Green Group discussion

This is a group for anyone who enjoys fiction and non-fiction about the World History of Science - Environmental Science, Life Science and Natural History, Sustainable and Earth's-Friendly World Literature.

Please say who you are and why you joined this group. Anyone is welcome!

I joined the "Green Group" in February 2008. I hope that we can discuss and share about Science, Environment. "Global Warming", named "Développement Durable" in France, is a challenge for our future on Earth.

I joined this group because I have always been interested in the environment and being "green" and it is even more important now than ever! Especially after having my son, I feel an urgency to help lower the rate at which we use and abuse our natural resources here and around the world. What kind of world will be left for my children and their children?

I too got more involved with trying to live sustainably after having a kid, actually, I started blogging about it once I was pregnant. Since you start getting advice about not eating too much tuna because of the mercury build-up or about not painting while pregnant because of the off-gassing, it's tough not to wonder why we aren't given these warnings when we're not pregnant.

So I started blogging about it all on the website my husband and I started (www.faircompanies.com). My latest blog, for example, is about the problem with farmed salmon and why we need to eat lower on the fish food chain. It's here, if interested: http://www.faircompanies.com/main.asp...

Hi, I'm Natalie the crunchy sister :-)

I was very uninterested in the environment but chose to cloth diaper my daughter, now 4, because of a link between dioxin, a byproduct of bleaching disposable diapers and feminine products, and endometriosis (which I have). From there I spoke with so many people who were into natural living that I started switching our family to more natural things. And then from there I became interested in reducing our family's waste and our carbon footprint. So now we rarely put out more than one trash can a week (and it often only has 3 or 4 bags in it that aren't full but couldn't stay in the house). We recycle a ton and I compost.

It becomes a fun challenge to try to lower our energy bills and reduce our waste.

It's also very rewarding. We just went through Birthday Season at our house and made the cakes from scratch and they were delicious.

Hi I'm Sam and I joined this group a while ago as even as a kid I was always loved nature and getting out and about, which in Wales is so easy to do even from Cardiff. My love for nature grew into a passion for the protection and care of the environment and as a result I'm now an Ecologist working with a consultancy firm where we minimise the damage caused by developments and in some cases stop them completely on environmental grounds. This job has certaintly challenaged my personal beliefs and expanded them to understand and occasionally incorporate the view of the developer/contracter etc. I'm looking forward to sharing these and helping others understand the processes used in the UK to protect the environment, how well it works and where it fails and to learn how others view this and the approaches used elsewhere.

At home I recycle pretty much everything and compost as much as I can so I only put a black bag out once every 2 weeks (earlier if it gets a bit ripe) but I do live on my own in a bedsit so it's easier for me than others. I'm careful with my gas and electric and get as much of my food as possible from my local farmer's market. It's been so easy that now the rest of my family are starting to catch up and are buying organic, free range etc and are recycling and re-using all the more.

I've found myself getting quite addicted to seeing how much I can reduce my waste and my bills and being inventive about what I can reuse if I can't recycle certain things.

Anyway that's enough of my waffling...oh by the way Ben you may want to look into Ecology as a possible career as you can do a hell of a lot with from consultancy work, to working with councils, charities etc and you can do it anywhere you want so it may be worth considering :-)

My name is Grégoire, I'm from Belgium but I live in Northeast Brazil - in the State of Bahia.
When I try to remember the oldest climatic event I lived, I think it was Chernobyl toxic clouds which spread over Europe after the disaster. We couldn't open the windows at school, and everybody was urging us to protect our heads from the rain. I don't know if there was a true danger, and I guess the teachers didn't know either. But we all did it.
Many years later, I signed up Greenpeace magazines and got in touch with a lot of other subjects.
Today, I opened an NGO with my wife and friends, here in Brazil. We are working mainly with children and youth, but also with adults and neighbourhoods as a whole. We planted the first waste selection in the city, and founded the environmental council with other friends.
To my opinion, Brazil, like most of the southern hemisphere, is living a big consumption boost, without having the structure to manage it. People know they can't dump plastic bags into the wild, but there are no specific and protected places to gather wastes. As a result, dogs, cows and the wind just spread it everywhere. People know the factory is polluting the river, but they need their job first.
So, environmental consciousness is very difficult to work out, because it always goes against daily life priorities.
But that's what we do. Oh, and on the economic side, we would like to start a local organic market, too!

