Books

Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller - Jeff Rubin
The internationally renowned energy expert, Jeff Rubin, has written a powerful book on how the end of cheap oil will radically alter each of our lives. This book is definitely a wake-up call to everyone that oil is a precious resource that needs to be saved.


Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester Brown
This book does a wonderful job of both outlining the challenges we face as well as presenting workable solutions for each one. This book is full of facts and is a great resource to add to your knowledge base about the environment. A necessary read for those wanting a broad understanding of the environmental issues.


Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
This remarkable book illustrates the unsustainable "cradle to grave" system of production. McDonough presents the case for a closed production system or a "cradle to cradle" system and how to make this a reality. It's not as hard as we might think.


Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
Richard Louv gives a passionate and well researched argument for the importance of getting our children into nature. Reconnecting our children with nature has many surprising benefits, all needed to help us raise a generation of environmentally conscious individuals.


Being Caribou by Karsten Heuer
Being Caribou is the wonderful story of Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison's 1000+ mile journey with the Porcupine Caribou herd. This book not only chronicles their physical adventures, it also discusses the personal and spiritual transformations they underwent. It's a beautiful story that also raises awareness of the debate over drilling in ANWR.

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Ever wonder where your food comes from? This book explores the industrial machine behind food production and will forever change your perception of noble pursuits such as buying organic or shopping at Whole Foods. Smartly written and filled with facts, this book is an important read to learn more about our food and how what we eat directly impacts our natural world.

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability by Paul Hawken
This book has inspired readers for years about the changes businesses realistically can make to produce goods in a completely new way. Hawken makes the case for why the current method of producing goods is not sustainable, and then presents concrete ways to alter this system. His plan is not easy, but it is necessary if we want to conserve the world's resources.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
Diamond poignantly describes and elaborates several reasons for societal failure and gives concrete examples of each case. His environmental reasons are especially haunting and allow us to see that history is often the best teacher. His examples of societal success can be our role models if we don't want "collapse" to happen on a global scale.

Walden: Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau
One of North America's original conservationists, Henry David Thoreau's message of environmental stewardship and social responsibility is as important today as it was 150 years ago. This beautiful book of life in the woods is best read in the middle of the forest or on a secluded beach. Read this classic once again and rediscover Thoreau's important environmental message.

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins
Many businesses are still operating as they did during the Industrial Revolution, when resources were perceived as infinite. The current reality of scarcity is forcing businesses to look at production in a new way. This acclaimed book highlights exactly what needs to happen in order for production to be truly sustainable and provides a business model for today. The Natural Capitalism website is also a worthy resource and a great place to start.

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Masson
Masson excellently and scientifically proves the point that animals do lead emotional lives. This book shares facts and research to support Masson's argument, presented in a thoughtful and very readable way. If you are a believer in the emotional lives of animals this book will help you to support your beliefs and is a great resource to share with others. Human compassion for all species is paramount to protecting the great species diversity on earth.

Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey by Dr. Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall's name is synonymous with chimpanzees and species protection. She began her ground-breaking work at an early age and has used her life to inspire countless others into action. This book follows Jane's life and how it lead her to where she is now. It explores her beliefs about spirituality and morality and is a book that touches the reader's soul.

The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson
The imminent E.O.Wilson takes us on a journey of the future of life on our planet. Dr. Wilson begins by exploring the current health of our natural world and then the root causes for the potential collapse of many ecosystems. In Chapter 6 he outlines the moral imperative for saving life on this planet. It's a beautiful chapter.


Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken
"Paul Hawken's explores the worldwide movement for social and environmental change. Blessed Unrest explores the diversity of the movement, its brilliant ideas, innovative strategies, and hidden history, which date back many centuries. A culmination of Hawken's many years of leadership in the environmental and social justice fields, it will inspire and delight any and all who despair of the world's fate, and its conclusions will surprise even those within the movement itself. Fundamentally, it is a description of humanity's collective genius, and the unstoppable movement to reimagine our relationship to the environment and one another."

Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk
Scary and shocking. This book unfolds the story of what has been described as one of the most urgent environmental problems of our time. The Tar Sands in Alberta is a vast reservoir of sticky bitumen that is destroying the environment of Canada in order to feed the United States addiction to Oil.