6 Shares New Film on Keystone XL Pipeline Debunks Industry "PipeLIES" On Tuesday, the Center for Media and Democracy released a new short film that sets out to debunk the many false claims — the films calls them “pipeLIES” — used by promoters of the Keystone XL pipeline. These industry…; More
8 Shares The Story of a Tomato Farmer: Lester R. Brown’s Breaking New Ground Please note: Earth Policy Institute provided me with a free review copy of Breaking New Ground. I’ve been reading Lester Brown’s work for about ten years now, and in the process of doing so, I’ve developed a picture of the man: some of ideas gleaned from book cover jackets, but most of them from my […] More
6 Shares City 2.0: Making Urban Centers Viable, Sustainable, Livable Think of cities as cesspools of crime and pollution? Or vibrant hubs of economic, cultural, and social innovation? New TED book City 2.0 shares the ideas of twelve thinkers on how we make the world’s cities – now home to over half of us – viable and sustainable. More
8 Shares The New Global Food Crisis: Lester Brown's Full Planet, Empty Plates The phrase “global food crisis” may strike us in the developed world as a bit overblown. But in his new book Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity, Lester R. Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, aptly demonstrates that our current food security situation is anything but normal… and could even represent the “weak link” to maintaining the standard of living to which we’ve become accustomed. More
6 Shares ReCraft: How to Upcycle Old Clothes into Beautiful Things Got holey, worn old clothes laying around that you’d like to get rid of… responsibly? Before cutting them into rags or tossing them in the trash, take a look at the projects in this new book: you might just find more useful possibilities. More
6 Shares How to Kick the Habit: Beth Terry’s Plastic Free Fellow blogger Beth Terry has largely eliminated plastic from her life. Her new book Plastic Free shows you how you can do this, too, and the many reasons you might want to. More
9 Shares Book Review: The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Sustenance by Tovar Cerulli Tovar Cerulli is less famous as a former vegan then, say, Natalie Portman, but he is more interesting because now he is a vocal hunter and proponent of ethical hunting. He recounts this personal journey from veganism to hunting and omnivorism in his forthcoming book The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Sustenance. More
8 Shares Awesome Books Document Folks Who Build Their Own Awesome Eco Homes In preparation for building my own straw bale home, I have been spending a lot of time flipping through a few specific books for inspiration. Lloyd Kahn‘s series of titles, Shelter, Home Work, and Builders of the Pacific Coast (affiliate links) are three great books that document folks all over the globe who build their own […] More
10 Shares17 Views New Children's Book Aims to Help Kids Understand the Gulf Oil Spill (and Giveaway) Author’s note: Publisher HIS Publishing Co. sent me a free review copy of Patti Pelican and the Gulf Oil Spill. Unless you went on a media fast yesterday, you likely came across acknowledgements of the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill. Many online outlets — among them Crisp Green and HuffPo Green — ran photo […] More
8 Shares B.T. Hope's Curse of the Bone Pirates: Lively, Eco-Themed Juvenile Fiction We do a lot of book reviews here at sustainablog, but non-fiction tends to dominate… and the little bit of fiction we have covered is aimed at an adult audience. The pre-teen set apparently goes for wizards or vampires; sustainability usually isn’t a part of the mix. So when the Green Leaf Book Group offered […] More
6 Shares314 Views Small Wood-Burning Stoves For Small Homes: A Review Wood stoves are a highly economical way to provide heat for your home if you have access to a woodlot or live in a remote or rural area. To get the most bang for your buck, you should invest in a clean(er)-burning, efficient model. Last year, I spent a fair amount of time researching small, […] More
11 Shares The Cleaner Plate Club: How to Get Your Kids to Eat… and Like… their Vegetables Update: We have a winner… Marie Hemming of La Jolla, California won the copy of The Cleaner Plate Club in our drawing… and hope she’ll let us know which recipe went over best with the family (especially the pickiest eater on the planet)! Deal with “Ewww, I don’t like that” a lot at the dinner […] More
