Settled science: If we all live like hippies, we'll have less CO2-induced warm weather

'We need to set our own personal carbon targets' | Mark Boyle | Environment | guardian.co.uk

I propose that every one of us sets personal yearly targets for our own transition to a low carbon life, levels realistic enough to be achievable but radical enough to be appropriate. X by 2014, Y by 2014, Z by 2015. We berate politicians for failing to agree targets at summits such as Rio+20, yet ourselves refuse to create them on an individual level. I recently asked an audience of 300 environmentalists if they had committed to personal targets, and three hands went up. That 1% needs to become 100%.

One way, out of many, of doing this in the short term is to fully utilise what we already have. As a society we've produced enough stuff to last us a lifetime. Both we and the planet have been bled dry, and we need some time out. The benefits would be manifold: we could reduce our personal expenditure to the minimum, and therefore adopt the 21 hour week that the New Economics Foundation proposes and the life of leisure that Keynes once imagined. With the time we save we could do whatever we enjoy.