Cradle to Cradle

By William McDonough and Michael Braungart

Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton

The Bridge at the Edge of the World

By James Gustave Speth

How serious are the threats to our environment? Here is one measure of the problem: if we continue to do exactly what we are doing, with no growth in the human population or the world economy, the world in the latter part of this century will be unfit to live in. Of course human activities are not holding at current levels-they are accelerating, dramatically-and so, too, is the pace of climate disruption, biotic impoverishment, and toxification. In this book Gus Speth, author of Red Sky at Morning and a widely respected environmentalist, begins with the observation that the environmental community has grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to decline, to the point that we are now at the edge of catastrophe.

Speth contends that this situation is a severe indictment of the economic and political system we call modern capitalism. Our vital task is now to change the operating instructions for today's destructive world economy before it is too late. The book is about how to do that.

Ecology and the Politics of Survival

By Vandana Shiva

This is a topical analysis of ecology movements in contemporary society and the conflicts generated over vital natural resources. The focus is on the social contradictions emerging in India in the wake of these conflicts and the author takes a Third World perspective to discuss the way in which ecology movements have questioned the dominant concepts of economic development.

Previously Listed Books
Planet U: Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University	The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living	Wake Up and Smell the Planet
Planet U: Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University	The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living	Wake Up and Smell the Planet
Winning Our Energy Independence	Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that will Recharge America	Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming
Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals	Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America	Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity
The Noble Wilds	The Great Bear Rainforest: Canada's Forgotten Coast	Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Farewell, My Subaru	Green to Gold	Freedom from Oil
Cutting Your Car Use	Field Notes from a Catastrophe	Environmental Solutions