The Green Life

Book Review Wednesday: Books About Endangered Species

Every Wednesday, we review a selection of new and upcoming books addressing a specific aspect of environmentalism. This week we’re recommending books about endangered species.

Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink (by Jane Goodall and Thane Maynard, $28, Grand Central Publishing, Sept. 2009): This is not your average doom-and-gloom species-decline book. As the title implies, the authors focus on the diligent efforts of conservationists to save species that were on the edge of extinction. They provide a very thorough summary of past and ongoing efforts to save all sorts of plants, birds, insects, and other animals, supplying a promising message of hope that not all is lost in today’s world. This book will go over well with anyone who loves Goodall’s writing or just needs some good news.

On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear (by Richard Ellis, $29, Knopf, Nov. 2009): The polar bear has become the poster child for climate change. We see its image everywhere, but how much do we actually know about the fascinating creature? Marine conservationist Richard Ellis covers a broad natural history of the species, ranging from its initial interaction with humans to the impact of the changing climate. While the danger of the bears' livelihood and natural habitat becomes imminent, Ellis writes that the polar bear can be salvaged if immediate action is taken. A must-read for animal lovers and those seeking an in-depth look at the polar bear.

Chicken Boy Spotted in Yosemite

This fall, it seemed like the whole country was excited about America's national parks. Much of that had to do with Ken Burns’s new documentary, and (we’d like to think) some cool Sierra Club projects too.

We're happy to see that the excitement continues. Kevin Roderick, in one of the most popular West Coast blogs, LA Observed, highlights a recent visit to Yosemite by Chicken Boy, a Los Angeles institution.

With the holidays coming up and last-minute work to be done, Roderick's post provided a chuckle when we really needed one.

--Kyle Boelte / photo by Judy Graeme

Movie Review Friday: A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish (2009)
Available on DVD
 

In A Sea Change, retired high school teacher Sven Huseby learns that the oceans are becoming more acidic because they’ve absorbed much of the carbon dioxide we’ve pumped into the atmosphere. He’s worried at the prospect of an ocean without fish – not for himself but for his grandson Elias, a mischievous, whip-smart 5-year-old who loves the sea. Huseby sets off on a journey to learn more about ocean acidification, talking with scientists, lawyers, alternative-energy entrepreneurs, and artists. He sends letters for Elias to read when he's older and can more fully appreciate his grandfather's quest.

The documentary is a solid primer on the science of ocean acidification, a problem that gets less attention than its twin issue, global warming. One of Huseby's strengths is that he doesn't preach what he knows but rather learns along with us. We can relate when we see him squinting in front of his computer at home, Googling keywords like “CO2 + H2O.” During interviews, he comes across as an eager, enthusiastic pupil.

But if A Sea Change only focused on science and facts, it might appeal to our brains but not our hearts. Fortunately, it's anchored in the connection between Huseby and his grandson; it’s one of the most touching depictions of the grandchild-grandparent relationship in recent filmmaking. When we see the pair happily fishing together at the film’s end, there’s a sense of heartache at what could be lost but also hope that we can save it.  

-- Année Tousseau

Recyclops Takes Over The Office

Watch out office workers... Recyclops is on the loose! The character Dwight Schrute from NBC's The Office is part futuristic robot, part green crusader in tonight's green-themed episode. Fans of the show know that Dwight runs a small beet farm, so he's already scoring points when it comes to local foods. But tonight's episode takes it to a whole new level -- a level we don't recommend when you're trying to green your own office.

It's green week on NBC, part of its parent company Universal's "Green is Universal" campaign. Many of NBC's shows are getting out the green message, but we're not sure any of them can match the hilarity of Recyclops.

If you are looking to get your co-workers involved in green workplace solutions, check out our 10 ways to green your workplace and tips for getting your boss on board. 

--Kyle Boelte

Library Puts John Muir's Letters Online

The newest digital collection at the University of the Pacific’s library will excite any John Muir enthusiast. The library has scanned more than 6,500 of his letters and posted them online.

Reading through the letters will give you glimpses into his personal life and conservation efforts, including his founding of the Sierra Club. The letters are both handwritten and typed. The handwritten ones are more fun to read, though, because you get to see his beautiful, fluid penmanship.

The collection isn’t really organized, but you can search for topics, letters to and from correspondents, or by date. It’s also enjoyable to just go through the collection at random, piecing together instances from his life.

The library has also made collections of Muir's photographs, drawings, and journals available online. These collections are free to view; you don’t even need a library card to access them. But beware: You could easily spend hours clicking on images, getting lost in his world.

--Julie Littman / photo courtesy of the National Park Service

Coal Country Premiers Saturday

Across the country this week, people are coming together to watch a new documentary film called Coal Country. There have already been hundreds of house parties during which neighbors, school classes, and faith groups were treated to an advance screening and took action to urge the Obama administration to end mountaintop removal. 

But that’s just the beginning. Coal Country premieres on Planet Green this Sat. at 8 p.m. ET; thousands are expected to tune in to see how mountaintop removal damages the environment and harms communities.

Plan to watch on Saturday, and tell your friends, family, and community about it today.

--Kyle Boelte

Movie Review Friday: Where the Wild Things Are

Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
In theaters now

In his 1963 book, Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak used fewer than 350 words to tell the story of a unruly little boy who discovers an imaginary, monster-filled kingdom. Spike Jonze's intimate film is darker and more complex, but the spellbinding adaptation preserves the lean force of the slim text.

Sprawling landscapes and intricately sculpted forts create a hypnotic and otherworldly setting where Max, the newly crowned king of the wild things, leads a group of motley monsters on a spree of vandalism and roughhousing that ultimately fails to cure his loneliness. Max has inherited a world of unlimited possibilities, yet the tenor of relationships in the kingdom can be best described by a monster named KW: "I'll eat you up, I love you so."

Trees, rocks, snow, and dirt bear the brunt of the movie's violence, but the characters' emotional hunger claims victims among the monsters as well. Max's ultimate (and rather abrupt) decision to return home to his family is, in some ways, an admission of failure: He realizes he isn't fit to be king.

Jonze's compassionate treatment of these hopeful, reckless characters resonates beyond the theater. Like Max's kingdom, Earth's shrinking forests, polluted oceans, and soot-filled skies prove that humans can be beastly. But unlike Max, we can't sail home to our mothers. This wild world is all we have; now we must learn how best to love it.

--Della Watson

A View of the World, From Soldiers' Eyes

Veterans Day may have come and gone, but it's still Veterans Week, so we should expect to see more military messages; most images of war will arrive via the mainstream media and official military sources.

But at a site called UnderMars, soldiers anonymously submit their own photos. That means we get to see their view of the world – tanks and guns, yes, but also desert landscapes, schools of fish in the sea, sunsets, and blooming flowers.

 

Most of the photos on the site were taken in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. For us at home, it’s an honest, unpolished look at soldiers’ daily lives. UnderMars doesn’t take a political stand, and neither does it glamorize nor demonize soldiers’ jobs. It’s just meant to provide a glimpse through their eyes.  

Warning: There are very graphic, bloody pictures, but they’re only in the section labeled “Gore.” Don’t click on that section if you don’t want to see it. 

-- Année Tousseau / photo courtesy Undermars.com

Green Your Reading Habits: Read Eco-Themed Books

Curling up with a good book sounds like a great alternative to braving the cold, rainy weather this season. Since books and many publications are made of trees, this week's tips are about how to green your reading habits.

Tip #4: Read, Naturally

What's the best way to green your reading? Why, reading about being green, of course! Check out The Green Life's "Book Roundup Wednesday" posts, wherein we recommend a selection of new and upcoming books addressing a different aspect of environmentalism every week. Many of the publishers of these books print on recycled paper; click here for a list of eco-conscious publishers.

Tell us: What's your favorite environment-themed book?

Green Your Reading Habits: E-Book Readers

Curling up with a good book sounds like a great alternative to braving cold, rainy weather. Since books are made of trees, this week's tips are about how to green your reading habits.

Tip #2: Use an E-Book Reader

Despite the initial cost of electronic book readers and the plastic used to create them, they leave a smaller eco-footprint than paper books. With an e-book reader, you can download books, newspapers, and magazines from anywhere so you won’t have to drive to the bookstore to pick up the paper versions. To increase your green points, you can recycle your reader when you're done with it.

Tell us: What do you think about e-book readers?