I was reminded of this Bluesky post by @garius about the Cambridge Encyclopedia being his ‘origin story’. Which led to others sharing the books that formed their origin stories.
For some, it was Men At Arms (sponsored link), book 15 in Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series which introduces the Sam Vimes theory of socioeconomic unfairness. For me, it was The Young Green Consumer Guide (sponsored link), a book for kids with practical advice for being kinder to the environment.
It was published in 1990, and so undoubtedly some of its advice no longer applies. For example, the hole in the o-zone layer isn’t the issue it was, and we don’t drive cars that run on leaded petrol. Indeed it was about the time that I first read this book that my parents had their Ford Escort modified to run on unleaded petrol.
Ever since reading it, I’ve tried to do my bit for protecting the environment – initially with the support of my parents. We used to bundle up our recycling (just paper, glass and metals back then) to take to the local supermarket, before doorstep collections became a thing. We were also relatively early adopters of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs, and we had our windows replaced with double glazing. Of course, many of the things that we did that helped the environment, also saved us money in the long run.
Into adulthood, I retain my commitment to recycling where possible. At home, we have solar panels and we (well, currently just my wife) drive an electric car. When we bought our house, we replaced all the light bulbs with LED bulbs, which are even more efficient than compact fluorescent ones. Environmental issues have always been a big thing for me, and this book was where it all started.
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