Friday, July 18

TGIF: books

TGIF: Think Green, It's Friday!

Fridays I will post something to do with the green theme, with a special focus on green + art. I also post finds to do with the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), new policies in government or industry, eco-friendly appliances and vehicles... anything green!


Today's topic is books. Sure, a waste of paper, how is that being environmentally friendly? The books' topics make it material for TGIF. Apparently. Decide for yourself with some observations from Chapters.

Note: I've tried to keep it short, because my first draft of this post was WAY too long. I include prices and special notes about the book, with a short blurb of my opinion in some cases. Please jump around and peruse at your leisure, however you like.



The books in Chapters' green section seemed to fall into three main categories:



The first category is for the hipsters, I have decided. Green is high fashion and this category is ripe with little "100% recycled paper" or "New York Times Bestseller" labels, or listing how healthy, easy, and fabulous you can be once you've saturated yourself with the information the book holds.

The second category seems quite competent. This is the real meat of environmental issues, and even within this small collection there are divergent opinions and points of interest. You're sure to learn something, though.

Finally, those two miscellaneous books on the far sides of bottom shelf, didn't quite seem to have relevance. Sure, they had to do with the great outdoors, but I think maybe these books need to be read before we see the link.



Green living choices was almost half of the selection. These usually feature easy things you can do every day to green up your act. The cleaning books, though, when examined more closely, sometimes claim to be using 'healthier' cleaning products and less toxic ways of cleaning. While this is technically green, claims like this bother me because they start to confuse people between healthy and environmentally friendly.


Green Clean,
Linda Mason Hunter and Mikki Halpin (book description)

Price: 21.95$ (
online - 14.48$)

The authors: Linda Mason Hunter is a respected green living and home ecology writer and advocate. Mikki Halpin seems to have wirtten two other books,
one on geeks and the other on teenage activism. I actually read
It's
Your World - If You Don't Like It, Change It: Activism for Teenagers
a few
years ago and found it to be a good resource.

The book: water- and stain-resistant plastic pages.



Green up Your Clean Up, Jill Potvin Schoff. The word "healthy" is conveniently located right on the cover, for your viewing pleasure.

Price: 18.95$ (
online - 14.40$)

The book: 100% reused or recycled paper



Squeaky Green, Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry. Chemicals (and animal testing) are bad; find out how to keep your cleaning clean.

Price: 18.95$ (
online - 14.40$)

The authors: have received accolades for their environmental and humane
Method cleaning products. (source)



Easy Green Living,
Renee Loux.

Price: 20.00$ (
online - 18.48$)

The author: has dabbled in different, but related, interests: organic foods and cooking, natural beauty, advocating sustainable agriculture.



Carbon Buster's Home Energy Handbook,
Godo Stoyke. Fight climate change and make money.

Price: 14.95$ (
online - 11.36$)

The author: green consultant and President of
Carbon Busters, which reduces GHG emissions of buildings in Europe and North America

The book: 100% reused or recycled paper



Living Like Ed, by Ed Begley, Jr. Fllow Ed's example and live a long, green life.

Price: 21.00$ (
online - 15.96$)

The author: is an
actor who also has his own tv show about his green way of life. The book title, therefore, becomes obvious. I'm not sure how much of his motivation is to put an honest shout out there as he is pretty marketed... And reading the back cover, it is a book that will make you feel great.



Georgeously Green, Sophie Uliano. Making the green lifestyle choice is easy, fun, and fulfilling.

Price: 18.50 (
online - 14.06)

The book: a New York Times bestseller



Green Guide: the Complete Reference For Consuming Wisely, by National Geographic? (
visit here) Seems like it could be the 21st century's new Bible, or the basis of it.

