The Green Life

Media Lounge

Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors. Learn how at sierraclub.org/sierra/letstalk.

EDIBLE ESTATES
a book by Fritz Haeg
Starting in 2005, architect and designer Fritz Haeg commissioned families in California, New Jersey, and Kansas to rip out their lawns and grow vegetables in their front yards. Edible Estates is a treatise against grass, which at 30 million acres is the United States' largest irrigated crop. It also follows the suburban dissidents who dug under the inquisitive gaze of neighbors and found joy in curbside tomatoes.

LIVING WITH ED
an HGTV DVD set
Ed Begley Jr., a TV star and environmentalist, pits himself against Hollywood's glitz in this man-versus-modern-times reality show. His luxury-loving wife, Rachelle Carson, plays devil's advocate by challenging his angelic intentions (such as collecting rainwater in an "ugly" container). Begley also tours Tinseltown and the Sundance Film Festival to green-gut-check his fellow celebs. A visit to Jay Leno's car haven is particularly electrifying. --Della Watson

THE LAST FLIGHT OF THE SCARLET MACAW
a book by Bruce Barcott
This suspenseful tale of the recent, impassioned fight against Belize's Chalillo Dam draws eerie parallels to John Muir's struggle against the Hetch Hetchy Dam in California's Sierra Nevada. A spectacular river valley teeming with wildlife is at stake, and an eccentric zookeeper--aided by Sierra Club members--tilts against corrupt officials and secret deals in a jungle-state where the animals have as much personality as the people. --Heather Conn

WALKING THE WRACK LINE
a book by Barbara Hurd
"I was in my mid-forties," Barbara Hurd writes, "before I understood that you don't always have to see where you're going in order to get there." A seasoned observer of hidden places, she looks to tidal debris--a moon snail, sea glass, driftwood--to create a lyrical melody of history, travel, and observation. Walking the Wrack Line becomes her metaphor for loss, transformation, and embrace of the natural world. --Thomas Curwen

WILLIAM IS GOING GREEN
a book by James Martin II with James Martin III
illustrated by Don Berry
After William the Garbage Truck's loud, smoky engine costs him his job, the eco-city of Jamestown offers him employment if he replaces his gas-guzzling engine with a hybrid. At first disheartened, William finds salvation when he helps a cat and earns karmic rewards. Besides adding hybrid to the vocabulary of three- to eight-year-olds, this book helps kids learn about water conservation and toy recycling. --D.W.

Media Lounge

FUGITIVE DENIM
a book by Rachel Louise Snyder
On this unexpectedly affecting, and at times hilarious, pant-chasing excursion into global trade, readers meet the designer for Bono's righteous label, Edun; cotton classers in Azerbaijan who judge the material's quality; and textile workers in Cambodia and China. Afterward, it'll be hard to pull on a pair of jeans and not think about the people who made them. --M.B.S. 

LET'S TALK: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors. Learn how at sierraclub.org/sierra/letstalk.

THE LAWS FIELD GUIDE TO THE SIERRA NEVADA
a book by John Muir Laws
If you have room for only one Sierra Nevada guidebook in your pack, make it this little gem. A beautiful resource for better understanding the region, it includes entries on insects, tracks, stars, scat, and mushrooms as well as the usual plants, birds, and animals. Dense with illustration, it's the perfect all-ages introduction to field guides. Well-researched natural-history notes pull the reader more deeply into the story of these iconic mountains. --Pamela Biery

CENSORING SCIENCE
a book by Mark Bowen
Widely acknowledged as the preeminent climate scientist of our time, James Hansen, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has spent decades alerting us about global warming and beseeching governments to take action. Author Mark Bowen relates how Hansen's efforts landed him in hot water with greenhouse-gas-emitting industries--and the Bush administration, which tried to muzzle this courageous public servant. --Marilyn Berlin Snell

