Massive environmental problems threaten our planet and evoke within us a need to act - a need to do something, no matter how small, to slow the damage.

But what kind of action? Businesses, governments, and environmental groups tell us that buying environmentally friendly products while living more lightly on the planet is a winning strategy. If enough of us make these changes to our lifestyles, governments and corporations will follow suit. Environmental solutions will emerge and the planet will prosper.

Michael Maniates believes that individuals can and must stop environmental destruction. But not by living green. The mantra of "buy green, live lean, save the planet" is a con: it fosters pernicious assumptions about social change, separates individuals from their real power in the world, and fuels damaging consumption. It's high time to find more rewarding and promising avenues for saving the planet. This book shows us how.

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Michael Maniates is Professor of Social Science (Environmental Studies) and inaugural Head of Studies of Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS College, Singapore.