Recommended reading

We asked our friends on Facebook to share some of their favorite recent reads that address sustainability issues. Here are some highlights of their responses. This list just scratches the surface, so be sure to look for more recommendations in our monthly e-newsletters!

Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down
by Vineet Nayar
The book is a case study and guide to transforming a business to unleash the power of the front line employees… by inverting the organizational pyramid. The result is people power at its best. It offers key insights to delivering the renewable power of green businesses.
— Richard Burbank

Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage and Preservation
by Sharon Astyk
Many books teach food preservation, but few deal with the equally important task of how to successfully eat from one’s food stores. Sharon Astyk’s book is an essential, grounded guide to building food resilience in uncertain times, for those in any income bracket.
— Shannon Rooney

The Town that Food Saved
by Ben Hewitt
Features Hardwick, VT, and the agri-preneurial movement that’s happening there. Hewitt is a good writer, and the book is entertaining, hopeful and useful for helping us think about strengthening both community and local food production connections.
— Hildie Lipson

Raising Elijah
by Sandra Steingraber
Steingraber’s latest book addresses the topic of climate change and children, and why adults need to stop practicing what Steingraber calls “well informed futility syndrome” and start taking action. Although she writes as a parent, I think the book generalizes to a wider audience—anyone with responsibility for passing the planet down!
— Kimberly Simmons

Unbowed
by Wangari Maathai
Professor Maathai is the first female African winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The book is a memoir about having the courage to stand up for what you believe in. She was instrumental in starting the Green Belt Movement, which has changed women’s lives and the land while planting trees.
— Star Pelsue

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
by Barbara Kingsolver
…beautifully written…I liked that it spanned a year and showed the ups and downs of the seasons.
— Karen O’Connor

…and here are some more recommendations from our 2011 edition, in case you missed them!

Omnivore’s Dilemma
by Michael Pollan
In plain language, Michael Pollan nails the problems in our national food production. I haven’t read the entire book yet – just enough to get hooked.
— Jennie Van West

The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists
by Michael Brower, PhD, & Warren Leon, PhD
A well-researched, authoritative, and accessible guide to sustainable consumption in America. Required reading for anyone wanting to call themselves a green consumer!
— Joe Walsh

Garbage Land
by Elizabeth Royte
Have you ever thought about just how much waste you produce, and where it goes? Elizabeth Royte does and started categorizing and weighing every bit, following it from her trash can (and recycling bin, sink, and toilet) to its final resting place. She finds along the way that the question of which is the most environmentally-friendly option does not always have a straightforward answer.
— Sheila Reiser

State of the World 2010
by WorldWatch Institute
This year’s State of the World describes the issues we face due to our consumer culture. Sector by sector, it shows how we can shift from a consumer society to a sustainable one.
— Adam Burk

The Backyard Homestead
by Carleen Madigan
With its focus on small parcels of land (a quarter acre), I found it particularly useful to me as a renter. It offers a guide to careful planning, growing seasons, and a perfect place for a  beginner to start the journey of homesteading without feeling overwhelmed.
— Joanna Basinger