.
Learn to carbon budget: Approach your emissions like your finances: strategically, thoughtfully, and with long-term impact in mind.

With warmth, clarity and a refreshingly optimistic voice, Dunn and Zhao reframe what it means to ‘do your part’. Because sustainability doesn’t lie in doing everything, it lies in doing something, joyfully.

Publisher Review

This book makes it fun to fight climate change. A pair of experts in psychology and sustainability reveal how to protect the environment without making yourself miserable. — Adam Grant, bestselling author of ‘Think Again’ Combines rigorous research with practical wisdom to show that the most effective climate change actions are also the most personally rewarding ones – and that individual decisions can cascade into systemic change… Remarkable, scientifically sound, and genuinely inspiring. — Daniel H. Pink, author of ‘Drive’, ‘When’, and ‘The Power of Regret’ With crisp science, witty stories, and actionable tips, they offer a brilliant playbook for making small choices that add up to a big impact. I loved it! — Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of ‘The How of Happiness’ Smart, funny, and truly illuminating, Leave the Lights On is grounded in cutting-edge science and filled with practical advice about how to live more joyfully and more sustainably at precisely the same time. — Daniel Gilbert, author of ‘Stumbling on Happiness’ Leave the Lights On is a must read. This book will help people make smarter, happier choices-and stick with them. — Annie Duke, author of ‘Thinking in Bets’ Where do joy and climate action meet? Right here in this book-as they can in our lives. The authors offer us a guide to brightening the future we all share. — Katharine K. Wilkinson, author of ‘Climate Wayfinding’