Environmental Book Club

Green Careers for Dummies

Just as with any career path, green careers are not all created equally. If you're committed to finding employment in an environmentally conscious field and atmosphere, it's just as important to find a field that matches your skills and interests. If you really have your heart set on working in the clean technology, you have to soul-search and decide whether you're looking for a hands-on job in development or if you're more inclined towards research or marketing.

While the green economy career path is still young in comparison to other fields, it's definitely growing in importance and new positions and industries are being developed and filled. If you want to get your hands on a green job, you have to know where to start and how to suss out what exactly is the right field for you.

One of the simplest places to start is Green Careers for Dummies by Carol L. McClelland. Like other guides in the For Dummies series, it's chock full of tips, tricks advice and oodles of information on anything and everything you need to know about the subject and is presented in a fun, user-friendly way. Read more about Green Careers for Dummies

As the World Burns

When you think of hardcore environmental activism, are one-eyed bunnies and sassy little girls depicted in cartoons what spring to mind? Probably not...unless you've read through Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan's graphic satire, As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial. For such a simple idea, a book of simply pictured comics, the message is all too clear and thought-provoking: the simplistic efforts that we've been taught to give toward making the world a greener, healthier place isn't the whole story.

If you're looking for a cuddly, “how to change the world with recycling” book of simple suggestions to make an impact, this is not the book for you. Jensen and McMillan deliver a jaw-dropping, and often downright depressing look at the state of environmentalism and how little the average Joe, like me, knows about the bottom line when it comes to cleaning up the messes mankind has made.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's definitely inspires one to rethink what he or she does in the name of eco-conscious living, from recycling to riding a bike to work. But, on the flip side, it seems brilliantly condescending to those of us who don't have all the facts that the authors have poured their lives into learning. I'm not saying that ignorance is bliss, or that guys like me should turn the other cheek, but I can say that the “in your face” satirical style of the book is jarring if you don't know what you're getting into. Read more about As the World Burns

E Is For Environment

Children pick up habits and values that they'll carry throughout their lives and pass on to future generations. That's why it's so important to teach them environmentalism from young ages. If they grow up recycling and conserving, not only will it seem natural in their youth, but it will be a practice they continue in their own households as adults.

There are a couple basic ways parents can help their children really understand and embrace environmentally-friendly practices.

Teach by example. Children learn many things, from speech to ethics, by watching those they love and respect. Doing your best to live as eco-conscious as you can will show them the right things to do without any effort. Kids emulate their parents without even thinking about it. Being kind to the environment will just be a part of everyday life.

Talk about green living in their terms. Kids minds are loaded with questions, and you never know when a teachable moment can present itself. Simply explaining why you want them to color on both sides of their papers or use up their crayons until they can't be used anymore helps them to understand why you ask them to do the things you do. If they know that there's a method to the madness, and that you're helping them to help the world around them by conserving, the lesson is more likely to be learned and embraced. Read more about E Is For Environment

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition.

Since you started living a more eco-concsious, greener lifestyle, have you ever daydreamed about cutting out all the complex ins and outs of modern living and getting back to the basics? I think we've all thought about it from time to time—letting go of the expensive conveniences and saying goodbye to the traffic jams and soaring grocery prices. It would be a hard lifestyle to get used to after being raised in such an instant gratification world, but the payoff in personal health, eco-friendly lifestyle and personal satisfaction in living off your land is unparalleled.

Walking away from modern convenience isn't for everyone, but for those who really want to commit to a brand new, simpler lifestyle, it isn't impossible. Author Abigail R. Gehring is an expert in living a self-sufficient life, having lived it herself. She's written and edited several publications on the subject, but the one that caught my eye was Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition. Read more about Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition.

Worms Eat My Garbage

While more and more households are embracing environmentally sound practices, from separating cans and paper to shopping with reusable bags, many have not been so keen on more eco-friendly options for food waste. Composting doesn't appeal to many families because of the smell and space, but if you know what your doing and use the right materials... and worms... composting can be as clean and organized as other green efforts.

