Climate change is the most serious issue of our generation. It will likely bring sea-level rise displacing millions, lead to the loss of thousands of species, reduce food production and create geopolitical tensions - all by the end of this century. The fact that human-caused climate change is happening is now beyond dispute in the scientific community, yet despite the awful consequences, many people are apathetic.
Low-Carbon and Loving It is an ordinary person's, easy-to-read guide to climate change. The book is divided into two sections. The problem of climate change includes sections on the causes of climate change, its consequences and reasons why we've done so little up to now. Then the solutions, looks at both 'big-picture' and 'small-picture' solutions, including concrete ways for the reader to lead a lower-carbon life.
The images, cartoons, 'Science Geek' and 'Myth-busting' boxes make Low-Carbon and Loving It an enjoyable read. The book gives readers an excellent understanding of climate change and empowers them to start making a personal response.
However, Low-carbon and Loving It is also the story of the Delaneys, an ordinary Australian family who have made some extraordinary choices. Mark and his wife have lived much of their working lives in the slums of India, befriending neighbours who struggle to survive day to day. The Delaneys have continued this lifestyle of voluntary simplicity for two decades. Their experience has given them a very different perspective on life.
It is these unique perspectives which allow father Mark, and co-author son Tom, to see afresh the climate crisis to which many in the West are blind. From their lives, they know a lower-carbon life is possible and even fulfilling, not only in India, but also in middle class Australia.
Mark completed Law & Commerce degrees at the University of Queensland in the 1990s and a Masters in International Development from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2005. After a short-term trip to India in 1989 he became passionate about serving the global poor. He and Cathy married in 1993 and left for India in 1995, where they have spent 20 years in the slums, raising their two sons Tom (21) and Oscar (16). Mark and his family continue to live in poor neighbourhoods (that Westerners might call slums). There they attempt to bring a little more compassion and justice, through informal responses to community issues, relationships with neighbours & working with local community organisations.
Tom is 21 years old. He has spent most of his life in Indian slums, periodically visiting family and friends in Australia. He has also studied at the University of Queensland, been a disability support worker and now teaches Hindi literacy to child labourers. Tom and his family have attempted to lead very low-carbon lives in the context of the high-carbon West and low-carbon slums. They've discovered that it is not only doable but can be fulfilling and fun.