Posted by Jennifer - 05/27/09

Hi! I'm a former environmental engineer, current environmental and consumer product attorney, and an eco consultant. As a consultant, I help parents go green and non toxic, and also provide testing services for lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic and other heavy metals in consumer products using a Niton XRF analyzer. I'm also the author of the forthcoming Smart Mama's Green Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child's Toxic Chemical Exposure from Hachette Book Group USA. Hence I like to read green.

I'm Ryan, 23 from Ontario, Canada. In the future most likely BC though.

When I was younger my Dad and I tended to go on nature hikes at least twice a week. It's because of him I love nature and green things as much as I do.

I'm always amazed when I hear of communities just starting up recycling programs. Ever since I can remember we've recycled everything. I think I average one apartment sized garbage bag every two months.

I've personally never owned a car. I use to walk everywhere and take transit. Then I got fed-up with the buses so I taught myself how to ride a bike at the age of 16 (after years of my Dad hounding me to learn). Ever since then I've ridden a bike.
I'm always amazed at how people here in Canada make a big deal that I ride a bike year round. I guess I take a European approach to cycling. It's just a great way to get around that happens to be green.

Hi there Ryan and welcome to the Green Group :-)

I'm in the UK and the community recycling initiatives have only been widespread in the last few but like you me and my family always recycled as much as we could.

It's great to hear you've never owned a car and are now biking everywhere. Unfortuntely I need a car for my work but I do have a bike for those short trips about town and I much prefer the bike I must say.

Hope you enjoy the group

Sam :-)

Hello! I just joined and have agreed to help moderate discussions about Childrens's and YA green books as well as books for teachers and other educators.

I'm in the US,Michigan to be exact, and am working on a Master's in environmental science. I'm a cloth-diapering (well, he's not in diapers anymore-yay!), local food buying, recycling gal who's current mission is increasing the self-sufficiency of her family.

My undergrad degree is in biology and oceanography, so bio-issues and any water-centric issues are very interesting to me.

Nice to "meet" everyone!

Hi every one.I am ahmad and i am living in iran.i got 51 years old@iam control and automation engineer.I joined this group recently to learn more about envirement and how from automation point of view can find better ways for energy saving.I believe climate'envirement and energy are most important issues which human will be faced in 21 century.
Nice to be with all of you

Welcome to the group Ahmad and Shannon, hope you enjoy the group reads and discussions and I hope we can help to improve and increase your knowledge and understanding of the natural world :-)

I’m the author of the environmental/medical thriller novel – Green Power. It was one of five books chosen for the Green Groups winter read. I have been a member of Goodreads since July, 2008.
As a scientist living in the foothills of the California Sierras, I am keenly aware of environmental issues. Deer, bear, and mountain lions are often spotted in and around my area. White water rafting occurs within minutes of my home. My profile picture was taken in front of a large redwood tree in my back yard. Yes, I love nature and want to protect it.

Charles, it's great to have you as part of the Green Group!

Hey y'all! I'm an avid reader who is interested in deep ecology and its related issues. I've read Pentti Linkola and Derrick Jensson and I'd be thrilled to receive further recommendations. I find deep ecology extremely fascinating. I don't fully agree with everything that is said, especially by Linkola, but I think it means everything for us as a species to listen to these arguments and find meaning for ourselves within them. I am pretty pessimistic in terms of our survival, but find it the only ethical way to fight against the destruction of our planet while I can. Oh, I also loved Peter Singer's One World and find his philosophy compelling.

And here's a joke: A planet meets another one. First one: Hey, how's it going? Other planet: Oh, not so well, I have homo sapiens. First planet: Oh, don't worry, it'll pass!

Welcome Annika!

G'day everyone and nice to e-meet you all. My interest in green issues comes from summers spent on my grandfather's farm in Niagara (Ontario, Canada). This was sufficiently formative that I went on to get a bunch of degrees. I now teach and write about food security and sustainable development - I'm currently at the University of Leeds in the UK but am shortly heading back to Ontario and will take up a post at the University of Guelph.

I'd love to engage with you in a range of issues but mostly I know about agriculture and landscape problems.

