Environmental Bookshelf

Bookshelf Index > art books > community > communications > creativity > education > ENVIRONMENT > science > spirituality

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson- Now over 35 years old (written between 1958 to 1962) it took a hard look at the effects of insecticides and pesticides on songbird populations throughout the United States. [Rachel Carson posters]

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Perennial Classics) by Annie Dillard- Pulitzer Prize-winner is a series of interconnected essays which challenge us to contemplate the natural world beyond its commonplace surfaces.

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken- three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing “a new type of industrialism” that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs.

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability by Paul Hawken- a one-man crusade to reform our economic system by demanding that First World businesses reduce their consumption of energy and resources by 80 percent in the next 50 years.

Building a Win-Win World: Life Beyond Global Economic Warfare by Hazel Henderson- examines how jobs, education, health care, human rights, democratic participation, socially responsible business, and environmental protection are all sacrificed to “global competitiveness” and outlines a new economic architecture based on positive, sustainable systems.

Earth and Spirit: the Spiritual Dimension of the Environmental Crisis by Fritz Hull (edit), Thomas Berry - Inspirational anthology of papers from an environmental conference held in Seattle in the early 90s; contributors in include Alan AtKisson, Miriam Therese McGillis, Joanna Macy, Brian Swimme.

Growing Up Green- Education for Ecological Renewal - David Hutchison, Thomas Berry - the basic aim of this book is to stress that we have a remarkable opportunity to establish an integral education for children in their middle years and to recover, both for them and for ourselves, an integral mode of being in the great world of the living. Growing Up Green is a profound and deeply felt work that asks that the learning potential of middle childhood be recognized as vital to the fundamental project of recovering our sense of relationship to the Earth community.

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold- a classic of nature writing, widely cited as one of the most influential nature books ever published.

The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth by J. E. Lovelock- Proposes that all living species are components of a single organism and theorizes that the biological processes of the Earth naturally change environmental conditions to enable survival.

Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution (Science Masters Series) by Lynn Margulis- describes the development of her theory of symbiosis and ponders how it relates to the Gaia concept of a living Earth.

Beyond the Limits: Confronting Global Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Future by Donella H. Meadows- sequel to The Limits of growth, which 20 years ago concluded that at then-current rates of growth, the limits to physical growth on the planet would he reached in the next 100 years. Now three of the original authors show that things are going even worse, even faster, and outline immediate actions necessary to bring demands on material resources within limits.

The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Corporation (Conscientious Commerce) by Brian Nattrass, Mary Altomare, Brian Naijrass- gives some excellent practical examples of major corporations starting down the path towards sustainability.

Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth by John Robbins Intro by Joanna Macy- a startling examination of the food we currently buy and eat in the United States, and the astounding moral, economic, and emotional price we pay for it.

Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution by Leslie Paul Thiele- traces the history of the movement over the last hundred years, indentifying four successive waves of environmental thought.