Leave the Lights On

'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.

Elizabeth Dunn is Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and directs UBC's Happy Lab. Her TED talk has had nearly 5 million views.
J. Z. Zhao is Associate Professor of Psychology and Sustainability and founded the Behavioral Sustainability Lab at the University of British Columbia; her TED talk was selected as one of the top TED Talks to be a better you in 2024.