{"product_id":"the-day-the-world-stops-shopping-how-ending-consumerism-saves-the-environment-and-ourselves-isbn-9780062856029","title":"The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsuming less is our best strategy for saving the\u003cbr\u003eplanet—but can we do it? In this thoughtful and surprisingly optimistic book,\u003cbr\u003ejournalist J. B. MacKinnon investigates how we may achieve a world without\u003cbr\u003eshopping.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe can’t stop shopping. And yet we\u003cbr\u003emust. This is the consumer dilemma.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cbr\u003eeconomy says we must always consume more: even the slightest drop in spending leads\u003cbr\u003eto widespread unemployment, bankruptcy, and home foreclosure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe planet says we consume too much: in America, we\u003cbr\u003eburn the earth’s resources at a rate five times faster than it can regenerate.\u003cbr\u003eAnd despite efforts to “green” our consumption—by recycling, increasing energy\u003cbr\u003eefficiency, or using solar power—we have yet to see a decline in global carbon emissions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAddressing this paradox head-on, acclaimed journalist\u003cbr\u003eJ. B. MacKinnon asks, \u003cem\u003eWhat\u003cbr\u003ewould really happen if we simply stopped shopping?\u003c\/em\u003e Is there a\u003cbr\u003eway to reduce our consumption to earth-saving levels without triggering\u003cbr\u003eeconomic collapse? At first this question took him around the world, seeking\u003cbr\u003eanswers from America’s big-box stores to the hunter-gatherer cultures of\u003cbr\u003eNamibia to communities in Ecuador that consume at an exactly sustainable rate. Then\u003cbr\u003ethe thought experiment came shockingly true: the coronavirus brought shopping\u003cbr\u003eto a halt, and MacKinnon’s ideas were tested in real time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing from experts in fields ranging from climate\u003cbr\u003echange to economics, MacKinnon investigates how living with less would change\u003cbr\u003eour planet, our society, and ourselves. Along the way, he reveals just how much\u003cbr\u003ewe stand to gain: An investment in our physical and emotional wellness. The\u003cbr\u003epleasure of caring for our possessions. Closer relationships with our natural\u003cbr\u003eworld and one another. Imaginative and inspiring, \u003cem\u003eThe Day the World Stops Shopping \u003c\/em\u003ewill\u003cbr\u003eembolden you to envision another way.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“J.B. MacKinnon’s \u003cem\u003eThe Day the World Stops Shopping\u003c\/em\u003e is a welcome and rare mix: a strong environmental argument and a jaunty picaresque. For the former, MacKinnon makes a convincing case that we need to shop less now. Green consumerism, in MacKinnon’s telling, isn’t just about buying ecologically-sound stuff or recycling our rubbish. It’s about buying many fewer things, leaving us so much less to recycle in the first place. You will want to buy this book and after you read it, little else.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlissa Quart, author of Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America and Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A provocative thought experiment that asks us to imagine what currently seems unthinkable, this is a beautifully written and rigorously researched revelation, an extraordinary creative journey to a place we urgently need to go. Full of hope and deep thought, unassuming and devoid of preaching, it is an exciting and truly inspiring read. I couldn’t put it down.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoel Bakan, author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power and The New Corporation: How “Good” Corporations are Bad for Democracy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Dissecting the dilemma at civilization’s heart—the burden that reckless growth heaps upon the faltering Earth—J.B. MacKinnon lays out a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in a gripping, page-turning read. With wit, precision, and startling insights from around the world, he looks deeply into what we have done, and might do so much better. A model of clarity and grace,\u003cem\u003e The Day the World Stops Shopping\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the most important and well-written books I have read.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRonald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A well-researched and provocative analysis offering hope and optimism for our future.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Well-researched and stimulating. Readers will be galvanized to make changes in their own buying habits.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In a large pool of often simplistic manuals for simple living, this book stands out for its curiosity, humanity and genuinely global appreciation of why we consume too much and what to do about it.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrank Trentmann, author of Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Witty and erudite…. Expertly showing the complex relationship between consumer culture and nature, this insightful account offers a starting point for change (and optimism).” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A journalist crafts an eloquent call to scale back shopping and consumption in wealthy countries, thereby allowing our exhausted planet a chance to heal and regenerate.\"    - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“MacKinnon has a bricklayer’s talent for achieving beauty out of stacks of facts and statistics. . . . In wrestling with the realities of incremental change, examining our collective consumption and his own, MacKinnon says a great deal about what it is to be human during this moment on Earth, and how to live a meaningful life as one consumer among many. Surely part of the trick is to dare to imagine, as MacKinnon does, a scenario in which our prognosis improves, even a little.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSierra Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889480397029,"sku":"NP9780062856029","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062856029.jpg?v=1730231343","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-day-the-world-stops-shopping-how-ending-consumerism-saves-the-environment-and-ourselves-isbn-9780062856029","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}