SIMPLE PROSPERITY
a book by David Wann
If your New Year's resolutions bit the dust, this book can help you reassess your goals. Our overconsumptive lifestyle is out of sync with our real values, author David Wann says, and we can find greater contentment by creating vibrant communities, right-sizing our homes, valuing our time, and nurturing our health. Wann provides a useful compendium of tidbits and sources, but his concepts will be familiar to Sierra readers.  --Debra Jones

SHARKWATER
a film by Rob Stewart
Like a sleuth in scuba gear, filmmaker Rob Stewart uncovers the grisly reality of a multibillion-dollar black market: the shark-fin industry. He also presents a convincing case that these rulers of the ocean, vilified by Jaws and the news media, are misunderstood and in need of saving. The film is both heartbreaking and hopeful as Stewart explores and fights for the most expansive but neglected ecosystem on Earth.  --Katie Mathis

Media Lounge

Come on in and feed your mind

THE CLEAN TECH REVOLUTION
a book by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder
Sprinkled with enough acronyms to satisfy geeks and policymakers but accessible to the layperson, this roundup of the latest in renewable energy, transportation, and efficiency offers welcome solutions to global warming. The authors highlight innovations such as building-integrated wind power, flex-fuel plug-in hybrid cars, and a "smart" electricity grid that would monitor and modulate energy use--plus consumer tips and hot companies. --Debra Jones

THE GREATEST GIFT
a book by Binka Le Breton
Walking alone on an isolated Amazon road one morning in 2005, the 73-year-old American nun Dorothy Stang was shot to death by hired gunmen. Infuriated by her work to secure small land plots for sustainable cultivation, ranchers and loggers had put a bounty on Stang's head. Extensive quotes from those who knew her help recount the nun's fierce struggle on behalf of the forest and those who depend on it. --Marilyn Berlin Snell

WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?
a film by Rob VanAlkemade
Feeling postholiday buyer's remorse? Confess your material sins to Reverend Billy. In this docu-comedy, the pompadoured preacher and his Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir sing at the Mall of America, get arrested at Disneyland, and hold an exorcism over a Wal-Mart sign. The real man behind the fake collar remains enigmatic, but his message is clear: Unless we repent our consumerist ways, the "shopocalypse" is nigh. wwjbmovie.com

EVERYTHING'S COOL
a film by Daniel Gold and Judith Helfand
When even Oprah is talking about global warming, it's clear the issue has hit the mainstream. So why are so many people still blase about climate change? In examining the causes of this complacency, this documentary profiles some of the people who are trying to wake Americans up, including a government whistle-blower, a ski-resort employee who brews his own biodiesel fuel, and an appealingly nerdy climatologist who's turning science into on-camera sound bites. everythingscool.org

Let's Talk: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors.

THE ART OF SIMPLE FOOD
a book by Alice Waters
OK, you've got organic food from the farmers' market. Now what to do with it? Seasonal-food evangelist Alice Waters takes the beginner cook by the hand, explaining everything from boiling an egg to planning a doable dinner party. Her foolproof secret is what made her Chez Panisse restaurant famous: the best ingredients, simply prepared. --Paul Rauber

(The Art of Simple Food cover courtesy Clarkson Potter/Publishers; Everything's Cool cover courtesty City Lights Media)

Movie Friday!

Winter weather getting you down? Escape to the movies with one of our "Film Fridays" selections. Each week we'll feature a movie with environmentally or socially responsible themes that’s currently in theatres or available on DVD.

Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a review of 100 words or less and we may feature it on the e-mail list!

Blue Vinyl
a film by Daniel B Gold and Judith Helfand
on DVD/VHS

When filmmaker Judith Helfand's parents decide to replace the rotting wood siding on their suburban home with cheaper, more durable blue vinyl, Helfand embarks on a quest to find out whether it's possible "to make products that never hurt anyone at any point in their life cycle." Toting a slab of siding, Helfand travels to Lake Charles, Louisiana, the vinyl capital of the United States. What she uncovers there, and in another manufacturing center, Venice, Italy, is enough to convince even her stubborn parents to take the vinyl down.

Rent the movie with some friends and get a rousing discussion going with Sierra's film-club questions.

Pop Corner

Call it Survivor: The Landfill. The British TV series Dumped, which aired last fall, challenged 11 volunteers to spend three weeks living on a heap of garbage. The participants, including a 20-year-old student who "hates to be stuck in an environment without any nightclubs" and a 47-year-old personal trainer who lives on a boat and eats only organic food, were recruited under the working title "EcoChallenge," executive producer Helen Veale told the Guardian newspaper. "They all thought they were going to end up somewhere exotic like the Amazon rainforest."

New Year, New You

Eight ecofriendly resolutions for a happier, healthier 2008

1. Bring camaraderie to your commute
Carpooling saves gas and turns traffic delays into socializing opportunities. Find fellow riders at goloco.org and zimride.com.

2. Be an informed eater
If you're torn between the trout and the halibut, text 30644 with the message "FISH" and the type you're considering to learn which is the more sustainable choice (fishphone.org).

3. Junk the junk mail
Inundated by catalogs but too lazy to call and get off their mailing lists? Just register with catalogchoice.org, which will do the legwork for you. (Services like greendimes.com and 41pounds.org stop other kinds of junk mail too--for a fee.)

4. Become a mix master
DIY kits make it easy to blend up your own nontoxic household cleansers, skin products, and pet-care items (all from eco-me.com) as well as all-natural baby food (freshbaby.com).

5. Learn to share
At neighborrow.com and borrowme.com, you can find neighbors willing to lend you books, tools, or other things you'd rather not buy.

6. Give back on your next getaway
Count whales or plant trees in exotic locales--opportunities abound at greenvolunteers.com and in The Ethical Travel Guide (Earthscan) and The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life (National Geographic Books).

7. Just say no to bottled water
If tap water is good enough for some of the country's top restaurants, isn't it good enough for you?

8. See more meaningful movies
Sick of Hollywood fluff? Subscribe to a socially conscious film series at earthcinemacircle.com or ironweedfilms.com and get cinematic conversation-starters delivered to your door.

What's your green new year's resolution? Share it with us in the comments section.

(Illustrations by Josef Gast)

Media Lounge

SEX IN A TENT
a book by Michelle Waitzman
Being dirty and talking dirty gloriously commingle in this guide to coupling in the great outdoors. Sprinkled with first-person accounts of how various folks got cozy during camping trips, Michelle Waitzman's book provides tips on "sexy tent games for a rainy day," how to make unwashed hat hair alluring, which clothing fabrics stink less after a few days' use, and which lightweight treats--such as licorice, chocolate, and cinnamon--help boost libido. For some backcountry foreplay, try salving your partner's mosquito bites or massaging his or her aching feet before skinny-dipping together. You may not learn how to pack economically, but you'll pick up some suave steps for a tent tango. --Marilyn Berlin Snell

Media Lounge

Come on in and feed your mind

A CRUDE AWAKENING
a film by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack
It doesn't feature any zombies or serial killers, but this might be the scariest movie you'll see all year. Somber visits to onetime oil boomtowns, chilling interviews with former industry executives, and an eye-opening look at how this ever-scarcer resource is intertwined with our culture all add up to one conclusion: Oil, the "bloodstream of the world economy," may well bring an end to it. oilcrashmovie.com

THIRST
a book by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman with Michael Fox
The new water barons want free public access to clean water to be a thing of the past. But citizens around the world have mounted fierce resistance to attempts by multinational corporations like Nestle and Suez to privatize "blue gold." This literary follow-up to the authors' 2004 documentary of the same name is an urgent call to stop the sale of water sources to the highest bidder. --Silja J. A. Talvi

KING CORN
a film by Aaron Woolf
It sounds like the setup to a joke: Two college buddies move from Boston to Iowa to grow an acre of corn. But this lighthearted documentary is also enlightening, as the pair supplement their farming efforts by tracking corn through the food system--visiting cattle operations that use it as feed, interviewing urban doctors about obesity that may stem from corn-based sweeteners, even brewing up a batch of their own high-fructose corn syrup. kingcorn.net

BLESSED UNREST
a book by Paul Hawken
Smith & Hawken's founder didn't set out to pen a hopeful book. "Optimism," writes Paul Hawken, "discovered me." By his count, more than a million groups around the world are fighting for the environment, social justice, and indigenous rights--what he terms a decentralized "immune system" response to the planet's troubles. Visiting Hawken's new Web site, wiserearth.org, a collaborative tool for 100,000 such groups, might cheer you too. --Joan Hamilton

Let's Talk: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors.

