The Surprising Choices That Make You Happier and Help the Planet | Elizabeth Dunn & Jiaying Zhao

In this episode, Elizabeth Dunn and Jiaying Zhao discuss the surprising choices that can make you happier and help the planet at the same time. Drawing on research in happiness, behavior change, and climate science, they challenge the idea that climate action has to mean guilt, sacrifice, or giving up everything you enjoy. They explain how to find the “sweet spot” where choices that reduce carbon emissions also improve well-being, whether that means rethinking what you eat, buy, or how you travel. They also reveal why some of the actions we focus on most may have less impact than we think, how our everyday choices influence the people around us, and why choosing one meaningful change you actually enjoy may be far more powerful than trying to change everything at once. Their new book is Leave the Lights On: How Joyful Decisions Can Save Our Species

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Key Takeaways:

Why joy can motivate lasting change better than guilt or fear

How individual actions and systemic change work together

Why our everyday choices can influence the people around us

Which food choices have the biggest impact without requiring an all-or-nothing approach

Why reusing and buying less can matter more than recycling

How to rethink travel to get more happiness from fewer emissions

Why choosing one meaningful change may be the best place to start

For full show notes, ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠⁠!

⁠⁠How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life⁠⁠ is available now! Order your copy today!