Monday, February 22, 2010

Think Green Books

Thinking green has become an almost-habit for sensible people these days, but we all welcome reminding about the many ways we can be better environmental citizens. A wonderful crew at the Lawrence School is sponsoring Think Green Thursdays to help our community think twice about our habits. The library has put together a complementary Think Green Booklist, viewable in Visual Search on our library catalog.

One of many informative books on the list, a particularly fun choice is Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children's Book Authors Tell You How to go Green, edited by Dan Gutman. Rick Riordan (author of the popular Percy Jackson books) points out that it would be swell if he were a Greek god and could just command the seas like Poseidon and reverse the effects of global warming, but instead, as a mere mortal, he and his family have decided to use only recyclable batteries for all their electronic devices. Not only do they save money, they have less of a negative impact on the environment! Rosemary Wells' daughter uses only cast-off cooking oil from restaurants to run her truck. Eoin Colfer reminds us that simply turning off equipment at night and recycling your paper and cans is making a significant contribution, especially when combined with all his friends and neighbors doing the same. And if one person decides NOT to drink from individual plastic water bottles but use a reusable container and drink from the tap, hundreds and hundreds of plastic bottles can be avoided. So, consider reading this book and the other good books highlighted on our list. Talk with your family and make decisions about supporting each other in living green!

Molly Bang's Common Ground: the Water, the Earth and Air We Share, published way back in 1997, describes lyrically but persuasively how important it is to pay attention and think green.