Best of
Earth

2013

The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible


Charles Eisenstein - 2013
    By fully embracing and practicing this principle of interconnectedness—called interbeing—we become more effective agents of change and have a stronger positive influence on the world.Throughout the book, Eisenstein relates real-life stories showing how small, individual acts of courage, kindness, and self-trust can change our culture’s guiding narrative of separation, which, he shows, has generated the present planetary crisis. He brings to conscious awareness a deep wisdom we all innately know: until we get our selves in order, any action we take—no matter how good our intentions—will ultimately be wrongheaded and wronghearted. Above all, Eisenstein invites us to embrace a radically different understanding of cause and effect, sounding a clarion call to surrender our old worldview of separation, so that we can finally create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.With chapters covering separation, interbeing, despair, hope, pain, pleasure, consciousness, and many more, the book invites us to let the old Story of Separation fall away so that we can stand firmly in a Story of Interbeing.

Farmacology: What Innovative Family Farming Can Teach Us About Health and Healing


Daphne Miller - 2013
    Increasingly disillusioned by mainstream medicine's mechanistic approach to healing and fascinated by the farming revolution that is changing the way we think about our relationship to the earth, Miller left her medical office and traveled to seven innovative family farms around the country, on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Farmacology, the remarkable book that emerged from her travels, offers us a compelling new vision for sustainable health and healing—and a wealth of farm-to-body lessons with immense value in our daily lives.Miller begins her journey with a pilgrimage to the Kentucky homestead of renowned author and farming visionary Wendell Berry. Over the course of the following year, she travels to a biodynamic farm in Washington state, a ranch in the Ozarks, two chicken farms in Arkansas, a winery in California, a community garden in the Bronx, and finally an aromatic herb farm back in Washington. While learning from forward-thinking farmers, Miller explores such compelling questions as: What can rejuvenating depleted soil teach us about rejuvenating ourselves? How can a grazing system on a ranch offer valuable insights into raising resilient children? What can two laying-hen farms teach us about stress management? How do vineyard pest-management strategies reveal a radically new approach to cancer care? What are the unexpected ways that urban agriculture can transform the health of a community? How can an aromatic herb farm unlock the secret to sustainable beauty?Throughout, Miller seeks out the perspectives of noted biomedical scientists and artfully weaves in their insights and research, along with stories from her own medical practice. The result is a profound new approach to healing, combined with practical advice for how to treat disease and maintain wellness.

Soil, Soul, Society: A New Trinity for Our Time


Satish Kumar - 2013
    We are members of a one-earth society, and caring for the earth and soul is interrelated! This is the message of Satish Kumar, the internationally-respected peace and environment activist who has been gently setting the agenda for change for over 50 years. In Soil, Soul & Society, Satish presents the new trinity for our age of sustainability. One that shares the knowledge that we ourselves are very much part of nature; that what we do to nature we in fact do to ourselves; and that the earth is soulful. In this book, he urges readers to create a new consciousness that reveres nature and explores how as a global society we need to embrace diversity and become pilgrims on this earth not tourists. To bring about change in the world we must be the change we wish to see.

The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World


Gary Lachman - 2013
    Modern science largely argues that human beings are chance products of a purposeless universe, but other traditions believe humanity has an essential role and responsibility in creation.Lachman brings together many strands of esoteric, spiritual, and philosophical thought to form a counter-argument to the nihilism that permeates the twenty-first century. Offering a radical alternative to postmodern apathy, he argues that we humans are indeed the "caretakers" of the universe, entrusted with a daunting task-- healing and repairing creation itself.This is an important book from a key thinker of our time, addressing some of the most urgent questions facing humanity.

Earth from Space


Yann Arthus-Bertrand - 2013
    Views from above can also provide telling information about the health of our planet. To help us understand the more than 150 breathtaking satellite photographs in Earth from Space, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, an aerial photographer and devoted environmental activist, discusses the impact of deforestation, urban sprawl, intensive farming, ocean pollution, and more. Using high-resolution imagery, we can monitor the evolution of vegetation around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site, snow loss on Mount Kilimanjaro, and the health of migratory bird populations. Earth from Space’s compelling selection of satellite images raises important questions about our future, while also showcasing the planet’s beauty—leaving no doubt that it is something crucial to protect.

