Green book review: Friends of the Earth by Pat McCarthy

Today we'd like to introduce you with a great book that takes on itself an important mission: Introducing American kids to the history of American environmentalism. And what a great job it does!

Our book for today is Friends of the Earth: A History of American Environmentalism with 21 Activities by Pat McCarthy. 

What this book is about?
Friends of the Earth explores the history of American environmentalism with engaging profiles of men and women who contributed to preserving, conserving and educating others about our natural world. Introducing kids to the importance of a healthy environment, Friends of the Earth features inspiring stories of influential naturalists, artists and authors.

In addition to Audubon, Thoreau, Muir and Carson, young readers also learn about Gifford Pinchot, the first professionally trained forester in the United States; Aldo Leopold, whose nature writing and “land ethic” paved the way for the modern conservation movement; and Mardy Murie, “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement,” who helped establish Grand Teton National Park. Activities—making a compost pile, learning how the greenhouse effect works, making a bird feeder, planting a tree—help young environmentalists act on their concerns and demonstrate the impact humans have on the environment.

Our review:
Friends of the Earth, by Pat McCarthy, is quite the history of the environmental movement. The book covers not just the political side of the movement, although there does appear to be a bit of an agenda, but it also brings forward the real people themselves that were part of it. There are men, women, politicians, artists, writers, poets, and so many more, that bring the book to life. This book takes you into the full lives of so many people that you may have known were part of the drive, but not how much of their lives they spent as part of the struggle. A few names you will find in this book: John James Audubon, Marjory Stoneman Douglas; Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, and even President Roosevelt. The book gives you a nice timeline from the beginning of the movement up to today.

I enjoyed this book. It’s not a long read. There were times that I found it to be a bit dry and fact oriented, but it has loads of great photographs, which really helps to bring the people to life. It also has 21 different activities that you can do if you are so inclined. These activities include how to make a pinecone bird feed, and creating your own compost heap. Out of all the activities most are ones you can do in an afternoon for fun. Some are more in-depth and time consuming but they are all useful and family friendly. This is a good book to get the kids involved as well as a way to get a bit of history.

You can purchase the book on Amazon.com (both e-book and paperback formats are available).

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris
Plant a tree for every book you read!

World Fair Trade Day 2008: Fair Trade + Ecology

Tomorrow is World Fair Trade Day, and this year's theme is “Fair Trade + Ecology”. It was first celebrated in 2005, and has taken place each year since, on the second Saturday in May.

Here's the wiki definition of fair trade:

“Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as consciousness of social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, and flowers.”

You can read more about it on IFAT's website, the organization that is an umbrella network for hundreds of fair trade organizations from all around the world.

So, what's so green about fair trade? There are several reasons that fair trade products can be greener than others, but here is the main one: Many fair trade products or materials are manufactured by local communities in developing countries, where resources and infrastructure are scarce, and continuous subsistence and livelihood are dependent on the sustained existence of these resources. Since the community in a fair trade setting is much more empowered than in an exploitative setting, it can often take positive action to make sure that its production practices do not irrevocably harm its surroundings.

For example, we can take fair trade rubber tapping in the Brazilian Amazon, conducted by local community co-ops that also stand against deforestation. Veja, is a French company that sources the rubber used to make it's line of fair-trade sneakers from such co-operatives. If the rain forest is destroyed, as is often the case with renegade logging operations, these tappers lose their livelihood and way of life. Fair Trade enables them to compete with rubber coming from big rubber tree plantations, and helps them keep the forests alive and flourishing.

But the thing I like best about the way Fair Trade and Environmentalism interact is that these are simply complimentary. They help one another but do not necessitate one another. Paying a fair living wage, and refraining from cutting down the rain forest are simply good things to do on their own, without any external or material incentives.

Yep, I'll celebrate that!

Eylon @ Eco-Libris

Plant a Tree for Every Book you Read!