Watching government officials hem and haw about how to address the looming threat of climate change, Garry Charnock grew tired of waiting for a top-down directive. So a decade ago, the former journalist and trained hydrologist decided to sidestep gray-jacketed bureaucrats and enlist hundreds of fellow residents to cut greenhouse emissions in the tiny English village of Ashton Hayes. Since then, they’ve erected solar panels, glazed windows for insulation, taken fewer flights, and ditched dryers for clotheslines. Now in its 10th year, the experiment has resulted in a 24 percent reduction in emissions. Inspired by Ashton Hayes’s achievement, at least 200 towns, cities, and counties—in countries from Norway to the United States to Taiwan—have adopted similar measures. (Photo courtesy of Garry Charnock)