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A World Without Bees

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: Alison Benjamin, Brian McCallum

June 01, 2008
Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum are two British reporters and amateur bee-keepers. Benjamin works for the British daily paper The Guardian. Their book "A world without bees" was published earlier this year, and deals with the mysterious mass deaths of honeybees all around the world, the so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). While some people belive that CCD doesn't really exist, for instance the current Wikipedia writer on the subject, others consider it a serious, global threat to bee-keeping. Benjamin and McCallum certainly belong to the latter camp, claiming that one third of US beehives and two-thirds of those in France have been wiped out by this mysterious condition. Most scientists seem to agree that CCD does exist, but so far ... Read More:

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Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: Mark Lynas

February 04, 2008
no politition could read this book and stay in office with 'business as usual' without being in total denial. not sensational in it's presentation, but leaves little to the imagination. Surely we've had it, haven't we? Don't leave too much money to your children - it will be of little use.

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Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: William McDonough, Michael Braungart

June 02, 2003
This is a good read but I find the way he writes a little boring and not so inspirational as I had hoped. I have seen him on several live lectures on the subject and they're all "exactly" the same, monotone gloomy catalog of failures by mankind but not necessarily a lot of things that we can do to make it better.

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The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: Rob Hopkins

March 06, 2008
Hooray. Despite some people's misgivings about the psychology section, which seem largely dependent on a definition of 'success', this is an outstanding book. It's primary achievement is to show the reader how societal change can take place in the absence of the usual too little too late response of governments, whose priorities lie with business, rather than people or environmental sustainability. The future security of Britain, and elsewhere, lies in groups of people with the will and power to make communities sustainable. It might seem unbelievable, but we have the power to transform our society, and are not at the whim of government. They will follow. If you admire Kohr, Schumacher, Papworth and Sale, you will respond positively to this book.

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Kyoto2: How to Manage the Global Greenhouse

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: Oliver Tickell

July 30, 2008
Do you agree with the G8 that at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is required by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change?
Do you worry that it will not be possible to achieve this?
If you do then read this book. It is a well written, convincing argument for a `Kyoto2' solution which will work after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Kyoto2 has three legs:
1. Put a price on most carbon emissions by requiring producers of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas producing industrial process to buy tradable carbon emission credits. (Chapter 4)
2. Regulate to promote energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions - for example energy star labelling and building codes (Chapter 5)
3. Use money from auctioning carbon credits to pay for ... Read More:

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Heat: How We Can Stop the Planet Burning

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: George Monbiot

June 07, 2007
It is a complaint frequently levelled at radicals that they produce no alternatives to the problems they identify. It says a lot about the quality of this book that one of the most commonly heard criticisms is that its research is too detailed and its solutions too thorough. It is clear that alternate political and social structures would make solving climate change easier. Monbiot knows this well but aims his argument at those who have no interest in altering systems of gross injustice at all. The tweaking he proposes, while requiring real political pressure on our part and something of a challenge to entrenched power, will compromise the quality of our lives barely at all. By making an argument of such comprehensivess, subtelty and foresight, he has exposed those who whinge about ... Read More:

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The Hot Topic: How to Tackle Global Warming and Still Keep the Lights on

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: David King, Gabrielle Walker

January 21, 2008
Everything you need to know about the challenges of climate change without the spin.

There is a veritable overload of information on the topic of global warming that makes it difficult to get to grips with what to do and how to deal with it on a personal level.

This highly informative book sets out to inform the reader of the issues, how to prepare for the inevitable changes and then follows up with solutions in these areas: technological, political, personal and local.

The subject is a serious one but as Walker writes - don't despair, although it's a hard one it's not intractable. She suggests that we look inside our circle of influence, start small and soon your circle will expand... but at no point become "greener than thou".

It's a jungle ... Read More:

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Green for Life

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: Victoria Boutenko

January 01, 2006
Ive been a personal trainer for a while now and ive always questioned our so called correct nutrition, when i read this it made more sense then any textbook ive read and so now ive incorporated it into my diet, im not fully raw yet but i plan to be by end of year.
great read and insightful.
give this a read and it might just open your eyes or at least start the process.

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Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: E.F. Schumacher

September 16, 1993
I found EF Schumacher's `Small is Beautiful - a study of economics as if people mattered' in a secondhand bookshop and bought it because the title really resonated with me. I knew nothing about it at the time, but it turns out it's been a highly influential book in the environmental and social justice movements.

First published in 1973 in the wake of the oil crisis, Schumacher's collection of essays was very formative in the understanding of sustainability. Some of the figures may be out of date, but it remains a passionate and radical view of economics even today, especially in the light of current oil prices, and something of a fulfilment of the resource depletion scenarios he foresaw.

I leave you with a quote:

"An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded ... Read More:

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Silent Spring (Penguin Modern Classics)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Environment
by: Rachel Carson

September 28, 2000
One can only applaud Carson's work and marvel at her determination to be heard and the research she did. This must have been a very shocking book at the time it was published, even now it is horrifying to look back and see what wholesale garbage the American public was being sold by those supposed to be looking after their health and welfare. It is however, a dated book which I found hard to read and difficult to sustain. I believe it was first written as a series of articles for journals and magazines, which makes sense, as each chapter is very much isolated from the others in terms of style and content, so there is little sense of flow or continuity, other than the continuation of the bad news Carson imparts. It tends to jerk from quite florid poetic writing with lyrically drawn pictures of nature which give way ... Read More: