How Bad Are Bananas?
The carbon footprint of everything
by Mike Berners-Lee · first published 2011
9mentions
7recommended by
8HN commenters
2013–2025first – last mentioned
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Gives a broad, accessible overview of the carbon footprint of everyday things, helping readers build a sense of relative impact. It puts the cost of common products and habits into perspective.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…weigh about 5 pounds. The 500 gallons of gasoline you burned last year weighs 4000 pounds (2 tons). Your 10^3 bags are irrelevant. (Just don’t litter)." ...Or use a re-usable bag ;) I want to read "How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint Of Everything" by Mike Berners-Lee. It addresses similar disconnections on how we think about our impact on the climate, and the steps we take to try and do something. For example,…
on “Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists” ↗If you're interested in these sorts of calculations then I can recommend this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Bad-Are-Bananas-everything/dp/18... I found it a really good read and to geek it off it's written by the brother of the inventor of the web.
on “What's the real environmental cost of electric cars?” ↗This book (although a bit older already) attempts to give an overview of the impact of a lot of stuff: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Bad-are-Bananas-Everything/dp/1...
on “Recycling Rethink: What to Do with Trash Now China Won’t Take It” ↗"How Bad are Bananas" by Mike Berners-lee (Tims brother). A great and easy read with the aim of putting the carbon footprint of things into perspective. "Immune" by Philipp Dettmer (founder of Kurzgesagt). Deep dives into…
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?” ↗…identification at this early stage and because we're looking to (dis-)prove this as an opportunity. Thanks for your thoughts. Side note: A good read to put the 'value' of carbon dioxide into perspective is 'How Bad are Bananas' by Mike Berners Lee. He tries to give the same 'gut feeling' to carbon as we have with money (e.g. Champagne is more expensive than soda).
on “Show HN: An API for CO₂ Removal” ↗…the footprint of products and services we consume daily; from the water and CO2 costs of a meal, of a heated pool, of a car, etc. It is eye-opening. I first came across this type of info with the book "How Bad Are Bananas", from Mike Berners-Lee. I really enjoyed it, and I just saw that the new edition even includes stuff like hosting a World Cup, data centers, and space tourism! It should give a good foundation to start…
on “AGI fantasy is a blocker to actual engineering” ↗How Bad are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee
on “Ask HN: What is the best book on the climate problem and solutions?” ↗…this it means changing how we produce energy, our agricultural and food system (huge carbon impact) and reducing our overconsuming behaviour. We need to make it desirable to have things that last. Read "How bad are bananas" for perspective on the relative impacts and most important problems to solve. We can also incentivise energy and business moving in the right direction by setting a price on carbon (emissions), ideally…
on “IPCC Concludes Climate Change is Irreversible, Effective Responses Needed” ↗…heavier load of fuel 2) emissions tend to do more damage at high altitude than they do at ground level so I would not discount the benefits of reducing flight distance as much as possible. Source: How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners Lee
on “Slow Travel” ↗