Filed under: Books in General, Environment | Tags: books, Business, business book, career skills, Environment
When we look at the stacks and stacks of submissions to decide which books to summarize, I like to make a few notes if I see trends developing in subject matter. Looking back at the last two years, I see the words “India” and “China” appear numerous times in my hurried script. Developing nations are a point of interest in the business book world because so many executives are looking for the best advice on how to understand, interact and partner with these two rapidly growing economic forces. Take a moment to consider this statistic: one out of every three people in the world is from one of these two nations. Combine the sheer number of people with the rate of industrialization and it’s no wonder that books on the subject can barely hit shelves fast enough.
One of the major areas where India and China are addressed is in titles on climate change. Here’s an article from the L.A. Times that discusses recent United Nations’ efforts to get India to agree to emissions targets. I always find discussions about Asia’s rapid industrialization and its impact on climate to create some uncomfortable moments for those in international politics. For those who point out that Europe and North America industrialized without much regard for the environment, I’d counter by saying these same regions of the globe are now the leaders of the green movement. Perhaps much of that came from a deeper understanding of the true impact of growing one’s economy.
The upside of this careful attention to the planet’s wellbeing is that it has produced some great books. One of the best we’ve seen is The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge, Sara Schley, Nina Kruschwitz, Bryan Smith and Joe Laur. In a truly collaborative effort, these authors help executives understand the true need for sustainability and how one’s business can contribute to finding solutions to the most pressing environmental problems. It continues to be one of our most popular summaries. In light of the UN’s efforts, perhaps Soundview should consider translating this into Mandarin and Hindi. In a global economy, ecological concerns are something we all share, and so is the work to make it better.
Filed under: Books in General, Collection, Environment, From the Editor, Green, Sustainability, The Business of Green | Tags: Algalita Marine Research Foundation, Alguita, business books, Collection, Environment, Green, Saving the World at Work, Sustainability, The Business of Green, The Necessary Revolution
On Monday (Sept. 7) the oceanographic research vessel Alguita embarked on a 10th anniversary voyage to retrace its first trip to study plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean. Specifically the course heads for “the great Pacific garbage patch” described in my Ocean Conservancy calendar as “A giant floating ‘continent’ of garbage, twice the size of Texas.”
Apparently it was during Captain Charles Moore’s Pacific Ocean crossing after the Transpacific Yacht Race in 1997 when he was heading back to California from Hawaii that he had the disturbing intersection with what ABC News subsequently described as 3.5 million tons of trash that is 80 percent plastic.
Captain Moore founded the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which owns the ORV Alguita, and has ever since surrendered his time and resources to examining the impact of this massive floating swill, increasing awareness about it, and figuring out how to get rid of it. A July 2008 Discover magazine article described how in this particular area of the Pacific there is a series of currents several thousand miles wide that swirl together ensnaring trash and debris from North America, Asia and the Hawaiian Islands. The tricky part, as far as funding research and assigning cleanup dollars, is that the open ocean waters of the world are a difficult place to justify government spending.
I confess I had never heard about this huge floating garbage patch before. It makes me realize that we should be continuously promoting and adding to our Soundview Business of Green collection to give people access to information about sustainability and responsible business practices. Two other important books that we have summarized, Saving the World at Work and The Necessary Revolution shout out the importance of being environmentally responsible at work and home.
With fresh summer memories typically embracing a waterview that we choose to savor until next year, this topic captures another picture we shouldn’t quickly forget.
