Chapter 5 – Our family’s journey to a zero carbon footprint

Chapter 5 – Our family’s journey to a zero-carbon footprint

 A few years ago, during a family hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains, a park ranger told us that higher temperatures had led to pikas, which are cute furry animals that look a bit like a squirrel without a tail, living higher up the mountains. Since the Rockies peak at about 14,000 feet, it dawned on our children that continued temperature rises would lead to the extinction of pikas. This made our children want to be more “green”. So Sally, Jack, and Laura started recycling and turning off the lights when they left a room.

Our daughter Sally, then 13, with her reminders to switch off the lights to save pikas from rising temperatures. A pika is pictured bottom right. Sally is now studying environmental engineering in college.

The full story is in the book.