Reading List
March 7th, 2006These are books I have found useful in my quest for sustainability. I encourage you to find them at your local library or used bookstore. I have pointed out books which are in the Yellowknife Public Library. The title links are to ABEBooks.com, a network of used bookstores that take on-line orders. I have successfully used the ABEBooks service a few times, but I don’t get any kickbacks.
The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices
by Michael Brower and Warren Leon (Union of Concerned Scientists)
Available to borrow from me – just ask!
This is by far the best book I have found so far to help determine which sectors of my life cause the most environmental damage. The book considers all environmental costs (from land use to greenhouse gas emissions) broken down by categories like transportation, food, etc. If you spend money on it, it is probably discussed in this book. If this book has a drawback, it is only that it is based on cumulative impacts of different activities averaged over the entire population of the United States. Individual impacts may be much higher or lower in certain areas (e.g. Yellowknife snowmobilers). Most important lesson: Fix the big stuff (cars, houses, appliances) rather than worrying about the little stuff (styrofoam cups, disposable diapers, etc).
Enough Already! : Breaking Free in the Second Half of Life
by Bruce O’Hara
Available to borrow from me – just ask!
This is the best book I have read on work-life balance. It looks at the evidence from studies of retirees and draws conclusions about what we should change to make sure we are happy and healthy as we get older. This book is not just for people who are about to retire, but for people who want a more meaningful life at any age. Not coincidentally, most of O’Hara’s recommendations fit perfectly with reducing our environmental footprint. Carpe diem.
Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence
by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
Available at the Yellowknife Public Library – Click Here
Available to borrow from me – just ask!
This book is recommended by Bruce O’Hara in Enough Already and by other authors. It is an inspiring and practical guide to achieving financial freedom – not by earning more, but by consuming less. Even if you don’t follow their specific plan, the authors will give you ideas for ways you can change your relationship to money. My favourite of their suggestions is that you add up all the money you have earned in your lifetime (from childhood paper route money to your last paycheque) and compare it to your current assets. Frightening.
Divorce Your Car! Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile
by Katie Alvord
Probably available to borrow from Doug Ritchie at Ecology North – if you ask nicely…
A very practical book to help you create a “car-free” or “car-lite” lifestyle. I wrote a bit more about it here
Click here for other books I have posted about. Useful books I will write more about later include The End of Nature and The Age of Missing Information both by Bill McKibben, Radical Simplicity by Dan Price, Collapse by Jared Diamond, Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
