Western Book Roundup
Earth Day Books by Boulder Authors
By Jenny Shank, 4-22-08
Just in time for Earth Day, several Boulder authors have released ecologically minded books. Read on to learn about Disappearing Destinations, Go Green, Live Rich, and The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw.
Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help Save Them
Vintage, 400 pages, $15.95
Former NewWest contributor and Boulder resident Heather Hansen co-authored this book with Kimberly Lisagor. Disappearing Destinations documents the environmental problems at popular tourist sites around the world. Publishers Weekly calls it a “fact-packed survey of travel destinations endangered by global warming, environmental degradation, predatory logging, mining and fishing and the impact of too many tourists… The authors’ accounts of how the world’s beauty is being despoiled, based on sharp on-site reporting, are a cautionary call to arms for tourists to fight environmental excesses and, when traveling, to tread lightly.” In an email, Hansen noted that the book includes regionally-relevant chapters on “ Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and the Cascades.”
Heather Hansen will discuss the book at the Boulder Book Store tonight (April 22, 7:30 p.m.) and at the Tattered Cover in LoDo on May 28 (7:30 p.m.).
Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simply Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying)
Broadway Books, 192 pages, $14.95
Boulder resident and former NewWest Wilderness blogger Hillary Rosner co-authored this book with David Bach, a personal finance author best known for his FinishRich series of books. Rosner says the book is “about how so many of the daily behaviors and activities we perform without a second thought are both wasting resources and costing us money--and how by making small changes we can help preserve the environment and save a small fortune.”
Bach’s website offers some of the tips to be found in the book. He writes that you can save “$94 a year on electric bills by buying a $35 power strip and eliminating the energy drain known as ‘phantom load’ that accounts for 5 to 15 percent of your monthly electricity bill.”
The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird
In this book, Boulder resident Bruce Barcott chronicles Sharon Matola’s efforts to save the Scarlet Macaw in Belize by working to prevent habitat destruction at the hands of a Canadian power company. Publishers Weekly calls it a “dramatic and heart-rending story” and says “Barcott’s compelling narrative is suspenseful right up to the last moment.”
And for one more appropriate Earth Day read, check out my interview with “Lazy Environmentalist” Josh Dorfman.
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