In January, I suggested setting goals for a New Year's Sustainable Resolution, including education and implementation. But the amount of available information regarding sustainable design can be overwhelming. Sorting through it all and fulfilling the educational piece of your resolution can be a daunting task. So, for the next couple of months, I'll share a few of my favorite books to help narrow your search.Books Worth Reading
"Silent Spring" By Rachel Carson
"Silent Spring" brought environmental concerns to the attention of the general public when it was published 42 years ago and set the stage for the sustainability movement we're experiencing today. It's an easy read from a technical point of view because author, Rachel Carson, makes it accessible. She writes of the variety of chemicals added each year to the barrage let loose on our world, explaining the chemicals so that laymen can understand their compositions and impacts. Effects to water, soil, plants and animals are also described.Carson discusses the way humans respond to hazard, often ignoring it if not at crisis levels. Following that observation are examples of the long term and interrelated consequences of chemical exposures that are sometimes subtle, often times complex, cumulative or distanced from the chemical exposure by long spans of time. We're left to come to our own conclusion and take up the challenge of changing the way we respond so that it is appropriate to the types of threats that we face.
Carson gives a multitude of accounts of ecosystem damage from around the country. You may find one that is as close to home as I did. The use of DDT was first thought to be harmless, yet the devastating effects of it were felt in my home state of Michigan, in the capital city of Lansing. On the campus of Michigan State University, in the early 1950's, DDT was used to kill a beetle that carried a fungus to elm trees causing Dutch Elm disease. The DDT worked its way into the food chain from leaves of sprayed trees to earthworms in the ground below. Later, robins ate the poisonous worms and died or became sterile. The lack of birds singing in the spring is the basis for Carson's title, "Silent Spring."
As I read "Silent Spring," I often felt the urge to research the abundant examples and see where we are now. I know that DDT was banned from production and use in the U.S. The bald eagle was recently taken off the endangered species list, a list that exists at least in part because of Rachel Carson. And, as I carried this book with me to doctor's appointments and outings, I often heard from people the anecdotal evidence of its lasting impact. "Oh, that book by Rachel Carson, the one that got DDT banned." Even many people, who, like me, had never read "Silent Spring," knew of it and its power.
Every book I've read about sustainability has referenced Rachel Carson and her incredible work. It's a must read for anyone interested in understanding the history and roots of the sustainability movement today.
"Silent Spring"
By Rachel CarsonHoughton Mifflin Co
NY, NY
Fortieth Anniversary Edition
378pp. $14 (pbk)
ISBN 0-618-24906-0
Go Green!
Sue Norman
LEED© AP
Managing Editor
easytobegreen.com