A SLICE OF ORGANIC LIFE
a book edited by Sheherazade Goldsmith
Hard work never looked so enticing as in this lushly illustrated manual for cooking, gardening, and scrubbing your way to a better planet. Former British model Sheherazade Goldsmith's glamming up of rural living may not tempt everyone into raising chickens or pigs, but who wouldn't enjoy tips for giving eco-presents or a recipe for organic mulled wine?

The Last Action Heroes?

Can a documentary about environmental catastrophe compete at the box office with more typical summer fare of teenage wizards, slapstick humor, and amnesiac assassins? If it's produced and narrated by Leonardo diCaprio, it can at least hope to get as much buzz, and The 11th Hour is off to a good start. After premiering in New York and Los Angeles, where critics called it "a harrowing account of the planet's current condition," that also offers "just enough optimism that I didn't want to run home and stick my head in an energy-efficient oven," the film opens nationwide later this month. A companion website fleshes out some of the ideas introduced in the film and offers ways for individuals, businesses, and schools to make a difference. In this action movie, the heroes have to be us.

View the trailer and get more info:

Cinema du Sol

It seems fitting to show a movie about global warming using the energy of the sun instead of fossil fuels. But everything from comedies to retro sci-fi to early Scorcese is fair game for the Solar-Powered Arts Festival in Manhattan. Starting tomorrow night with the new climate-change documentary Everything's Cool, the SolarOne center will follow its dance and music events by hosting outdoor screenings of six films, with audio generated by the building's 88 solar panels and tasty snacks for sale from the organic gourmets at Build a Green Bakery.

Media Lounge

Come on in and feed your mind

THE FRAGILE EDGE
a book by Julia Whitty
Like Rachel Carson in a diving suit, Julia Whitty unveils secrets of the sea surrounding several rapidly submerging, reef-fringed South Pacific islands. Encounters underwater with vividly colored fish and onshore with locals dependent on the catch remind us that the coral reef, one of the planet's most diverse ecosystems, is a foundation of our food chain. "Reefs, we know, can survive without us," Whitty writes. "The opposite may not be true." --Rebecca Lawton

PLENTY
a book by Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon
Deciding to minimize their environmental impact by eating only food produced within 100 miles of their Vancouver, British Columbia, apartment, Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon abandoned sugar, flour, and Cheerios for a year. In return, they discovered the bounty beyond supermarket doors--organic blueberries growing next to a Buddhist temple, giant prawns caught off the B.C. coast, and sweet, starchy camas bulbs, lightly roasted. --Maria Trombetta

PLANET EARTH
a Discovery Channel DVD set
From the pathos of a hungry polar bear unsuccessfully hunting a walrus--its last chance at a meal--to the exhilaration of an aerial view of the world's highest free-flowing waterfall, watching this 11-part documentary is like attending the most engrossing science class ever. Even the squeamish won't be able to turn away from footage of hundreds of thousands of cave-dwelling cockroaches feeding off a 300-foot mountain of bat excrement.

THE WORLD WITHOUT US
a book by Alan Weisman
If people disappeared from the face of the earth, wind and rain would eventually deconstruct our homes, but some of our plastics might linger for millennia. In imagining a humanless future, journalist Alan Weisman examines how nature has reclaimed places abandoned due to conflict or contamination, how other big mammals became extinct, and how we have evolved--and speculates on who or what might come next.

