Books & reports

by Maude Barlow & Tony Clarke (McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2002) Who will wind up controlling the world's increasingly scarce fresh water resources? Should water be privatized or remain "a global commons"? Barlow and Clarke argue eloquently against commodification and for water to remain managed by "all people, communities and governments".

by William McDonough (North Point Press, 2002) A radical agenda for making the world a cleaner, better place, including successful examples of how going green can improve business profits. Printed on recyclable plastic.

by Joan Goldstein (Perseus Publishing,1990) An epilogue to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, with updated information about pesticide residue in food and water. A check on the relationship between the use of pesticides on produce and human health, changes in agriculture and the proliferation of pesticides following WW II, and the regulation, risk assessment and tolerance of pesticides. Decries that standards for tolerance are based on adult intake, but children eat more fruit, for example, than do adults.

by Walter H. Adey, Karen Loveland (Academic Press, 1998) "This unique, respected book brings together the diverse modeling efforts of two decades of research in the Smithsonian Marine Systems Laboratory, integrating the fields of ecology and aquarium science to give readers a better understanding of simulated ecosystem function and ecological food webs".

by Jeffrey Rothfeder (J. P. Tarcher, 2001) Award-winning journalist (Privacy for Sale) uses startling statistics to warn against a major shortage of fresh water in the 21st century. International in scope, with many examples drawn from North America.

by David Suzuki (Greystone Books, 2003) The collaborative effort of environmental scientist David Suzuki and writer/researcher Holly Dressel offers positive, practical solutions for improving human life while enhancing the environment. Success stories about saved species, soil conservation, and righting social wrongs.

You can still have a great garden without pesticides, fertilizer, grass seeds, or even much water! Carole Rubin's North American Guide to Turning Off the Tap and Going Native provides advice for conserving water and preventing chemicals from polluting groundwater.

http://www.naturalcapitalism.org
by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute, 1999) Providing water for the world needn't be a matter of governments pouring endless cash into depleting the resource and downgrading the environment - "making the same mistakes with water that they did with energy". Nor do we have to "turn lawns into cactus farms". This book is full of documented success stories and ideas for making better use of less water: farmers watering as-needed with drip irrigation, alternatives to "foolish" toilets, growing fish to enrich agricultural water, smaller-scale water treatment and The Living Machine.

by Sandra Postel (W.W. Norton, 1999) Look for other books by Postel, a member of the Global Water Policy Project, and author of papers published by the Worldwatch Institute.