• Ray Anderson (Founder of Interface, Inc)
• James Cameron (Founder, Executive Director and Vice-Chairman of Climate Change Capital)
• Paul Dickinson (CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project)
• John Elkington (Founding Partner and Director of Volans)
• John Grant (Author of The Green Marketing Manifesto)
• Denis Hayes (President and CEO of The Bullitt Foundation)
• Gary Hirshberg (President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm)
• Tony Juniper (Former Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• Professor Sir David King (Former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government)
• Amory B. Lovins (Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute)
• Professor Wangari Maathai (Founder of the Green Belt Movement and Nobel Peace Prize Winner)
• Ricardo Navarro (Founder and Director of the Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology)
• Dr Vandana Shiva (Physicist, Environmental Activist and Author)
• Jeffrey Swartz (President and CEO of Timberland)
• Sir Crispin Tickell (Diplomat, Academic and Environmentalist)

These leaders share insights on their professional and personal lives, and their current views on sustainability. The book gives a concise overview of how these green gurus started their green journey, and their wish to see a more sustainable world.

Here’s some thoughts from the gurus:

Well, it’s easiest to start with the first principle of natural capitalism: radical resource efficiency. Just look for muda, that wonderful Japanese word that means waste, purposeless and futility. Look for any measurable input that produces no customer value, and set a goal of reducing it to zero. – Amory B. Lovins

So sustainability really can and should be at the core of what companies are now planning, in terms of, for example, where markets will go and what will be some of the future risk factors. At that fundamental level sustainability, for a company, is about being able to continue in business. – Tony Juniper

The beautiful thing about business is that it doesn’t have any ideology except to make money. If you can demonstrate that you make more money by saving the world, then businesses will save the world really quickly. And so all we have to do is wake up the consumer to stop putting money into their own endangerment. And that shouldn’t be very difficult. – Paul Dickinson

I think the biggest problem, which I must admit I’m still dealing with, is the fact that very many people do not see the environment as something that is integral to our daily lives. It tends to be seen as an outside issue, often associated with scientists and academics, but in fact it is very, very central to our lives. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat – all these things that we cannot live without. – Professor Wangari Maathai

Related Info

Watch this short introduction video of the book:

Click here to view the embedded video.

See larger image Conversations with Green Gurus: The Collective Wisdom of Environmental Movers and Shakers (Hardcover) By Laura Mazur, Louella Miles List Price: $39.95 USD New From: $17.61 In Stock Used From: $16.60 In Stock

From the Book

It is now abundantly clear that we have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient is collective will.

Properly understood, the climate crisis is an unparalleled opportunity to finally and effectively address many persistent causes of suffering and misery that have long been neglected, and to transform the prospects of future generations, giving them a chance to live healthier, more prosperous lives as they continue their pursuit of happiness.

Our Choice gathers in one place all of the most effective solutions that are available now and that, together, will solve this crisis. It is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action—not only on an individual basis but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us.

There is an old African proverb that says,

‘If you want to go quickly, go alone;

if you want to go far, go together.’

We have to go far, quickly.

We can solve the climate crisis. It will be hard, to be sure, but if we can make the choice to solve it, I have no doubt whatsoever that we can and will succeed.

AL GORE, from the introduction

Related Info

Check out the Our Choice website for a preview of the book chapters.

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From Amazon

According to Stewart Brand, a lifelong environmentalist who sees everything in terms of solvable design problems, three profound transformations are under way on Earth right now. Climate change is real and is pushing us toward managing the planet as a whole. Urbanization-half the world’s population now lives in cities, and eighty percent will by midcentury-is altering humanity’s land impact and wealth. And biotechnology is becoming the world’s dominant engineering tool. In light of these changes, Brand suggests that environmentalists are going to have to reverse some longheld opinions and embrace tools that they have traditionally distrusted. Only a radical rethinking of traditional green pieties will allow us to forestall the cataclysmic deterioration of the earth’s resources.

Whole Earth Discipline shatters a number of myths and presents counterintuitive observations on why cities are actually greener than countryside, how nuclear power is the future of energy, and why genetic engineering is the key to crop and land management. With a combination of scientific rigor and passionate advocacy, Brand shows us exactly where the sources of our dilemmas lie and offers a bold and inventive set of policies and solutions for creating a more sustainable society.

In the end, says Brand, the environmental movement must become newly responsive to fast-moving science and take up the tools and discipline of engineering. We have to learn how to manage the planet’s global-scale natural infrastructure with as light a touch as possible and as much intervention as necessary.

Related Info

Stewart Brand proclaims 4 environmental ‘heresies’ in this TED Talk video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

See larger image Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto (Hardcover) By Stewart Brand List Price: $25.95 USD New From: $8.12 In Stock Used From: $8.25 In Stock

From Amazon

In the growing debate over eco-friendly living, it seems that everything is as bad as everything else. Do you do more harm by living in the country or the city? Is it better to drive a thousand miles or take an airplane? In NO IMPACT MAN, Colin Beavan tells the extraordinary story of his attempt to find some answers – by living for one year in New York City (with his wife and young daughter) without leaving any net impact on the environment.

His family cut out all driving and flying, used no air conditioning, no television, no toilets…They went from making a few concessions to becoming eco-extremists. The goal? To determine what works and what doesn’t, and to fashion a truly ‘eco-effective’ way of life. Beavan’s radical experiment makes for an unforgettable and humorous memoir and an attempt to answer perhaps the most important question of all: What is the sufficient individual effort that it would take to save the planet? And what is stopping us?