Cheers everyone!

Evan

Welcome Evan! The International Green group is looking forward to learn with you about food security, sustainable development. 83% of the members want to learn by reading the most relevant books and discussing about the group's favorites themes.

- Biodiversity, Food/ Nutrition.

We're looking forward to e-engage with you in a range of issues about food, its history, food security, seasonal and sustainable food, our food practices with an International perspective and finally to answer this question - " What Are We Eating ? "

Cheers!

Michelle

You're welcome, Lesa.The Green group has four seasonal book club. For each book club, the members of the group can suggest books, fiction and non-fiction about the History of Science, Sustainable and Earth's-Friendly International Literature.
We also read and discuss a book about the History of Science each month, that means a book about a major scientist or a book (fiction, non-fiction) about the major disciplines of the Green group (Water, Botany, Energy, Biology, Biodiversity, Life Science, Ecology, Food and Nutrition, Natural History)
Although we have 4 seasonal books club, the members can start discussions about Environmental books that they have read or are currently- reading and more generally books about Earth's - Friendly Literature.
We have chosen to classified our books' readings per disciplines, for all ages, with Environmental, Science plots. In that case, you can add books from differents genres - Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Eco-Thrillers, Non-Fiction, Fiction and start a discussion about your favorites.

We have also started a special "Reading Challenges" for 2010 - The Year of Biodiversity. This "Reading Challenges" is a part of the books' members suggestions of our book club. Here's the Listopia's list of "The Year of Biodiversity" where you can find books' suggestions, too.
http://www.goodreads.com/list/user_vo...

Our goal is to promote, celebrate Biodiversity and to increase your knowledge about environmental issues during " 2010- The Year of Biodiversity "
And finally, discussions about Environmental's films and a new thread " Green Fun, games and quizzes ".

We have added a section for Educators/Teachers where you'll find books's recommendations and Educational discussions' topics.

We haven't a leader for our books discussions, yet. It's an activity we have tried to organize a few months ago. Actually, each member talk about these books with some members's discussions.

Hi, Larry here, hoping he's found a place to discuss books on natural history,wildlife,trees and natural science. I'm also an amateur nature photographer and am hoping for some classic nature book recommendations. I live in the North East of England where the weather is very up and down at the moment.

You're welcome, Larry. I'm looking forward to read your suggestions about nature photographer. Hope you'll find a lot of sunny books' recommendations and discussions here at The Green group about your favorites topics.

Hi Michelle ... thanks for the invitation to join! I've been traveling the world all my life, and I've been an avid hiker in the wilderness, river boater, and scuba diver in many of the world's great locations.

I look forward to getting to know you fellow ever-greeners much better! Timothy

I joined this group at the recommendation of Charles. We had been discussing the fact the eco-thriller has had a slow start as a sub-genre.

I had been trying to market my series as an eco-thriller but had been getting little to no response in my effort.

In my series I have made the point in the story about animal rights. It is weaved into a paranormal thriller (skin walker) series. I call it the Wild Series.

The first in the series deals with loss of habitate and the second in the series deals with canned hunting, the third will also dealing with another animal rights issue and so on.

My passion in life is the animals we share this planet with, so it goes without saying that my writing would show that.

Timothy wrote: "Hi Michelle ... thanks for the invitation to join! I've been traveling the world all my life, and I've been an avid hiker in the wilderness, river boater, and scuba diver in many of the world's gre..."

Hi Timothy.....You're welcome. Thank you for becoming a greener's member!

C. wrote: "I joined this group at the recommendation of Charles. We had been discussing the fact the eco-thriller has had a slow start as a sub-genre.

I had been trying to market my series as an eco-thril..."

Hi C.....Welcome at The Green group!

We have started to nominate and suggest books for our summer book club.

What will you read this upcoming summer?
Which books would you like to discuss at our seasonal book club ?

The Green group's members will vote for two books, the first one for our July's book club , the second one for our August book club 2010.
The major themes of the summer book club are Water (oceans, rivers, seas), Biodiversity (species) and more generally Natural History, Botany and all your suggestions about books with environmental topics in all genres, for all ages.

