Welcome!

Hi Everyone...

About a year ago, I decided to start a Sustainability Book Club in my area. A number of people at our local Green Drinks (FB page) meetings would briefly discuss with me various Sustainability books they were reading. These books sounded quite valuable to me and I would jot the book title & author down only to attend the next meeting and receive more suggestions without having read the suggestions from the previous meeting! :-) I thought a monthly book club specifically for this topic might be the best way for me, and maybe others, to start reading.

Starting this book club has been incredibly valuable to me & I hope to others as well. We have currently read 12 books (list below). The books the club members have suggested & their discussions of them have opened me up to knowledge in a wide variety of Sustainability topics. This knowledge has motivated me so much more to take action related to the book topics. I have also shared my new knowledge with others as well (family, friends...even random strangers Ha!). It is sooo great to then see those people reading the books and taking their own action as well.

This year the book club decided to select our books a few months ahead of time so that those who are purchasing their books could order early and have enough time to read with adding time needed for shipping. In addition, those who read quicker could start on the next book if it was already selected. If one did not care for a particular book, they could just have more time to read a future book selection.

I have also had a request from someone who lives on the east coast to hold the meetings LIVE online, so they could participate as well. At this time this is really not an option. In addition, from time to time regular attendees have to miss a meeting due to a variety of reasons. It is for this reason; I thought perhaps we could try using a blog so those who could not physically attend could still be a part of the discussion.

As the saying goes, "You can't please all the people all the time" and if you do try to please everyone, usually you end up pleasing no one! We'll try this & see how it goes. It may need to be tweaked along the way, but that is ok. If we can't get it to be valuable, it is easy to delete the blog. :-) As with our in-person meetings, I ask that if you disagree with someone you do so respectfully. Yes, that should be a given, but in the current social climate we are seeing much more hostility, so it is worth a quick reminder. I am certainly monitoring the blog 24/7 so if you do see something you feel is a concern, simply email me greenbkclub@gmail.com and I'll look into the matter ASAP. I will say I do not EXPECT this to be an issue! This is just so no one will say I never said....!

Ok, so just starting this blog now, I will work on a post for the current book we are reading and then slowly add the books we have already read and people can continue the conversations, whether you read it already or are just getting to read those books now. :-) I'm excited to hear some thoughts from new people! I'll post general information on the upcoming book, a reminder on the meeting (date/time/location) and then after the meeting, I will add to the post highlights of our in-person book club discussion. You can add comments along the way as we are reading for anyone to reply to & we might also discuss your comments at the book club meeting as well. :-) 

I'll do the best I can & just email me any suggestions you have. Ok, let's gets started & see how this works! :-)

Books we have already read & I will post on ASAP:

1. Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected & Better at What You Do by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols (Pub: Jul. 2014)

2. Kiss the Ground: How the Food You Eat Can Reverse Climate Change, Heal Your Body & Ultimately Save Our World by Josh Tickell (Pub: Nov. 2017)

3. Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet by Michael Bloomberg & Carl Pope (Pub: May 2017) (Authors bios on bottom of title link!)

4. The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet by Paul Greenberg (Pub: Jul. 2018)

5. This Moment On Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future by John Kerry & Teresa Heinz Kerry (Pub: Mar. 2007)

6. Thrift: The History of a American Cultural Movement by Andrew L. Yarrow (Pub: Dec. 2014)

7. Don't Even Think About It: Why Are Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall (Pub: Aug. 2015)

8. Peak Plastic: The Rise & Fall of Our Synthetic World by Jack Buffington (Pub: Nov 2018)

9. Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World by Emma Marris (Pub: Aug. 2013)

10. Food Fight: GMOs and the Future of the American Diet by McKay Jenkins (Pub: Feb 2018)

11. Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future by Mary Robinson (Pub: Sep. 2018)

12. Healing Earth: An Ecologist's Journey of Innovation & Environmental Stewardship by John Todd (Pub: Jan. 2019)