1. We are running out of time

The latest scientific studies show climate change is accelerating faster that the international scientific community predicted. By the end of the century, temperatures may rise by 1.7°C to 7°C above pre-industrial levels. This means that children born today may witness a temperature change equal to the one that took place between the last Ice Age and the present. Scientists say that, if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must level out by 2015. What does this mean? First: we're in very serious trouble. Second: we still have time. Third: our hope lies in political action in our communities, at every level of government and in the international arena. In December of this year, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to negotiate the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The decisions they make in Copenhagen will shape the history of the world. And there may not be another chance. Visit this page to send a message to Canadian politicians and tell them to take action at Copenhagen.

2. We can't save the planet as individuals.

'Green living' is often presented as a set of consumer choices and personal habits. Buy organic produce, drive a hybrid right car, find toxic-free cleansers and you're good to go, you've done your part. But these choices, on their own, are not enough. In fact, the focus on personal choice is part of the problem. As the introduction of the Greenpeace Living Guide explains, "The problem is not the issue of personal choice—it's the doctrine of personal choice. We are constantly being told that change begins with us, that only we can solve our own problems, that we are the authors of our destinies. These are, in fact, ideological statements, rooted in a free market aversion to collective action. To get ourselves through to the next century, we will need to shake off the phantasm of an exclusively personal destiny and couple our individual choices with real, penalty-laden national and international environmental regulations. To get ourselves through to the next century, we will need a collective privileging of human lives and futures over corporate profits." In other words, it's not up you. It's up to us.

3. 'Green living' can't replace social transformation
(but it might try).

There's nothing wrong with reducing your own, personal environmental impacts. We encourage you, for example, to avoid unsustainable seafood and choose ancient forest friendly tissue products. But 'good' consumer choices can't replace the fundamental social and economic transformation required to avert global environmental catastrophe. In fact, the focus on good consumer choices is taking us, as a movement, further and further away from our objective: protect the planet for communities and for future generations.

For a whole book full of inspiring, world-changing ideas, order The Greenpeace Living Guide today.