Let's Talk: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES
a film by Jennifer Baichwal
Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world to capture humanity's biggest impacts on the land--including massive mines, dams, and ship-scrapping sites--in images whose beauty rivals their subjects' brutality. This artful documentary takes viewers behind the scenes (panning through endless, identical rows of machinery in a Chinese factory, for instance) and reveals the lives of people displaced by or virtually enslaved to the industrial landscape.

Pop Corner

First-time director Ali Selim's historical romance movie, Sweet Land (now available on DVD), was as low impact as it was low budget. The actors and crew worked under natural light whenever possible, carpooled to the set, and agreed to forgo flights home on weekends, while Selim offset any carbon dioxide emitted during filmmaking.

Revel With a Cause

Sure, you're still busy cleaning your grill after yesterday's festivities, but it's time to get ready for the next party! If you don't already have plans to rock out with 2 billion of your closest friends and (world) neighbors on Saturday, well, where you have you been? Tickets for the best (IMO) Live Earth show, at Wembley Stadium in London, are sold out, but that event--featuring performances by the Beastie Boys, the Foo Fighters, and Spinal Tap--and the 24-hour concerts from six other continents (yep, even Antarctica) are being broadcast online and on TV as part of the international effort to provoke action on global warming. Find--or host--a viewing party near you, and tell us, which bands are you most excited to see?

What to Watch...

...if you're a travel or nature junkie:
Planet Earth, a Discovery Channel series (on DVD)

...if you're into adventure:
Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog (on DVD)

...if you're all about food:
The Real Dirt On Farmer John by Taggart Siegel (in theaters)

...if you're more of an artsy sort:
Manufactured Landscapes by Jennifer Baichwal (in theaters later this summer)

What are you going to be watching this summer? Tell us your picks in the comments section!

Seen on the Screen

Looking for a good movie to watch this weekend? Tune into Sierra Club Radio tomorrow--I'll be on the show talking about some of my picks for enviro cinephiles.

And if the kids need something to amuse them, plop them in front of The Greens, a Web-based animated show with eco-themed games and quizzes for middle-schoolers. Sssh, don't tell them it's educational!

"Eco-Chic Debunked"?

Sure, juicy cover lines like that sell magazines. But New York's June 18 story on "hacking through the biodegradable, zero-carbon, ecochic overhype" actually only rains on the parade of four of the twelve products (including a body squeegee and a hand-crank washing machine) they assess. The rest, from poop stationery to soy clothing, get at least grudging--if not glowing--praise from the amusingly snarky commentators. Their back-and-forth banter is well worth a read.

What ecofriendly products or services do you think are impractical, overhyped or just plain lame?

What to Read...

...if you want to lay out on the beach and lose yourself in a tale of danger and romance:
The Wild Trees by Richard Preston

...if you're looking for inspiration:
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai

...if you want to revel in wanderlust:
Code Green: Experiences Of A Lifetime by Kerry Lorimer

...if you're itching to pick up a new hobby:
How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes

...as an alternative to reality TV:
Better Off: Flipping The Switch On Technology by Eric Brende

What are you going to be reading this summer? Tell us your picks in the comments section!

One Ticket for Farmer John, Please

The quirky, entertaining, inspiring food flick The Real Dirt on Farmer John has been making the film-festival rounds for a while, but today's show times in New York City mark the start of its wide release this summer. Watch the trailer below, look for the film at a theater near you, and be sure to tune into Sierra Club Radio tomorrow for an interview with the documentary film's star, Farmer John Peterson. I'll also be on tomorrow's show talking about some good green books for summer reading.

A Tip a Day...

...keeps global warming at bay. (And other environmental problems too!)

Want to start living a lower-impact, higher-quality lifestyle? Not sure where to begin? Sign up for our new Green Life newsletter and receive an easy tip every day about a small change that can make a big difference. Simple steps like replacing conventional lightbulbs with more efficient ones, keeping your car tires properly inflated, or adjusting your thermostat a degree or two can save you money, reduce waste, and help save the planet. Don't delay, sign up today!

Media Lounge

Come on in and feed your mind

THE EARTH KNOWS MY NAME
a book by Patricia Klindienst
For ethnic and immigrant Americans, gardens provide not only food but also a connection with their culture. From Italians who fled fascism with precious seeds to Indian expatriates who grow jamun, neem, and other trees native to their homeland, the diverse gardeners profiled by Patricia Klindienst have learned to heal personal pain by sowing the earth. Their stories of redemption are as beautiful as the land they work. --Rebecca Lawton

SHOPPING WITH A CONSCIENCE
a book by Duncan Clark and Richie Unterberger
Was your sweater made in a sweatshop? Does your food come from a family or factory farm? Did that FedEx package you sent help reelect George W. Bush? Everyday purchases have major social, environmental, and political ramifications, as this comprehensive Rough Guide makes clear. With so many companies now positioning themselves as ethical alternatives, the book's practical tips help consumers align what they buy with what they believe.

THE WILD TREES
a book by Richard Preston
Once thought to be barren, the world's oldest redwoods are actually "coral reefs in the air," supporting soil, water, lichens, ferns, voles, and salamanders. Richard Preston tags along with the quirky tree-climbing scientists who have risked their lives to make these recent discoveries. In the end, they help him spider-walk hundreds of feet up some of the old monarchs to see for himself. --Joan Hamilton

BLACK GOLD
a film by Marc Francis and Nick Francis
From the sterile conference rooms where "cuppers" gravely taste different brews to the clattering warehouses where Ethiopian women pick through unroasted beans, coffee connects the world but hardly unites it. The gap between those who set coffee's price and the impoverished growers who produce it--and one man's struggle to inject some fairness into the process--is at the heart of this eye-opening documentary. blackgoldmovie.com

Let's Talk: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors.

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
a book by Terry Glavin
Though people have killed off many species, extinction is not a battle between humans and nature; our fates are intertwined. As plants and animals disappear, so too do languages, traditions, and knowledge. Terry Glavin travels to places where people--Hawaiian botanists hand-pollinating cliff-dwelling flowers, Indian villagers growing dozens of kinds of rice--are battling a "dark and gathering sameness."

On the Bookshelf: Life: A Journey Through Time

When photographer Frans Lanting decided he wanted to do a project on life "from its earliest beginnings to its present diversity," he faced a problem: How do you photograph things and events that existed millions, if not billions, of years ago?

With some imaginative thinking, the patterns radiating out in a cross-section of fossilized wood stood in for the Big Bang. Volcanoes and geysers evoked the Earth's fiery beginnings. Present-day creatures like the frigatebird and the tuatara (a reptile found only in New Zealand) exhibited traits of their ancient relations.

All these images, and many others, found their way into Lanting's latest book, Life: A Journey Through Time. Listening to him describe the evolutionary stages that each photograph represents at a talk last weekend (a chronology well-depicted on his website) left me as enamored of the science behind the images as the artistry in them.

Read All About It

A roundup of news worth noting from the past month or so:

ART
* Jo Hanson, the founder of San Francisco's trendsetting "art at the dump" program, passed away.

FASHION
* A tote bag with an environmental message became a fashion must-have.

FOOD AND DRINK
* A group of locavores tried to eat local on a budget.
* Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck announced a new green direction for his restaurants, including serving more organic and local produce, seafood from sustainable fisheries, and more humanely raised meat.
* London eco-eatery the Acorn House was named "Best Newcomer" in the annual Observer Food Monthly Awards.
* British researchers showed that organic food is better for you.
* Organic and natural pet foods got a boost from the big recall of tainted chow.

MEDIA LOUNGE
* Big Picture TV, a free web-based video channel focused on environmental issues, launched with commentary from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jane Goodall, Eric Schlosser, and Wangari Maathai.

OUTDOORS
* New York City broke ground on a lofty park that will span the High Line, 1.5 miles of abandoned freight-train track on the West Side of Manhattan.

TRANSPORTATION
* A green taxi service--operating only hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles--started up in San Francisco.

Lights, Camera, (Energy) Action!

Love movies? Looking for something entertaining (and enlightening) to do this weekend? Many Sierra Club chapters and other groups are hosting Energy Film Festivals as part of their Earth Day celebrations--with the cinematic events continuing throughout the year. I've already seen a number of the selections, including The Appalachians, Being Caribou, and Homeland, and they were all fascinating. So grab some popcorn and get ready to get fired up about sustainable energy.

The Wild Life

I was laid up by the flu for almost a week, so the only adventuring I've been up for has been of the armchair variety. The "Ice Worlds" segment of the Discovery Channel's 11-part miniseries Planet Earth promised (and delivered) a cooling respite from my feverish state. It clearly took some extreme filmmaking to get these amazing views of life at the polar ends of the Earth: Hundreds of male penguins clustered wing-to-wing to protect their eggs through weeks of frigid storms, a polar bear swimming miles to find food and desperately stalking a walrus herd, and the first steps of baby musk ox, among other memorable, gorgeously shot scenes. The series airs Sundays through April 22 and is available on DVD.

Closer to home, Go Wild! Outside Las Vegas showed me what I was missing on my last trip to Sin City: spectacular rock climbing, scenic hikes, and restful soaks in flower-laden springs--just a stone's throw from the slot machines. Writer/director Doug Robinson, a longtime climber, is a congenial guide to these little-known desert treats.

Pop Corner

Do not attempt to adjust the picture: That green tint on your television is from the Sundance Channel's new programming. The network, founded by actor and longtime environmental advocate Robert Redford, will debut a weekly three-hour block of ecofriendly TV in April. Plans for "The Green," the first segment of its kind in prime time, include a series profiling leading activists and innovators, feature-length documentaries, lifestyle shows, and news specials.

Media Lounge

Books about exploring and understanding the natural world

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
a book by Gordon Wiltsie
Iconic images of a climber rappelling off a cliff or a trekker silhouetted against soaring peaks always omit one detail: These "lone" adventurers are accompanied by someone with a camera. Famed expedition photographer Gordon Wiltsie steps out of the shadows to tell the stories behind his shots of the Amazon, the Arctic, and beyond. He relates extreme derring-do as vividly as snow baths, freeze-dried meals, and other quotidian details.

LOCAL TREASURES
a book by Margot Anne Kelley
From wooded trails to suburban fringes, scattered bits of land are the playing field for "geocaching," a kind of high-tech hide-and-seek in which participants use global-positioning devices to find stashes of trinkets and notes left by others. What Margot Anne Kelley finds is how this oddly compelling amalgamation of technology and nature provides fresh insight into the "places that people . . . treasure enough to share freely."

THE ART OF ROUGH TRAVEL
a book by Sir Francis Galton
While on an expedition, are you awoken by braying pack animals? Just lash heavy stones to their tails. Need to swim an icy river? "The chilliness . . . is retarded by rubbing all over the body . . . about twice as much oil or bear's grease as a person uses for his hair." Really, really hungry? "Carrion is not noxious to starving men." Written in 1885 for Victorian travelers, this well-edited reissue suits the modern armchair variety as well. --Paul Rauber

RETURN TO WILD AMERICA
a book by Scott Weidensaul
Half a century after two naturalists explored North America and wrote about their 30,000-mile trek in the book Wild America, what has changed? Scott Weidensaul follows his predecessors' route from Newfoundland to Mexico, and all around the United States, to see if Americans are still "worthy of their land." His carefully observed travelogue reminds us of the great strides made to protect our environment--and of how far we have left to go.

Let's Talk: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors.

PIGEONS
a book by Andrew D. Blechman
Long revered for their navigational abilities and swift flight--they delivered the results of the first Olympics in 776 B.C.--pigeons are now usually seen as a nuisance. To learn how familiarity bred contempt, Andrew D. Blechman delves into the eccentric, and often gritty, worlds of those who breed, race, and shoot pigeons and discovers that even urban pests have remarkable stories to tell.

