Climate change is something we’re increasingly worried about. Every industry is working on how they can cut their carbon footprint. As a professor of sustainability, eco-fiction author and publisher, I will share the key ways in which we as writers and/or publishers can be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

In our content

The most important impact we have is the message we send with our writing. We learn in one of two ways. There is conscious learning, for example via lectures, but also subconscious learning about what is considered normal, acceptable or desired by those around us. This includes those we read about. Literary scholars refer to a process called ‘narrative transportation’ where we become so absorbed in a fictional storyline that we identify with the character, adopting his/her desires, motivations and beliefs as our own. Such identification can often persist beyond the reading of the book in what is called ‘the sleeper effect’. This can be powerful, in part because we are not consciously aware of it.

I worked with Bafta researching the influence of fictional characters on viewers’ consumption habits. Results confirmed previous findings on the role of fictional characters as influencers. Surveys revealed that most thought writers should think twice about promoting high-carbon activities such as flying, walk-in wardrobes and fast cars as aspirational.

Research into my novel ‘Habitat Man’ found that 98% of readers adopted more sustainable values and 60% at least one green alternative as a result of reading the book. This book is not explicitly about the environment or climate change – it is more of a rom-com with a hint of cosy mystery. Yet the main character sees the world through a nature lens. The reader is encouraged to see their back garden in a new way, alive with birds, bees and butterflies whose lives depend on our choices – whether to use slug pellets, or a wormer on our dogs, for example. Or whether to plant pollinator-friendly plants or allow our grass to grow a little longer. ‘Habitat Man’ digs up a body, and the scene with the natural burial inspired many to change their wills to specify natural burial methods.  

Often trying to live a sustainable lifestyle is not about what you do, but what you don’t do. Flying less, eating less meat, and so on. Being mindful of the impact of our choices upon the planet and avoiding waste are habits of mind as much as anything. Many of us are feeling the disconnect between consumerism and sustainability. We feel distress watching news stories about deforestation or images of baby whales dead from plastic, and fear at the dire warnings of climate scientists. Last Christmas I suspect I wasn’t alone finding myself surrounded by shiny wrapping paper and stuff I didn’t need and thinking – is this still okay? Your characters, whether you realise it or not, will have an attitude towards their consumption. It may be ‘more is better’, or it may be mindful of waste. Your characters may notice nature or treat the earth as something to be exploited without thought. Your heroine may go on a shopping spree or engage in a fashion swap or buy preloved. Your hero may cycle or have an SUV. These choices set the norms of what we consider desirable. The more we disconnect our consumption behaviours from the earth, the greater peril we put ourselves in. Not every character has to be an eco-warrior. But your characters’ choices and behaviours are helping to set the norms for our society whether you realise it or not.

For this reason, I’ve decided to put more emphasis on working with writers of mainstream genre fiction, to show them how they can craft their characters and plots to subtly promote nature-friendly values and practices. You can see details here: https://www.greenstories.org.uk/planet-placement/

Sustainable production

Piers Torday, Chair of the Society of Authors Sustainability Network Steering Committee suggests the following techniques to produce books with a lower environmental footprint:

• Use recycled paper rather than virgin pulp
• Vegetable-based inks instead of petroleum-based inks
• No plastic lamination, varnishes or foils
• Recycled materials in binding and cover stock

He also advocates for libraries and helped launch ‘Tree to Me: My Books Shouldn’t Cost the Earth’, a campaign that encourages authors to question their publishers about issues such as pulping of unsold books, paper sourcing etc.

However, this misses the highest impact of all – the business model of publishers which tends towards high print runs and mass pulping of unsold books. It’s estimated that one tree is lost for every 25 books, and that ten million trees are felled to produce books that end up being destroyed rather than read.

Independent authors tend to use print on demand, which is much better environmentally as it avoids the wastage from large print runs and returns.

Promoting eBooks and audiobooks is another suggestion, as in most cases, these have a lower environmental impact than paperbacks or hardbacks. The exact calculations are hard to work out as kindles, iPads etc. use resources to manufacture and energy to run, but the marginal cost of reading one more eBook is much less than the transport and printing cost of a paperback.

If you are keen, consider solar charging your electronic devices. It’s easy enough to do, and portable solar powered chargers aren’t expensive – usually less than £25/$25. Or simply switch to a renewable energy provider.

And lastly AI. I hesitate to write too much as it’s such a fast-changing technology, but at the time of writing, the enormous water and carbon footprint of the data centres powering AI is growing exponentially. You can read about my musings on whether to use AI in a previous article here.