Dr. Jessica Eise, a behavior and climate researcher, reveals a radical shift: people do want to help. The problem isn’t willpower—it’s that we’ve ignored how our brains and bodies are wired for action.
HOW TO SAVE THE PLANET WITHOUT REALLY TRYING
by Jessica Eise
Urano US, Fall 2027
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)
For over 40 years, climate change has dominated the headlines—and yet, meaningful action remains out of reach. We’re told it’s the system’s fault, that our choices don’t matter, and in the same breath, that none of us are doing enough. No wonder so many—especially the young—feel paralyzed and hopeless. What’s missing isn’t passion: it’s an understanding of how people actually work. In How to Save the Planet Without Really Trying, Dr. Jessica Eise, a behavior and climate researcher, reveals a radical shift: people do want to help. The problem isn’t willpower—it’s that we’ve ignored how our brains and bodies are wired for action.
It turns out human psychology and physiology are tailor-made for this fight. When we tap into our natural instincts, we can guide ourselves to want less meat, consume less, and live more closely in line with our values. The result? Freer, lighter, happier lives—and real progress on the climate crisis. This isn’t wishful thinking. It’s science.
In four powerful sections—Body, Space, People, Tools—Eise lays out an intuitive science of transformation and a practical playbook: simple, repeatable, or “plugand-play” tools scaled by impact and effort. The result is maximum climate impact with maximum pleasure. The future of sustainability has never looked so easy!
Blending the habit building clarity of Atomic Habit with the simplifying joy of Marie Kondo, How to Save the Planet will speak to the same audience as David Wallace-Wells’s The Uninhabitable Earth, Greta Thunberg, and Christina Figueres’s The Future We Choose. It only takes 3.5% of the population to bring about great change.
Dr. Jessica Eise is a social scientist and professor at Indiana University, recognized globally for her pioneering work on how cultural, political, and psychological forces shape responses to climate change. Author of How to Feed the World (Island Press), she is widely cited in and writes for popular media, in addition to her scholarly work. She received her PhD from Purdue and, unusually for an academic, has an MA in journalism from NYU.
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