Sure, you can choose an area in your garden to leave a heap of day-old salad and onion peels, but let's face it, it's neither pretty or fragrant—even if it is a more natural solution. If you'd like to give composting a try, but want it to be a cleaner experience, there are compost containment units, such as the Worm Factory, which you can introduce a family of worms to and reap the benefits of greener living without turning your garden into a little landfill.

But what do I know about worm farming, you might ask? Is it as simple as throwing a few earthworms into the bin and letting them go to town? Well...no. To have a successful, happy worm farm in your compost pile, you need to know what you're doing. I suggest you check out Mary Appelhof's guide, Worms Eat My Garbage. Read more about Worms Eat My Garbage

Guide to Natural Baby Care: Nontoxic and Environmentally friendly Ways to Take Care of Your New Child

With a society centered on convenience, landfills are chock full of disposable baby products and parents are using thousands of products every day that can be harmful to the environment. It's not intentional, but when as a parent myself, there are so many quick and convenient products that make life a little easier when you're already juggling working and daily life with no sleep and raising a baby that needs 24 hour care.

Still, as easy as it is to use products like disposable diapers and plastic bottle liners, there is no denying that these things are making an impact on the world around us. If your living a greener lifestyle, there are ways to care for your babies while staying environmentally conscious.

In Mindy Pennybacker and Aisha Ikramuddin's book, Guide to Natural Baby Care: Nontoxic and Environmentally friendly Ways to Take Care of Your New Child, from Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet, they give clear guidance on many ways you can take care of your child while making the smallest impact on the world around you. Read more about Guide to Natural Baby Care: Nontoxic and Environmentally friendly Ways to Take Care of Your New Child

Wine To Water

When many think of water and wine, usually a biblical reference is the first thing to spring to mind. But, the case of Wine to Water, the concept of improving environmental welfare and the spirit of giving and hope is taken in a completely different direction.

The book Wine to Water is written by Doc Hendley, a small-town bartender turned environmental hero--though that was never his intention. What started out as a simple fundraising effort turned into a passion that has helped bring fresh water to some of the world’s most poverty-stricken communities in Darfur, Cambodia, Uganda and Haiti. Read more about Wine To Water

Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who Are Helping to Protect Our Planet

When it comes to living a green, environmentally conscious lifestyle and helping out wherever you can, sometimes all it takes to get kids motivated is inspiring them with the work of others. These examples carry an even more powerful impact when you can show them how everyday people are helping in big ways.

Helping the environment is an effort that seems like a huge, hopeless endeavor until you look at the variety of ways that real people are making a difference in their own communities around the world. When helping is filtered down from a global scale to a local mindset, children find it to be a lot easier to wrap their heads around and are more likely to start looking for ways to help on their own.

The Consumers Guide To Effective Environmental Choices

We all need a little help when it comes to making the right decisions and choices when it comes to the environment. We want to be stewards of the environment and feel like we are doing our part to save the planet, but there is so much conflicting information.

The Union of Concerned Scientists is one of the most respected organizations on the planet. It's made up of the world's most brilliant scientists all working to develop new ways to make the world greener.

Their book “The Consumers Guide To Effective Environmental Choices,” was designed for the everyman to help make them make the right choices about the environment. Consumers face difficult choices every day from paper or plastic, cloth diapers or disposables, hybrid or gas engine.

Not Your Typical Book About the Environment

Children are being inundated with messages about the environment these days, and often, the ideas that are being conveyed with a negative tinge to them. They're hearing, if you don't make the necessary changes, the world as we know it is doomed to be a barren wasteland. Okay, so it's usually put more delicately than that, but the concept is undeniably true.

Children are prone to worry because they don't have the life experience to process what they're hearing rationally. In other words, they have a tendency to believe what they hear. So, when they're hearing that the world's situation is dire, they take it to heart without question.