Recommended Reading & Viewing
Who Killed the Electric Car
Following "An Inconvenient Truth" comes "Who Killed the Electric Car?", another smart and important documentary focusing on the worsening health of the environment. '
An Inconvienent Truth (The Movie) - Available to Buy on DVD November 21st
With some trepidation, I decided it was really important to see Al Gore's movie about climate change. I was afraid I'd be overcome by negative feelings but am happy to report that it was an enlightening movie which, was definately a call to action but gave me hope that we can do it.
Much of the information I'd heard before - but never presented in such a clear, concise manner. I really hope everyone can try and find some time to see this, as it is important to be informed and be able to see the agendas behind so many with their head stuck in the sand. The message I left with was "We can have a bright future for ourselves and our children but we can't expect to sit back and wait for someone else to provide it!"
To view the Trailer see: www.climatecrisis.org
Living the Good Life - How one family changed their world from their own backyard
By Linda Cockburn
274 pages
Publisher: Hardie Grant Books, 2006.
AU $29.95
See webpage:www.lintrezza.com/book.html
Reviewed by a new EcoMum
I doubt my imagination would have been captured enough to BUY a book about a family’s experiment of going 6 months without mains power, mains water, petrol or supermarket-bought food.I was introduced to “Living the Good Life” by a money saving website and I admit that was the hook that got me in.
My conscience has now been awakened to the plight of our environment – our PLANET – and the overuse and wastage of our not unlimited resources. The problem is REAL.
This book does not focus on predictions for the future, though. It is the day-to-day life of a family in Gympie, Queensland with environmental conscience who do indeed embark upon the “adventure” of living for 6 months without spending any money. Their main aim in this, though, is to reduce their ecological footprint.
It is written also with much mind blowing information about so many details of the average family’s energy usage (over-usage and wastage). Once you are made of aware of this, you can only be humbled to reduce, re-use, recycle and conserve. There is, of course, a financial saving made as well as the saving of resources.
This is a wonderful book that has me wanting to tell everyone about it. I have already made changes to my way of life and will continue to do so.
Organic Home - The Australian Guide to Clean, Green Living
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192 pages AU $29.95 |
Description
In The Organic Home, highly acclaimed author Rosamond Richardson challenges the accepted methods of running a home, offering hundreds of tried-and-tested techniques that are not only safe and gentle, but also deliver on performance, are simple to implement, and affordable. Many are just a matter of common sense not letting the water run while cleaning your teeth, for example and cost nothing.
Covering all aspects of home management, including cleaning, food, decorating and DIY, energy-consumption, laundry, and home remedies, the author s eminently practical, well-researched advice makes having the best of both worlds possible: a clean, efficient, well-run home that also positively nurtures its inhabitants and helps to improve the long-term health of the planet, too.
The Weather Makers -The Past and Future Impact of Climate Change
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Bibliography, Index AU $32.95 |
Description
The last 10,000 years have been humanity's day in the sun: we planted the first crops, domesticated animals, and built the first civilisations - and all of this happened not once but many times independently in different parts of the world. But all that is about to change.
Our civilisation is facing its greatest threat - an unprecedented heating of our planet that looks set to destroy the first global civilisation humanity has ever developed. Ironically, the very substance that allowed humans to develop that civilisation - fossil fuels - is the cause of the looming catastrophe.
In this groundbreaking and essential new book Tim Flannery argues passionately for the need to address - now - the implications of a global change that is damaging all life on earth and endangering our very survival.
The Weather Makers is accessible for every interested Australian. In addition to explaining the background story of global warming, it provides a clear outline of what each of us can do to avoid catastrophe.
Climate Change- Turning Up the Heat
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30 Illustrations, Bibliography, Index |
Description
Is climate change really happening and does it matter? The answer from the scientific community is a resounding yes, yet debates about the reality of climate change and what measures to take are slowing our response. Barrie Pittock, one of the world’s leading climate researchers, argues that we need to act urgently to avoid increasingly severe climate change.
He looks at the controversy around global warming and other predicted changes, examining the scientific basis of the changes observed to date, how they relate to natural variations and why the evidence points to larger changes later this century. The effect of these changes on our natural systems and our lifestyles will be considerable and could include wild weather, shifts in global ocean circulation, decreases in crop yields and sea-level rises. But the impacts won’t be distributed evenly: some countries will suffer more than others.
Climate Change: Turning up the Heat explains how our attitudes to risk and uncertainty – constant companions in life – influence our decision making and, ultimately, how much we and future generations stand to lose from rapid climate change. Our climate takes a long time to alter so what we do now will have impacts decades later; we must encourage market forces to think long term.
The book outlines the current concerns of the major international players and reviews the response to date, detailing national interests. Importantly, it shows there is real hope of managing climate change and minimising the risk of disaster if we step up efforts to develop and apply innovative technological and policy solutions.