If I may suggest: the biggest task before us is to help humanity make sustainable choices and keep at it. There are several dimensions to this including carbon/climate and energy (and food and water ...). I (and my students) have been making changes, taking the ecological footprint quizzes, and now realize that we (in the US) can get down to about one and one half earths (for >6B of us). This is eating low on the food chain, living with others, limited car travel, and few airplane flights (one of the biggest parts of it). The best resource I have come across to help understand this all is: Living a Low Carbon Life by Chris Goodall (ISBN 1844074269). Following his suggestions will help both energy and climate (and the other issues as well). What other books and resources can you recommend to me and my students? BTW I buy offsets to balance the remainder.
Curt
http://www.mcad.edu/showPage.php?status=1&pageID=1311
Getting Back on Track
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Can I recommend Climate Change Begins at Home by UK academic Dave Reay. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Climate-Change-Begins-Home-Two-Way/dp/1403945780 Though he is a climate scientist (see http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/dreay ) the book is aimed at a non- specialist audience, is very accessible despite plenty of facts, and has a dry sense of humour.
Caroline Wilson
PhD Research
Student Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development
De Montfort University Leicester UK
Web: www.iesd.dmu.ac.uk
Marta,
We at www.communityclimatechange.ca have been recommending Gershon's Low Carbon Diet which is friendly & comprehensive. Another more technical and comprehensive book is: The Carbon Buster's Home Energy Handbook: Slowing Climate Change and Saving Money (Paperback) by Godo Stoyke
Fred Bass
My community in Edmonton had a "green visioning and audit" report done for our community hall by Carbon Busters. Here They are a great team of professionals that help educate people,schools, municipalities on how to lower their carbon footprint. They are doing education talks and in-services for our community (Riverdale Community League) and school (Riverdale Elementary). Our hall will be Carbon Neutral in the fall by virtue of low cost/no cost retrofits followed by carbon offsets from a gold standard company and green power from (Bullfrog Power). We then have a volunteer community team to implement further savings and alternate power until we are independently carbon neutral. The CBSM part of all this is that we are educating the whole community as we go. Newsletter articles and webpostings on our community website and local press coverage. We even sent out press releases when we changed lightbulbs to CFL's and got coverage. Some of the co-op housing units in our community then gave out the Carbon Busters Home Energy Handbook to all the members. The book is very readable and really helpful. It appeals to people motivated by $ as well as the virtue of sustainability. It is well laid out and gives you a logical progression of tasks to undertake. Now... other leagues heard about what we were doing and a plan is forming for all 152 leagues in Edmonton (home of the Oilers and the Oilsands!) to join this "Green Challenge". The concept of leagues came out of New York and our leagues cover all of the city of Edmonton. A task force of 6 community leagues is working together to green all the community halls in our city and educate all league members. I think this is a good example of CBSM. Carbon Busters helped us get there by having an educationally oriented company.
Rocky Feroe
Edmonton Alberta
For what its worth - I've been recommending
"Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds" by David Gershon
"Down to Earth Guide To Global Warming" (Written for children but not may be scary for elementary students) by Laurie David and Camria Gordon
"This is My Planet: The Kids Guide to Global Warming" by Jan Thornhill
Marta Keane,
Recycling Program Specialist
Will County Land Use - Waste Services
58 E. Clinton Street, Suite 500
Joliet, IL 60432
815-774-4343
[email protected]