Related Info

Check out Colin Beavan’s blog to read his thoughts and adventures during the No Impact Man project. The project is also made into a film, watch the trailer here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

See larger image No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process (Hardcover) By Colin Beavan List Price: $25.00 USD New From: $13.95 In Stock Used From: $9.95 In Stock Released September 1, 2009.

From Amazon

With shortages, volatile prices and nearly one billion people hungry, the world has a food problem – or thinks it does. Farmers, manufacturers, supermarkets and consumers in North America and Europe discard up to half of their food– enough to feed all the world’s hungry at least three times over. Forests are destroyed and nearly one tenth of the West’s greenhouse gas emissions are released growing food that will never be eaten.

While affluent nations throw away food through neglect, in the developing world crops rot because farmers lack the means to process, store and transport them to market. But there could be surprisingly painless remedies for what has become one of the world’s most pressing environmental and social problems.

Travelling from Yorkshire to China, from Pakistan to Japan, and introducing us to foraging pigs, potato farmers, freegans and food industry directors, Stuart encounters grotesque examples of profligacy, but also inspiring innovations and ways of making the most of what we have. Combining front-line investigation with startling new data, Waste shows how the way we live now has created a global food crisis– and what we can do to fix it.

Related Info

Check out Tristram Stuart’s website for more facts, photos and campaigns on food waste.

See larger image Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (Hardcover) By Tristram Stuart List Price: $27.95 USD New From: $11.18 In Stock Used From: $11.18 In Stock

The authors first give a concise summary of the Green Wave that is sweeping the business community, the environmental problems and challenges companies faced, and the stakeholders involved in shaping environmental strategies.

Next, to help companies integrate the environment into business strategy, the authors introduce a toolkit including the Eco-Advantage Mindset, Eco-Tracking, Redesign and Culture.

Companies that have an Eco-Advantage Mindset usually:

• Look at the forest, not the trees
• Start at the top
• Adopt the Apollo 13 Principle
• Recognize that feelings are facts
• Do the right thing

The toolkit includes Eco-Tracking elements such as the AUDIO analysis to help companies understand their environmental impacts by looking at various categories: Aspects, Upstream, Downstream, Issues and Opportunities.

Companies should also Redesign their products and processes by adopting Design for the Environment (DfE) and closed-loop systems, and support the building of an eco Culture that promotes green thinking and innovation.

Besides the toolkit, the book helps companies to achieve Eco-Advantage by mapping out eight Green-to-Gold Plays, which are business strategies that reduce cost and risk, and increase revenue and intangible value:

Costs

1. Eco-efficiency – Improve resource productivity

2. Eco-expense reduction – Cut environmental costs and regulatory burden

3. Value chain eco-efficiency – Lower costs upstream and downstream

Risks

4. Eco-risk control – Manage environmentally driven business risk

Revenues

5. Eco-design – Meet customer environmental needs

6. Eco-sales and marketing – Build product position and customer loyalty on green attributes

7. Eco-defined new market space – Promote value innovation and develop breakthrough products

Intangibles

8. Intangible value – Build corporate reputation and trusted brands

It’s time for businesses to go green and Green to Gold is a valuable guide to help business leaders make profits while benefiting people and the environment. The book addresses both strategic thinking and practical actions that companies can adopt immediately to build an Eco-Advantage.

Related Info

Check out the Green to Gold website for more resources on using environmental strategies for your business.

See larger image Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage (Paperback) By Daniel Esty, Andrew Winston List Price: $19.95 USD New From: $11.00 In Stock Used From: $9.75 In Stock

The green marketing strategy grid is made up of three marketing objectives:

A. Green: Setting new standards in responsible products, policies and processes

B. Greener: Sharing responsibility with customers

C. Greenest: Supporting innovation – new habits, services, business models

And three levels at which marketing can operate:

1. Personal: Product/benefits/individual

2. Social: Brand meanings/herd instincts/tribes/communities

3. Public: Company as credible source, as cultural leader or partner

This 3 x 3 grid results in nine strategies that companies can adopt for their green marketing:

A1: Set an Example (Framing vs Pointing)

A2: Credible Partners (Eco-label vs Cause-related)

A3: Market a Benefit (Less vs More)

B1: Develop the Market (Educate vs Evangelise)

B2: Tribal Brands (Exclusive vs Inclusive)

B3: Change Usage (Switch vs Cut)

C1: New Business Concepts (Social Production vs Property)

C2: Trojan Horse Ideas (Tradition vs New Cool)

C3: Challenging Consuming (Treasuring vs Sharing)

Besides the green marketing approaches, John explains that companies need to go beyond image marketing to create sustainable brands. Companies should not make normal products seem green (greenwashing), instead they should make green products seem normal and acceptable. His vision is:

Green (and sustainable) products are not just responsible. They are better: more durable, cheaper, nicer, healthier, more thoughtful, offering extensions into social communities, belonging to something. The green products, services and businesses of the future are creative, in a sparky, thrilling way.

The Green Marketing Manifesto is an essential guide on green marketing for companies with green products and services, marketing executives and CSR professionals.

Related Info

Check out John Grant’s blog at http://greenormal.blogspot.com/.

See larger image The Green Marketing Manifesto (Hardcover) By John Grant List Price: $29.95 USD New From: $13.16 In Stock Used From: $14.44 In Stock