Inconspicuous Consumption

The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have

By: Tatiana Schlossberg

Narrated by: Tatiana Schlossberg

*First Place Winner of the Society of Environmental Journalists' Rachel Carson Environment Book Award*

"If you're looking for something to cling to in what often feels like a hopeless conversation, Schlossberg's darkly humorous, knowledge-is-power, eyes-wide-open approach may be just the thing."--Vogue

From a former New York Times science writer, this urgent call to action will empower you to stand up to climate change and environmental pollution by making simple but impactful everyday choices.

With urgency and wit, Tatiana Schlossberg explains that far from being only a distant problem of the natural world created by the fossil fuel industry, climate change is all around us, all the time, lurking everywhere in our convenience-driven society, all without our realizing it.

By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps readers better understand why climate change is such a complicated issue, and how it connects all of us: How streaming a movie on Netflix in New York burns coal in Virginia; how eating a hamburger in California might contribute to pollution in the Gulf of Mexico; how buying an inexpensive cashmere sweater in Chicago expands the Mongolian desert; how destroying forests from North Carolina is necessary to generate electricity in England.

Cataloging the complexities and frustrations of our carbon-intensive society with a dry sense of humor, Schlossberg makes the climate crisis and its solutions interesting and relevant to everyone who cares, even a little, about the planet. She empowers readers to think about their stuff and the environment in a new way, helping them make more informed choices when it comes to the future of our world.

Most importantly, this is a book about the power we have as voters and consumers to make sure that the fight against climate change includes all of us and all of our stuff, not just industry groups and politicians. If we have any hope of solving the problem, we all have to do it together.

"A compelling-and illuminating-look at how our daily habits impact the environment."--Vanity Fair

"Shows how even the smallest decisions can have profound environmental consequences."--The New York Times

Critic reviews

"Focusing on food, fashion, technology and fuel, she shows how even the smallest decisions can have profound environmental consequences."—New York Times

"A compelling-and illuminating-look at how our daily habits impact the environment...[Schlossberg's] wry, sometimes self-deprecating humor makes the depth of research and information provided throughout the book go down easy."—VanityFair

"Inconspicuous Consumption is scary informative-in both senses-but also oddly enjoyable, filled with salty jokes and fun (or not so fun) facts...If you're looking for something to cling to in what often feels like a hopeless conversation, Schlossberg's darkly humorous, knowledge-is-power, eyes-wide-open approach may be just the thing."—Vogue

"To solve the climate crisis, it is crucial that we address the
problems in the way our democracy is functioning. In her illuminating book, Inconspicuous Consumption, Tatiana Schlossberg does just that by exploring how individuals, corporations, and governments are all contributing to this crisis, and how we need to work together to help fix it."—Former Vice President Al Gore

"Entertaining and eye-opening...the sharp, well written book doesn't read like an admonishment; instead it's a call to action that reminds us all of our responsibility and capability to change the world."—Town & Country

"The author breaks complex issues down to be understandable to the lay reader, while her humor and wit ensure that readers will close the book feeling energized rather than hopeless."—Booklist (starred review)

"Readers will find solace, humor and a route to feeling empowered with possibilities for positive change, rather than drained by an accumulation of bad news."—Society of Environmental Journalists' Judges for the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award

"The subject of climate change is inescapable, as it should be, but too few stories focus on one's everyday impact upon the environment. In Inconspicuous Consumption, former New York Times science writer Tatiana Schlossberg breaks down exactly how everyday activities - watching Netflix, eating a burger, turning on the light - impact the environment."—Bustle

"How many chances do we get each day to make a meaningful difference for Earth? Plenty, says environmental writer Tatiana Schlossberg. Can we eradicate ecodespair? With knowledge, context, and applicable insight, yes, absolutely. Moreover, as thoughtful citizens we can begin to reverse ecodystopia to utopia. Inconspicuous Consumption is smart, funny, and helpful, and this is everything because our Earth deserves our full attention."—Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food for Millionairesand Pachinko, finalist for the National Book Award

Read before it’s even more late

A depressing depiction . Should be required in elementary and high schools. For those of us routinely clothed in oil it may be too late.

Well Thought Our

Great review of most pressing issues and the complications of our impact on these issues and resolving them.

Knowledge Is Power

This book gives readers the tools to better comprehend and address the greatest challenges we face today, giving us a more holistic and informed view of climate change in a way that is engaging, accessible, and laugh out loud funny.

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Dissapointing

Someone recommended this book to me but I was disappointed after reading it. To the author's credit, she covers a lot of topics and some with some level of depth. However, I was surprised on the topic of GMOs while addressing Food as she basically gave Monsanto's talking points that they are a good thing and if you are against them then you are a science denier. She claimed that pesticide use in the US has decreased with GMOs which is not true. In fact, the use of Roundup (Glyphosate) has increased significantly and it is now proven to be cancer producing. Plus these pesticides end up in rivers and contaminate the water and oceans.

Great topic, but execution could be better

This book was something I always wanted to read - a guide that better informs the average consumer about our impact so we can make better choices. After all, we're not expected to be experts on cotton watering needs or denim recycling in order to buy jeans. This book tackles a decent number of those exact topics, though the Omnivores Dilemma appears to be better for understanding food consumption.

But the execution and writing is rough - there is a very dry sense of humor throughout that breaks up the narrative in a very distracting way. There is also a mix of stats that don't mean much (e.g. 100 trillion pounds of something) rather than establishing a simpler or cohesive metric, or using more relatable term (e.g. consistently discussing percentage of overall energy use rather than some unrelatable unit like BTUs). Finally, there are often tangents on how our consumption affects our socioeconomic environment rather than the natural environment - both are important, but I find it distracting to switch between the two. For example, when discussing cashmere, I found it confusing to switch between the climate of the Gobi desert and the plight of the nomadic way of goat herders...both are important, but only one of those is within the narrative I was expecting in this book. Finally, after reading this book I feel more confused about what to do than before - the conclusion from the author on most topics was unactionable, or just a version of throwing up our hands and saying, "this stuff is complicated, so I guess we'll never really know what the right thing to do is".

An important topic, but I hope another author can write a more actionable guide for consumers who care about their impact.