The Goodness of Rain: Developing an Ecological Identity in Young People


Ann Pelo - 2013
    We invite them into ethical thinking anchored by the compassion that comes from caring and engaged relationships. We invite them to come home to the Earth, and to live honorably in that home.Join author Ann Pelo on her year-long journey as she nurtures the ecological identity of a toddler and discovers for herself what it means to live in relationship with the natural world by: * delighting in discovery and adventure * developing dispositions and skills for being in the out-of-doors * learning when to speak and when to be still * knowing joy, grief, reverence, astonishment, and gladness * embracing the comradeship of fellow explorersWhen we turn towards the Earth with curiosity and sympathy, with humility and wonder, our lives fall into place—we fall into place. This is what it means to grow an ecological identity.Each page reminds us that when we learn to live in a reverent relationship with nature, we will not allow it to be destroyed, but rather, bear joyful witness to the miracle of this planet and ally ourselves with it, to help life live.

Eat Like You Give a Damn: For the Animals, for Your Health, for Our Planet


Jeannie Hudkins - 2013
    The truth is, changing to a plant-based diet is the best decision you can make for your own health, with the added bonus of saving billions of animals and protecting our planet. Eat Like You Give a Damn exposes America's biggest secrets about how our food is produced and why we are one of the sickest nations in the world. Once the secrets are revealed, the author shares the simple truths of how to eat in order to dismiss... and even reverse... common diseases and live a vibrant, healthy, compassionate life. Included are tasty and easy recipes that will trim your waistline and lighten your conscience.

The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner's Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance


Greg Rubin - 2013
    The authors stress the importance of smart garden design and combining the right plants to promote the natural symbiosis that occurs within plant communities. Native plants also play an important role in creating fire-resistant landscapes, and this new book has cutting-edge information on this crucial topic, refuting the myth that natives are more fire-prone than nonnatives. With its unique combination of proven techniques, environmental wisdom, and inspiring design advice, this is an essential resource for all California gardeners who want to create a beautiful, ecologically appropriate, and resource-conserving home landscape.

The Age of Global Warming: A History


Rupert Darwall - 2013
    The invention of sustainable development by Barbara Ward, along with Rachel Carson the founder of the environmental movement, created an alliance of convenience between First World environmentalism and a Third World set on rapid industrialisation. The First Wave crashed in 1973 with the Yom Kippur War and decade-long energy crisis. Revived by a warming economy of the 1980s, environmentalism found a new, political champion in 1988: Margaret Thatcher. Four years later at the Rio Earth Summit, politics settled the science. One hundred and ninety-two nations agreed that mankind was causing global warming and carbon dioxide emissions should be cut. Rio launched rounds of climate change meetings and summits, with developing nations refusing to countenance any agreement restraining their greenhouse gas emissions - their blanket exemption from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol leading to its rejection by the United States that year, and again twelve years later in Copenhagen. This therefore marked not just the collapse of the climate change negotiations, but something larger - an unprecedented humiliation for the West at the hands of the rising powers of the East.

Extreme Weather! Weather For Kids Book On Storms: Hurricanes, Tornados, Blizzards, Thunderstorms & Much More (Kid's Nature Books Series 2)


Leanne Annett - 2013
    Some of these storms can be quite severe, causing damage to property, food crops, animals and even human life. In her latest children’s book “Extreme Weather! Weather For Kids Book On Storms: Hurricanes, Tornados, Blizzards, Thunderstorms & Much More” author Leanne Annett walks through a variety of extreme weather events and storms. This is Leanne's second book in the "Kids Nature Books Series". The book is full of color images to clearly show what each of the extreme weather events is. Note: This Extreme Weather Kid's Nature book has been designed for children aged approximately 7 years and older, who can read the book for themselves. Alternatively, parents can read the book to their kids (of all ages) and enjoy a fulfilling time of child and parent bonding. The extreme storms covered in this book include: 1. Thunderstorms 2. Tropical Cyclones, Hurricanes, Typhoons 3. Tornados 4. Snowstorms 5. Blizzards 6. Hailstorms 7. Ice Storms 8. Sandstorms & Dust Storms 9. Firestorms Why not take advantage of the limited time low price as this Kindle book launches and grab a copy for your child today. I am sure your child will enjoy the colorful pictures and the interesting information on Extreme Weather and Storms. This Kindle book is exclusive to the Amazon store. It can be easily downloaded and your child can begin reading and learning within a short time. Please let me know your thoughts on the book by leaving a review after you read it. Thanks so much and enjoy reading and expanding your knowledge of the world around us.

Voluntary


Aaron B. Powell - 2013
    Human beings have pushed Mother Earth to her breaking point—mass wildlife extinctions, global warming, widespread resource shortages, over population—and the Department of Homeland Security is offering stimulus packages to the children of American citizens who volunteer to be euthanized. This short story about a chance encounter between two volunteers serves as a warning to a self-destructing human race. Voluntary is a tale of sacrifice, passion, and emotion between complete strangers who realize that time is of little importance to their feelings for each other in an inevitably dying world.