The Living-Green Myth
Major 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 some environmental groups tell us that buying environmentally friendly products while living more lightly on the planet is a winning strategy. Do the little things for the earth, the story goes, and others will follow, creating an environmental tsunami of change in norms, values and behaviors. The planet will thrive.

Michael Maniates isn't buying it. He believes the mantra of “buy green, live lean, save the planet” is a con of recent and unseemly origin. It fosters pernicious assumptions about social change, separates individuals from their real power in the world, and fuels damaging consumption. It thrives because it meets the short-term priorities of governments and business, not the long-term needs of the planet's human and non-human inhabitants.

Environmentally concerned individuals can make a meaningful difference in the world, and living green is a start. But alone, it can do more harm than good. We must embrace more rewarding and effective practices for saving the planet. This book shows us how.
1147048313
The Living-Green Myth
Major 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 some environmental groups tell us that buying environmentally friendly products while living more lightly on the planet is a winning strategy. Do the little things for the earth, the story goes, and others will follow, creating an environmental tsunami of change in norms, values and behaviors. The planet will thrive.

Michael Maniates isn't buying it. He believes the mantra of “buy green, live lean, save the planet” is a con of recent and unseemly origin. It fosters pernicious assumptions about social change, separates individuals from their real power in the world, and fuels damaging consumption. It thrives because it meets the short-term priorities of governments and business, not the long-term needs of the planet's human and non-human inhabitants.

Environmentally concerned individuals can make a meaningful difference in the world, and living green is a start. But alone, it can do more harm than good. We must embrace more rewarding and effective practices for saving the planet. This book shows us how.
44.95 Pre Order
The Living-Green Myth

The Living-Green Myth

by Michael Maniates
The Living-Green Myth

The Living-Green Myth

by Michael Maniates

Hardcover

$44.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Available for Pre-Order. This item will be released on November 24, 2025

Related collections and offers


Overview

Major 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 some environmental groups tell us that buying environmentally friendly products while living more lightly on the planet is a winning strategy. Do the little things for the earth, the story goes, and others will follow, creating an environmental tsunami of change in norms, values and behaviors. The planet will thrive.

Michael Maniates isn't buying it. He believes the mantra of “buy green, live lean, save the planet” is a con of recent and unseemly origin. It fosters pernicious assumptions about social change, separates individuals from their real power in the world, and fuels damaging consumption. It thrives because it meets the short-term priorities of governments and business, not the long-term needs of the planet's human and non-human inhabitants.

Environmentally concerned individuals can make a meaningful difference in the world, and living green is a start. But alone, it can do more harm than good. We must embrace more rewarding and effective practices for saving the planet. This book shows us how.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781509527465
Publisher: Polity Press
Publication date: 11/24/2025
Series: Environmental Futures
Pages: 152
Product dimensions: 5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael Maniates is former Professor of Social Science and former Chair of Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS College in Singapore.  His teaching, research and writing have focused broadly on environmental politics, sustainable consumption, and oppositional forces to transformative environmental governance.  He has authored or co-authored five books and dozens of articles, opinion pieces, book chapters and review essays.  His recent work explored systems of sustainable consumption and production, social innovations for a low-growth/high-prosperity world, and the pitfalls and promise of conscientious consumption.  A teacher-scholar at heart, he is most proud of his 30+ years of working closely with undergraduate students in liberal-arts colleges (Allegheny College, Oberlin College and Yale-NUS College), and the contributions he has made to the design and implementation of empowering interdisciplinary environmental-studies programs in North America and Southeast Asia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments


1.   Five Guys in a Room                             

2.   Making a Difference Differently             

3.   Why Environmentalists Don't Get Invited to Parties    

4.   Living Green to Make a Difference           

Postscript: Two Metaphors

              
Further Reading                 
Notes
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews