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Ask Plenty: Top 10 green books of 2008
Q. My new year’s resolution is to read more in 2009. What are some important new-ish green titles I should start with? – Martin, NH
A. As Emily Dickinson famously wrote, “there is no frigate like a book / to take us lands away.” Or, in the case of most eco-tomes, there is no frigate like a book to depress the hell out of us, make apocalypse feel menacingly imminent, and cause us to chuck all our toxic personal care products and beloved Teflon frying pans in the trash.
Actually, it’s not all that dire. Green publishing flourished in 2008, and while some of the year’s titles admittedly did a bit of the usual finger-wagging and jargon-spewing, many were inspiring, accessible, and even—gasp—enjoyable. Here’s our list of 2008’s green must-reads.
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution, and How It Can Renew AmericaBy Thomas L. FriedmanFarrar, Straus, and Giroux, $27.95You’ve probably got an opinion or ten about New York Times op-ed columnist Thomas Friedman—most do. Maybe you’re a technology diehard and think the sun shines out of his Lexus. Maybe you bash him at cocktail parties for his support of biofuels, globalization, and carbon trading—and wish those Brown University students who hurtled two pies at him during an energy speech on campus had done more. Whatever sentiments his name evokes in you, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Friedman’s fifth book, is one green title you’ll want to read if only for the major buzz it’s garnered. Drawing heavily on reporting done for his column, extensive world travels, and conversations with an overwhelming number of today’s fascinating leaders—from Bill Gates to the Crown Prince of Bahrain—Friedman calls America to a no-nonsense revolution. Revolution means sacrifice and hard work, he says, but time is running out for our hot, flat (as in economically leveling, due to rapidly expanding and resource-hungry middle classes worldwide), and crowded world. Meanwhile, post-9/11 fear is undoing the spirit of openness and exploration that made America great. Enter: Operation Code Green, Friedman’s blueprint for saving the planet and curing America of its economic and entrepreneurial maladies all at once. Friedman’s knack for asking the big questions at the intersection of politics, economics, sociology, and environment, and for drawing memorable quotes and anecdotes out of prominent figures, makes for an absorbing read. – Tobin Hack
The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-BeingBy Nena BakerNorth Point Press, $24It’s no fun to be told that toxins in the shampoo you’ve used for decades, the fire-retardants covering your electronic equipment, or the nonstick Teflon pan you love so dearly could be hijacking your body’s systems—just as they do the planet’s ecosystems—and contributing to cancer rates, diabetes, and birth defects. But unfortunately, in the span of only about 100 years, we’ve rushed headlong into “better living through chemistry,” and we’ve done it all blindly, thanks to an antiquated 1976 Toxic Control Act that does not mandate toxicity testing for chemicals used in everything from carpeting to liquid cleaners to cosmetics. We’re our own lab rats, effectively, and the test results coming back today don’t look good. But Baker is neither obsessive nor alarmist. She calmly presents two decades’ worth of critical download action movie research into the science and industries behind leading chemical culprits such as pthalates, pesticides, and PFOAs. In an appendix, she outlines the reasonable, manageable steps she’s taken to detox her own home, body, and lifestyle—a good reason to start this book in the back. - TH
Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It By Elizabeth RoyteBloomsbury USA, $24.99They say the wars of the twenty first century will be fought over water, not oil. In this “fascinating if not terribly comprehensive” book, as New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani put it, Royte “uses the story of a face-off between the small town of Fryeburg, Me., and the giant Swiss food conglomerate Nestlé, which, as the owner of Poland Spring water, sucked more than 168 million gallons of water out of Fryeburg in 2005 alone, as a prism through which to look at the many issues at stake in these water wars.” International Herald Tribune’s Lisa Margonelli added that “Where others are bold, Bottlemania is subversive, and after download drama movies you read it you will sip warily from your water bottle (whether purchased or tap, plastic or not), as freaked out by your own r …
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