Books | Grist

Everything old is new again

Thoreau, Walden and civil disobedience in the age of climate change 10
Posted 3 months ago
What the sacred text of old-school environmentalism can teach the climate change movement, and why it won't leave me alone.
The badass birdwatcher

Teddy Roosevelt and the search for new ‘wilderness warriors’ 2
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
"He would have taken his fist and smashed the National Manufacturing Association," Douglas Brinkley, author of a new book on Theodore Roosevelt's conservation legacy, says in an interview.
A new approach to sustainable business

Take the environment out of sustainability, argues former Sierra Club chief 4
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Adam Werbach, who made his name when he took the helm of the Sierra Club at age 23, has now written a how-to guide for companies to reframe the way they do business in a carbon-constrained, Twittering world.
How much is that brainwashing in the window?

Our addiction to cheap stuff has become very expensive, new book argues 24
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Ellen Ruppel Shell, author of Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, explains the history, psychology, and dangers of the American romance with bargain hunting.
When Will They End?

James Lovelock and the End Times 8
Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago
British scientist and author James Lovelock has just published a follow-up book to his 2006 book, The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity entitled, The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning. Throughout both books he presents scientific evidence to support his view that the chances of humankind surviving a worldwide climate catastrophe are not that good.
well deserved!

Damning look at Canada’s tar sands tops enviro journalism awards 1
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Canadian journalist Andrew Nikiforuk won the top prize from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual reporting awards for his investigation of oil extraction in the tar sands of northern Alberta.
Who liberates the liberators?

Terrorism laws are wrongly being used to round up eco-activists, says author Dean Kuipers 1
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
“Rod Coronado is not a terrorist,” says Dean Kuipers, author of Operation Bite Back: Rod Coronado's War to Save American Wilderness. In an interview, Kuipers explains how terrorism laws are being used against environmentalists and animal-rights activists.
HAVEN'T GONE COUNTRY

Farm City author cuts the foodie-elite snobbery from urban farming 4
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Food writer and urban farmer Novella Carpenter is everything the elitist, foodie stereotype is not: she squat-farms near downtown Oakland, Cali., dumpster-dives to feed her rabbits, and offers to show anyone who still thinks otherwise exactly "what urban farming smells like." See what else she spilled during her visit to the Grist office.
The Strange Case of Carbon

So what is carbon anyway? 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
We hear the word "carbon" in the headlines frequently, but how many of us actually understand what it is?
Summer reading 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
I generally don't read business books. But Adam Werbach sent me his latest, Strategy for Sustainability, and darned if I didn't spend half my trip home from visiting my folks reading it.
Steel Yourself

Ask Umbra on paperback writers 10
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Should Danielle Steel, Tom Clancy, and other popular authors take blame for the trash they create? Or are they heroes of the reuse movement? Umbra Fisk covers the possibilities.
A Thoreau report

Anthology features Americans’ personal stories of global warming 2
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
A joint project by Union for Concerned Scientists and Penguin Classics, "Thoreau's Legacy" explores the subtle and overt ways that global warming is changing the United States. The anthology is available for free online.
Go deep, organic!

Coleman’s elegant year-round vegetable production blueprint 1
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
One of the original American organic farmers lays out his system for producing vegetables year-round, even in northern climes, using super-sustainable "deep organic" methods.
Lazy Eye

Can a lazy environmentalist really change the world? 6
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Lazy Environmentalist Josh Dorfman is dedicated to cutting out the typical green-minded guilt-trip crap and helping people find eco-solutions that not only fit their lifestyles but improve them.
AN INCONSUPERSIZEMENT TRUTH

Globesity: How climate change and obesity draw from the same roots 7
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
You've heard all the reasons before: We drive too much. We eat too much meat and processed food. We spend too much time with plugged-in devices -- computers, TVs, air conditioners. Climate change, right? Half right. We're really talking about the the worldwide rise in obesity.
The Grist List: From Bikes to Books

Bikers seeking good ride get naked, and more 4
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
The best part about World Naked Bike Day: No awkward spandex shorts. The worst part about World Naked Bike Day: No awkward spandex shorts.
Wheels on fire

Put the book down and get on your bike 1
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Of all the cycling books to read in honor of National Bike Month, The Cyclist's Manifesto is better left on the bike rack.
Zac and Forth

Catching up with eco-model Summer Rayne Oakes 0
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Since we last checked in with the ubiquitous face of green, she's launched a shoe line and a book. She talks about what's coming next -- and the one non-green habit she just can't shake.
Ultra-Healthy or Overindulgent?

What we eat when we eat alone 0
Posted 7 months ago
My dear friend Deborah Madison has created a delightful book called What We Eat When We Eat Alone, an investigation into some of our most intimate moments. When no one is looking, no one is judging, and your most secret cravings can come out, what do you eat? And how?
Hoosier guru

An interview with author Scott Russell Sanders 0
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
The Conservationist Manifesto author on wealth, wilderness, and why the time for meek eco-messaging is over.