Monday's Green Books: The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilization

Monday's Green Books series welcomes Jennifer Mabe-Israely as our new Eco-Libris reviewer. The book is available nationwide, and is also distributed in Canada by our partners Raincoast Books, and was part of their "Buy a Book, Plant a Tree" campaign last month in over 80 Canadian Bookstores.

I generally consider myself an information sponge, the kind of person who can happily watch just about anything on "The National Geographic Channel", so I was more than happy to swipe The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilization by Brian Fagan from the other reviewers before they could get his hands on it.

Why you should read this book

The basic thesis of the book is that between about A.D. 800 to 1200 there was a period that is commonly called the Medieval Warm Period that was characterized by milder, warmer temperatures in Europe. The warming allowed for increased exploration -- there is a persuasive argument made that the Norse explorers would not have made it as far in their travels if the temperature had been slightly cooler, for example -- but the same climatic forces that created the warming period created cooler, dryer conditions elsewhere in the world. In addition to examining the effects of all kinds of climatic forces on civilizations during the Medieval Warm Period, the author paints a picture of the interrelated, interacting forces all over the world, giving the impression of a web in which a tug in one direction affects every other part of the network.

The varied nature of this text is one of its most striking qualities. Discussions of science, biology, geology, and climatology are punctuated by vivid descriptions of life in our distant past from the perspectives of villagers and subsistence farmers.

Global warming advocates will be happy to note that Fagan is very careful to differentiate the Medieval Warm Period, the "Great Warming" of the book's title, from the anthropogenic warming of the last 60 years. Some opponents of global warming theories have tried to use evidence from this period to suggest the current warming is a natural cycle, and this book makes it clear that the earlier warming is very different from what we see today. Further, it gives convincing evidence that even minor periods of warm, cold, wet, or dry climate conditions have had serious impact on the development of civilizations as far back as we can record, but especially during this Medieval Warm Period, around A.D. 800 to 1200. Cultures from the Maya to the Chinese have taken dramatic up or down turns due to droughts or floods or anything in between.

I was most impressed by the handling of potentially sensitive cultural topics – say, descriptions of rituals involving human sacrifice. This is the kind of thing that can generate a lot of judgment and westernized perspectives in the name of "impartial" science, but Fagan doesn't stoop to that and instead uses a clear voice to present the information and allow us to make our own moral value calculations. We are given enough information to appreciate cultures and cultural practices vastly divergent from our own to be able to appreciate their rituals and behaviors in context.

But it can't be all good...

My biggest criticism of the book by far is its lack of illustrations, graphs, charts, maps and the like, when the subject matter is quite plainly crying out for them. On pretty much every single page is some discussion of curves or statistics or zones or any number of other things that could have been illustrated better. The few times a graph is included made me wonder why, the author chose this particular statistical analysis to illustrate and not some of the more important data. Additional figures and illustrations would make this rather dense text a lot more accessible to readers who are less familiar with all the terminology and science. I would love to see a second edition of this book with a lot more sidebars breaking up the text.

One other complaint is with the writing's quality – most of the time it's first-rate, with a handful of passages musical enough that I marked them in the book with a pencil. But especially towards the end of the book there were several passages that made me cringe, and a higher than normal incidence of typos and punctuation errors that cries out for another round of editing.

The final verdict

The Great Warming is a great introduction to the science of climate change as it applies to human history. In addition to educating the reader on climatology we get a grasp of anthropology, history, biology, and geology as it relates to the subject matter. I liked the book and I hope to see an updated and expanded second edition sometime soon with about 200 more illustrations and charts.

Title: The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilization

Author: Brian Fagan

Publisher: Bloommsbury Press

Publication Date: March 4th, 2008

Pages: 304

Want a free copy of 'The Green Parent'? teensygreen has a giveaway!

teensygreen has great giveaways of green books and this week it offers you the chance to win a free copy of 'The Green Parent' by Jenn Savedge.

'The Green Parent' is an extensive guide for parents who would like to green up their family's life style and teach their children about living green.

This is an offer you cannot refuse: all you have to do is to leave a comment on this post with an answer to this question - what do you think is the most important eco-tip to share with your children (or grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc.)? and that's it - you're in the contest. Kedzie Press generously gave away 10 copies of the book so don't miss this chance to win this wonderful book.

We're also taking part in the giveaway - firstly, 'The Green Parent' is the first book on the Kedzie Million Tree-A-Thon, where we plant a tree for every book published by Kedzie Press with the goal of planting a million trees by the end of 2009 (our logo will also appear on all titles published by Kedzie Press). We will match each copy given on this giveaway with another new tree, so altogether 20 trees will be planted for the ten copies given on this giveaway.

You can find more details on teensygreen at http://www.teensygreen.com/2008/05/11/505/. This contest will be open until midnight, PST on Friday, May 16th.

Enjoy!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Do the green thing - stick with what you've got!

Every month we update you on the monthly green recommendation of our friends at 'Do The Green Thing'. This month they offer you to stick with what you've got.

What does it actually mean? here's their explanation: We're all guilty of buying things we crave but don't really need. And so this month, Green Thing asks you to Stick With What You Got.

Buying too much stuff puts an insane strain on the environment. It's a waste of the raw materials used to make them as well as the fossil fuels used to produce and transport them. And with peer pressure and ad pressure telling us we're inadequate until we get the latest thing, it puts a strain on our happiness too.

Looking for an example? you got one:



(And btw, we like both Mickey Rourke and Yael Naim..)

I would like to add that if you really need to buy something, just buy wisely and look for the best way to make your purchase as eco-friendly as possible.

Yours,
Raz @Eco-Libris

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!

