August 13, 2008

Sierra Club Books: Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet

There seems to be a plethora of books out there now offering easy tips for individuals to go green. Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet, by Eric Sorensen of the Sightline Institute, is a unique approach to offering eco-tips, in that the book breaks down seven ordinary things that actually have an extraordinary impact on global warming. For example:

The Bicycle: Transportation is a huge contributor of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. The bicycle "costs pennies per mile and less than bus fare per trip...Oh, and it is hugely democratic: it is equally available to all."

The Condom: This chapter sure catches everyone's attention, but human population growth is a big environmental issue. "Today, human beings will have sex more than 100 million times...Today's sex will also make one million women around the world pregnant-about half of them unintentionally."

Other wonders under discussion in Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet are the Ceiling Fan (fossil fuel efficiency), the Clothesline (renewable energy), the Real Tomato (food production and distribution), the Library Book (resource conservation and reuse), and the Microchip (information economy). This book is an easy, informative, and entertaining read that can vastly help you lessen your personal carbon footprint.