The Evolution of Eco Books

Call this an addendum to the last post. While reading over those reviewed by BookPage, I couldn't help but think of a few on my shelf. As I pulled the dust bunnies off of them just now, I realized that the three books I'm about to mention pretty well cover the entire evolution of the environmental movement, and I think aptly demonstrate the knowledge level of the time they were written.

Few will deny that Silent Spring by Rachel Carson all but formally began the mass environmental movement. Writing in 1962, Carson noted that she could no longer hear the birds chirping as she once did, or how her parents or grandparents often described. She writes mainly about pesticides and their reckless use, but also about other social and political factors and the parts they play in the destruction of our ecosystems. This was, and remains to be, an accurate and well written "state of the environment." Even though it was published 45 years ago, I still recommend it.

Before An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore wrote Earth in the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit. I read this back in college, and even then thought "Whoa, easy there killer!" Gore didn't have very good data and often spewed diarrhea-like from his typewriter in 1992. I remember many people referring to this book and asking, "Do you want THAT guy to be our President??" when he ran against Bush. My answer was no. I don't recommend reading Earth in the Balance unless you like science fiction, but I think it nicely captured the knowledge level of 1992: we knew there were problems, but we were all over the board about what we should do about it.

And lastly, a super intriguing book called Cradle to Cradle; Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart (1992). Even after 4 years (or 5 today - Happy New Year), this book is still rattling heads. You may have heard the phrase Cradle to Grave, but this book challenges even the old mantra of the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. They consider traditional recycling "downcycling" and offer the alternative of "upcycling" - where a product actually becomes higher quality with use, or at least not lower quality. It is quite obvious that most of the things we recycle are only recycled once, and are no longer recycleable: the free pencils made out of recycled pop bottles that one can find anywhere, for example. The first chapter is named "This book is not a tree". Let me quote one paragraph for your thought-provocation. "This book is not a tree. It is printed on synthetic "paper" and bound into a book format developed by innovative book packager Charles Melcher of Melcher Media. Unlike the paper with which we are familiar, it does not use any wood pulp or cotton fiber but is made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers. This material is not only waterproof, extremely durable, and recycleable by conventional means; it is also a prototype for the book as a 'technical nutrient,' that is, as a product that can be broken down and circulated infinitely in industrial cycles - made and remade as "paper" or other products." I just got this one for Christmas so can't give my full review yet, but all the other treehuggers around are huge fans.