Eco-Libris on the coolest online green TV series

I always had a feeling Eco-Libris is pretty cool, but after I've seen us on Titan Tv's Media Mulch, I am much more confident of that!

Media Mulch is a down and dirty roundup of the coolest and greenest videos, blogs and gizmos you can find online. From the poignant to the bizarre, host Liza de Guia dishes up the finest and the funniest from the eco web-world. They do all the digging...so you don’t have to.

So enjoy this video clip and wait for item number two :-)



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Random House's CEO is apparently stepping down, but how about his green legacy?

The New York Times reported yesterday that Peter Olson, the CEO of Random House and one of the most powerful figures in American book publishing, will step down in the next few weeks, according to two executives at Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate that owns the division.

Random House is the world’s largest trade book publisher and naturally it's a big story. This story has also a green side and a very important one - how Mr. Olson's expected departure will influence Random House's paper policy that was initiated in 2006 and enjoyed his full support?

In May 2006 Random House surprised the book industry when they announced that they will raise the proportion of recycled paper used by the company to at least 30% by 2010 from about 3% at the time of the announcement. The reduction in the usage of virgin paper is expected to result in saving of more than 550,000 trees annually once Random House hits the target of the 30% level in 2010.

On Bertelsmann's website you can learn how Mr. Olson felt about the new initiative: "Random House CEO Peter Olson pegs the financial commitment involved at several million dollars. “We believe that our new paper policy is the right step at the right time,” said Olson. “And we hope that other companies who buy large volumes of paper in the marketplace will take similar measures.” "

I can't know it for sure, but this quote as well as other indications makes me feel that Mr. Olson, who runs Random House since 1998, was very supportive of this move. Another indication for that is his involvement with Random House efforts to green up their business. I learned from the 'Book Industry Environmental Trends & Climate Impacts' report that he chairs the company's green committee. This committee, according to the report, has taken more steps to address the environmental impacts of the company's operations. The company's headquarters, for example, received LEED certification.

Random House, according to the report, succeeded to meet its intermediate 2007 target of 10% recycled paper content and is now working on meeting its 2008 goal - 15%.

From the article at the NYT, I understand that Mr. Olson is leaving his position due to lower profits of Random House (operating profit declined 4.9% in 2007) that influence Bertelsmann's financial results.

It is not clear yet who will replace Mr. Olson, but my concern is that the new CEO appointed by Bertelsmann might see the company's green initiative differently - an excess expense rather than an investment that will pay off eventually both financially and strategically.

At the same time it seems that so far Random House is implementing the recycled paper policy with no major costs, so I hope that it will be taken into consideration when the new CEO will look for ideas where she or he can cut the company's expenses and I'm sure they will.

All in all, I hope that even after Mr. Olson will leave the CEO position, his green legacy at Random House will stay there permanently.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Green Options - A Tribute to Those Who Have Finished Craft Projects

As part of Eco-Libris' ongoing content partnership with Green Options Media, we feature a post that was originally published by Skye Kilaen on April 24nd on Crafting Green World. Today's post is about craft books and a very cool one specifically that teaches you how to give an old sweater a second and even better life.

Admit it. You collect crafting books. It's all right, we're your friends. We won't judge you.

Or maybe I should speak just for myself. My name is Skye, and I collect craft books. My collection is very small when compared to some people's (hello Jessica, are you reading this?), but it contains books for quilting projects that I likely will never undertake. Celtic knot applique using bias strips, crazy landscape piecing techniques, etc. It's like I have a fantasy craft life that is totally divorced from my real craft life, which is mostly concerned with making baby quilts for other people's children.

Now I'm branching out into non-quilting books as well. One of the books that is about to add itself to my collection - note the use of passive voice to imply that it's not my fault - is the eco-fabulous Second Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater by Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis, and Katarina Evans.

I know that getting books from the library is the greener option, but at some point the Austin Public Library is going to get sick of me having their book out all the time and want a few words with me.

The fun, funky projects in Second Time Cool include skirts, hats, scarves, jewelry, gloves, slippers, and bags. It's intended for teens, which is why many of the projects are too cool for me, but there's plenty there for a 30-something mom as well. Everything I need to know is included, from felting and deconstructing a sweater to adding embellishments to the final piece. I have heady visions of the wonderful recycled sweater crafts I will create after rummaging through Goodwill during the three weeks a year when they actually put wool sweaters out for sale here in Texas.

Or will I?

Does anyone? Second Time Cool is lauded across the web for its style and possibilities, but out of all the people who bought it, did anyone actually make anything? I can't find sales figures, but its sales rank on Amazon is 554,476. For reference, the cookbook from reality show The Biggest Loser is 18, and one of my husband's obscure books is ranked 1,964,912. So let's assume that a reasonable number of people bought Second Time Cool.

After careful research, I have found dramatic evidence that at least THREE people on the planet have actually completed a project using Second Time Cool as inspiration. I would now like to pay tribute to those brave souls.

First up is Aimee Owen at Wardrobe Refashion. She actually did turn a sweater into a skirt. Aimee, we salute you!

Flickr user vasilisa also turned a sweater into a skirt, adding a crocheted hem and a ribbon at the waist. Impressive!

Last but not least, it turns out that the staff at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon is full of crafters. Who knew? Tracey of Powell's made some sexy wrist cuffs, which she wears inside at her desk. Tracey, congratulations! And tell your employers to turn on the heat.

All joking aside, craft books are yummy, and buying them new supports crafters and authors. Buying them used is greener. Either way, frequenting your local independent and used bookstores is good for you and your community.

And I am heartened to discover that making a project from a book is not just an empty dream.

Related Posts:

• Upcycle!, about another "trash into treasure" must-have book


• Recycle Sweaters Into Yarn


• Top 5 Must-Have DIY Sewing Tomes