(Local Treasures cover image by Margot Anne Kelley)

Media Lounge

Books and films to inspire and incite

WORLDCHANGING
a book edited by Alex Steffen
This "user's guide for the 21st century" is an encyclopedic look at ideas for environmental and social sustainability, from the fanciful (a table that emits natural light) to the indispensable (affordable water filtration). Touching on technology, art, disaster relief, biodiversity, and hundreds of other topics, the book connects the unexpected and starts charting the way to a future that is "bright, green, and freely available to all." worldchanging.com

LASTING LIGHT
a book by Stephen Trimble
The Grand Canyon's vastness can be difficult to capture on film, but the 46 photographers showcased in this historical overview succeed gloriously. Stories of early expeditions and interviews with contemporary artists add depth and context to the images, which range from classic vistas to close studies of the serene pools, sandy outcrops, and dramatic flora in the hidden corners of one of the most visited U.S. national parks.

CRUDE
a book by Sonia Shah
When people first encountered oil, we didn't just exploit it. "We wallowed in it," writes Sonia Shah. With the end of oil abundance nearing, the author explores our dependence on it. Her compelling account illuminates how oil reserves came to be and how this cheap fuel shaped the U.S. auto industry, contributed to human-rights abuses and rapid climate change, and created the "petrolife" Americans enjoy today. --Silja J. A. Talvi

UNBOWED
a book by Wangari Maathai
"Anybody can dig a hole, put a tree in it, water it, and nurture it," Wangari Maathai writes in her powerful memoir. But not just anyone could turn a small tree-planting effort in Kenya into an international voice for democracy and women's rights. By maintaining a deep connection to her rural roots while gaining an education and independence, this farmer's daughter became a Nobel Peace Prize winner. greenbeltmovement.org

Let's Talk: Discuss this selection with your friends and neighbors.

HOMELAND
a film by Roberta Grossman
In the rural valleys and desert plains many Native Americans call home, power plants, mines, and hazardous-waste dumps are rarely far away. Environmental threats plague almost all of the 317 tribal reservations in the United States, but the four charismatic subjects of this film have led their impoverished communities to stand up to the devastation and protect their traditions, homes, and health.

(Worldchanging cover image courtesy Sagmeister Inc.)

Read All About It

If you've got any bookworms on your holiday shopping list, consider these recent titles by Sierra contributors:

• For the nature lover: Pre-order Chrysalis, Kim Todd's biography of a 17th-century female naturalist.
• For the political junkie: Steven Hill's 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
• For the photo buff: Galen Rowell: A Retrospective.
• For the McDonald's-obsessed teen: Chew on This, Eric Schlosser’s youth-friendly follow-up to Fast Food Nation.
• For the little ones: Dashka Slater's children's books, Baby Shoes and Firefighters in the Dark.

Read any good books lately? Let us know about 'em.

Big Issues on the Big Screen

Two Sierra favorites are going to be making a splash at Sundance. The directors of Blue Vinyl will premiere their latest movie, a documentary about climate change, at the prestigious film festival in January. Everything's Cool follows a group of "self-appointed global warming messengers...on a high stakes quest to find the iconic image, proper language, and points of leverage to help the public go from embracing the urgency of the problem to creating the political will necessary to move to an alternative energy economy." Sounds a little wonky, but based on their engaging, personal last film, we'll give Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold the benefit of the doubt.

The event will also mark the U.S. premiere of Manufactured Landscapes, a Canadian doc about Toronto-based photographer Edward Burtynsky, whose uncomfortably gorgeous images of large-scale environmental destruction have wowed me for years.

See you at the movies!

Pop Corner

Holiday film releases will include The Blood Diamond, a political thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and set in Sierra Leone, where control of diamond exports fueled a bloody civil war in the 1990s. Though the industry has taken steps to keep "conflict diamonds" off the market, some companies are trying to address human-rights and environmental issues in other ways, such as by using diamonds from more strictly regulated Canadian mines (brilliantearth.com, cred.tv) or creating gem-quality synthetics (greenkarat.com).