How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything

256 pages

English language

Published March 3, 2020 by Profile Books Ltd.

ISBN:: 978-1-78816-381-1

(1 review)

How Bad Are Bananas? was a groundbreaking book when first published in 2009, when most of us were hearing the phrase 'carbon footprint' for the first time. Mike Berners-Lee set out to inform us what was important (aviation, heating, swimming pools) and what made very little difference (bananas, naturally packaged, are good!). This new edition updates all the figures (from data centres to hosting a World Cup) and introduces many areas that have become a regular part of modern life - Twitter, the Cloud, Bitcoin, electric bikes and cars, even space tourism. Berners-Lee runs a considered eye over each area and gives us the figures to manage and reduce our own carbon footprint, as well as to lobby our companies, businesses and government. His findings, presented in clear and even entertaining prose, are often surprising. And they are essential if we are to address climate change.

2 editions

Primo Natura reviewed How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee

The Book of Interesting Facts

5 stars

Finished this book last year and it seems I never marked it as complete on here. Nevertheless, here is my viewpoint.

Mike Berners-Lee's book is best used for referring from as opposed to reading from front to back. Personally, I borrow most of my books from the library however, this is one of the few environmental books I own. The book is filled with statistics which is useful for bloggers, content creators or anyone who likes data, I have referenced his work in my blog.

His book is broken into several chapters starting with small and ending with large carbon emissions. Such examples include the emissions from a glass of water or paper tower to a flight on a plane. Mike Berners-Lee's book does not lecture anyone; instead, it offers advice.