6 Shares How to Recycle Like an Evil Genius (w/Video) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vHk5Mw3kkI[/youtube] Made recycling resolutions for the New Year? If so, they probably involve collecting materials and putting them into a blue bin. Our standard conception of recycling is good… it’s not always particularly compelling, though. Russell J. Gehrke’s book Recycling Projects for the Evil Genius changes that (and, yes, that’s an affiliate link). Rather than […] More
10 Shares A Green Living Book for the Newb: 48 Things to Know About Sustainable Living Author’s note: Turner Publishing provided me with a free electronic copy of this book for reviewing. And sustainablog does get a mention in the book… thank you, Victoria! Got a friend or relative who’s let you know that “I’d love to try this whole eco-living thing, but I’m just so set in my ways?” Or […] More
6 Shares Foldable Water Bottle for Drinks on the Go When the folks at Vapur contacted me about their foldable water bottle, I have to tell you I was intrigued. We’re big fans of ditching store bought bottled water around here, so I’m always up to try another reusable solution. More
8 Shares Simple Living… with a Sense of Humor: Warren Johnson's Muddling Toward Frugality Editor’s note: This review is our contribution to Eco-Libris’ Green Books Campaign 2010. Eco-Libris arranged for a free review copy from Easton Studio Press. We Americans like our simple, direct, and confident statements — just think of “Yes We Can!” or “Reload!” — so a title like Muddling Toward Frugality (affiliate link) may not immediately grab […] More
8 Shares Green Lighting: How to Cut Your Electric Bill & Carbon Emissions Change you light bulbs to CFLs… how many times have you heard that one? To be honest, I’m a little bored with it… I mean, doesn’t everyone already know that? My boredom’s probably a good sign, though… if those of us who follow these issues daily find tactics like changing bulbs “old hat,” then they’re […] More
4 Shares Carbon Negative Coffee from Tiny Footprint A review of Tiny Footprint’s carbon negative coffee and details about their offset program. More
4 Shares Documentary Film: All in This Tea All in This Tea follows world-renowned tea expert David Lee Hoffman as he searches some of the most remote regions of China for the best handmade teas in the world. More
11 Shares How to Teach Triple Bottom Line Practices to Single Bottom Line Companies: The Sustainable Business You probably see the words “sustainable” and “green” as synonyms… and we often present them that way. This helps provide a definition of the concept of sustainability that’s easily understood among the broader public… but it also creates the risk of undermining the complexities of the concept. One could argue that’s exactly what’s happened in […] More
6 Shares Graphic Novel Neil Young's Greendale Hits Bookstores Today Iconic rocker Neil Young wasted no time in crafting a response to the launch of the war in Iraq, and the larger political and cultural forces he saw motivating it: the concept album Greendale came out in August, 2003, a mere six months after the first attacks were launched. Since then, Young has recrafted the […] More
8 Shares Ready for a Home Energy Audit? Why not do it yourself… Watching the utility bills climb this summer? Ready to take control of your energy use? A home energy audit is a good first step towards figuring out how you use energy in your home, and prioritizing where you can start saving. Some utility companies offer auditing services; there are also private contractors that will do […] More
6 Shares How Guayaki Yerba Mate Made Me Rethink Canned Tea I don’t know about you, but I developed a strong aversion to canned iced tea very early on. It just didn’t taste like anything I associated with tea (and, yes, I grew up in the South, so the real stuff was readily available). Any hints of tea flavor were overwhelmed by unidentifiable sweetner and clearly […] More
5 Shares The Story of Stuff Comes to Print If you a blogger, web media producer, or some other kind of internet content creator, it’s hard not to admire Annie Leonard. She, along with the folks at Free Range Studios, took the rather weighty topic of lifecycle analysis, and turned it into a 20-minute video that frames the subject in a manner for almost […] More