Price: 25.00$ (
online - 16.50$)

The book: by National Geo, cool! 10% reused or recycled paper product



The Green Book, Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen

Price: 16.95$ (
online - 12.88)

The book: completely unimpressing. 100% reused or recycled paper is a publicity gimmick, along with all the famous people quoted. Flipping through I found many tips I thought were blindingly obvious, or completely irrelevant (throwing your gum in the garbage instead of on the ground doesn't lessen the number of football fields of gum 5 feet deep consumed each year!) Maybe I have judged too quickly...
New York Times Bestseller


True Green @ Work, Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin, National Geographic, Clean Up the World. Easy things to reduce your company's carbon footprint

Price: 24.95$ (
online - 16.46$)


Green for Life,
Gillian Deacon. "200 simple eco-ideas for every day"

Price: 13.50$ (online 12.28$)







This is the good stuff. What is happening, why, who is making stuff happen and how. How climate or environment interacts with the world and what this means for the future. I was pleasantly surprised to find over half of Chapters' green books section were of this type.


An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore

Price: 23.99$ (online 18.23$)

The book: was released in conjuntion with the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, on global climate change.

The author: involved with politics for over 25 years, former vice-president of the United States, who lost the race for presidency against George W. Bush. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism of knowledge with climate change.


Earth In the Balance, Al Gore

Price: Softcover: 17.95$ (online 13.64$)

The book: does it have the questions or the answers?



Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products and Services in Canada, Adria Vasil (web site)

Price: 24.95$ (online 18.96$)

The author: has always been an environmental activist. She's written environmental articles for 5 years and is also one of three the Chapters/Indigo Trusted Advisor Environment.


Heat, George Monbiot. "How to Stop the Planet From Burning"

Price: softcover: 19.95$ (online 15.16$)

I want to buy this book. It reminds me of Collapse and Monbiot is cool.


Bring on the Apocalypse, George Monbiot (blog) "Essays on Self-Destruction"

Price: 22.00$ (online 16.72$)

The author: should have died 6 times over, but still going strong. He's been publicly recognized for his achievements (Nelson Mandela!)


WorldChanging, Alex Steffen

Price: 21.95$ (online 16.68$)

The book: another potential for the next Bible as we descend into the environmental underworld. Looks big and looks to the future.


Dry Spring, Chris Wood. The North American water crisis.

Price: 23.95$ (online 18.20$)

The book: boldly suggests a very touchy solution to the fast-approaching NorAm water crisis for Canada.


Gusher of Lies, Robert Bryce. "The dangerous delusions of 'Energy Independence'"

Price: 20.95$ (online 19.10$)


Dangerous World, Marq de Villiers. "Natural disasters, manmade catastrophes, and the future of human survival"

Price: 35.00$ (online 23.10)

The author: a "veteran Canadian journalist", he has written books on a number on different, yet related, subjects: politics, hostory, travel, and exploration. He doesn't have his own website, or it is not willing to be found.


Stupid to the Last Drop, William Marsden. "How Alberta is bringing environmental amageddon to Canada (and doesn't seem to care)"

Price: 29.95$ (online 19.76$)


Good News for a Change, David Suzuki and Holly Dressel

Price: 24.95$ (online 16.46$)

The book: features the activists, advocates, catalysts, and organizers. What the rock stars on the environment front are doing, some fresh inspiration.

The authors: David Suzuki has been doing environmental, sciency stuff (especially in layman's terms) since way before it was cool. Holly Dressel and Suzuki collaborated on From Naked Apes to Supercecies, which is now also a documentary series.


Fixing Climate, Wallace S. Broecker and Robert Kunzig. "What past climate changes reveal about the current threat - and how to counter it."

Price: 27.50$ (online 18.15$)

The authors: Robert Kunzig is an award-winning science writer specializing in ocean science. Broecker is also into the Earth/environmental sciences


Earth: The Sequel, Fred Krupp. Restart the Earth. Stop global warming and turn to renewable energy.

Price: 24.95$ (online 16.46$)

The author: president of the Environmental Defense Fund


The Weather Makers, Tim Flannery

Price: 15.99$ (online 12.15$)

The author: has written other books about weather and environment, many about Australian animals and ecology.






Golden Spruce, John Vaillant


Into the Wild, Jon Krakaver


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