The game questions are based on the information in our book The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices. Visit our publications section to order the book or read more about it below...
Get Involved
Now that you have played the Great Green Web game you probably want to know how you can get involved. The Union of Concerned Scientists Action Network provides a way for you to send e-mails and faxes to your elected officials on the most pressing environmental issues of the day. You will receive periodic email updates and action alerts that will allow you to stay informed, speak out and make a difference. By using the network, you can create your own member profile and specify your interest in our program areas. If you are short on time, you can simply reply to the email alerts and we will automatically send messages from you to your decision makers. Visit the UCS Action Network
The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices
Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists
by Michael Brower, PhD, and Warren Leon, PhD
Three Rivers Press, 1999. 304 pages. ISBN 0-609-80281-X
Paper or plastic? Bus or car? Old house or new? Cloth diapers or disposables? Some choices have a formidable impact on the environment while others are negligible. How do you know which choices matter? UCS's book--The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices--helps you identify what you should consider carefully as you make your purchases and what you can safely ignore.
UCS's Consumer's Guide offers the first comprehensive look at the full range of modern consumer activities, identifying those that cause the most environmental damage and those that cause the least. It shows that only a few activities--our use of cars and trucks, consumption of meat, and choice of homes and appliances--are responsible for causing the greatest amounts of environmental damage by far.
"In light of this, some consumer decisions, like whether to choose paper or plastic grocery bags, seem fairly insignificant," says Warren Leon, deputy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Our book shows people how to focus on those consumer choices that will make the greatest difference to the environment."
The book's findings are drawn from an analysis of the impacts of household spending on present levels of air pollution, water pollution, alteration of natural habitats, and global warming. After grouping 134 consumer spending choices into 50 categories (such as furnishings, clothing, computers), the authors discovered that the highest levels of environmental degradation are linked to just seven categories:- cars
- meat
- produce and grains
- household appliances and lighting
- home heating and cooling
- home construction
- household water and sewage
Cars and light trucks (including minivans and pickups) cause the highest amount of environmental damage overall--nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than a quarter of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. "Driving less and using a cleaner car are the best things people can do for the environment," says physicist Michael Brower. "Because cars cause so much harm, even modest changes matter."
Maintaining our present food supply is second only to transportation as a source of consumer-related environmental damage. "Consumption of red meat causes a particularly high degree of damage for the nutrition it delivers," says Brower. "Replacing beef with grains and produce, or even chicken, can significantly improve the environment. People can help the environment by buying organic foods, too."
In contrast to the attention given to such highly conspicuous sources of pollution, UCS's research suggests that people can stop worrying about other choices that are relatively insignificant for the environment. "The book sweeps away confusion over what matters and doesn't matter," says Leon. "No one should feel guilty about modest use of such things as spray cans, paper napkins, and polystyrene cups."
"This engaging book gives consumers the information they need to vote with their wallets for a better environmental future."
-Gary Hirshberg, President, Stonyfield Farm Yogurt
"Too many people drive their Land Rovers to the grocery store and think that 'paper or plastic' is a meaningful choice. The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices will help you distinguish the crucial from the trivial and make choices that are congruent with your values."
-Denis Hayes, Chair, Earth Day 2000