Hi Michelle, Hi Ever-Green group~

I recently joined Goodreads, and this great group of avid scientific readers, because of my interests involved with help changing the world... Be it shooting the breeze about anything personal or impersonal, I am most unabashed to converse about anything good or anything evil when it comes to the right environment for communicating the consideration of the environment itself... or I'm otherwise strongly advocating art as a way to express and learn about the way one already may consider the environment, the weather, the climate, the waves and tides of the universe, or music as sounds, or math or science, both as nature; the essential resources are provided by mother earth herself and one of those abstract, environmental things I can't wrap my head around is how there came to be so much OTHER junk we do NOT need to depend on.

I learned to operate my brain at the ripe ol' age of 20 - I'm 23 now, but I've known for a long time that age has nothing to do with the "use it or lose it" principle. The passion that has bloomed from and for discovery and innovation and respect for all, is the instinct that brought me to this special group and the same instinct is going to help build a safer habitat and well-prepared future for my community of Little Rock, AR. I've watched and listened to too much change over the years to not join in and support the structure with a well-informed reality.

It's truly amazing how simple saving and protecting the planet for the next generations can be for humans of all races, and then how strangely complicated some humans create from within and overshoot their conceptions without. Yet, we have to communicate our cares with trust and caution, and to be active with our truths without hesitation or haste...

We ARE the environment right now, and we can't just be aware of it, we need to be active in the ecological lifestyle expected of us by other living systems, and we need to cherish every moment !

Hi Drue,

You're welcome.... Thank you for your kind words ! The Green group, a special group.....
The Green group was created 4 years ago and never failed although it knew a lot of waves.....
It's an honor to discover and discuss about the History of Science and all its great scientists which made and will make our future.
It's an honor to propose a lot of books written by Classics or Contemporary writers of the World Literature as we named it at the group" The Earth' friendly Literature " in any genres about environment. The environment, the weather, the climate, the waves and tides of the universe, or music as sounds, or math or science, both as nature, these essential resources have always inspired among the greatest writers that we have read, re-read or want to read and inspire our contemporary authors.

The Green group is also an international group were we review and discuss books and ideas for being the most well-informed about Environment.

" We ARE the environment right now, and we can't just be aware of it, we need to be active in the ecological lifestyle expected of us by other living systems, and we need to cherish every moment ! "

May I propose to you this sentence Drue, written by Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time

" When your heart speaks, take good notes "

This is very strange! Yesterday I came here but it said I was no longer a member of the group and it was not showing in my list of Groups! I tried to Join again but it didnt allow me to (request denied)
I emailed Michelle who encouraged me to try again and well,here I am again!
Thanks Michelle!

Larry wrote: "This is very strange! Yesterday I came here but it said I was no longer a member of the group and it was not showing in my list of Groups! I tried to Join again but it didnt allow me to (request de..."

Welcome again Larry ! You know, we need to be extremely "cool" when we use New Technology. This is not Science-Fiction nor Fantasy! Bugs, spammers or else are common. I often use "live streaming" for my courses and I know these kind of disagreements. Glad you're here again at The Green group to discuss with us about great books.

Here's an interesting article: cut down your trees, and kill your culture...
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology...

Timothy wrote: "Here's an interesting article: cut down your trees, and kill your culture...
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology..."

Thanks Timothy for the interesting article " Civilization Collapsed After Cutting Key Trees ".

Hullo!

My name is Tinka and I'm an university student (Microbiology). In third year we had to choose one of the 3 available "specializations" and I chose Microbial Biotechnology, mostly because one of the classes is Environmental Biotechnology. I'm interested in waste management, mostly how to use waste to make something useful or make it less toxic. For example, many landfills collect gases from the waste and use them to produce electricity. Lots of it, actually.
I'm currently writing my thesis on detection of estrogens in wastewater.
I joined this group because it's a good source of information and books on green issues.
Thank you for having me.

Valentina wrote: "Hullo!

My name is Tinka and I'm an university student (Microbiology). In third year we had to choose one of the 3 available "specializations" and I chose Microbial Biotechnology, mostly because ..."

Hullo Tinka ! You're welcome...Thanks to join The Green group.

Energy, its production, its future, alternative Energies is one of the theme of The Green group. The last good source of informations about the theme of Energy is the TEDxOilSpill's videos and specially the section about The Future of Energy. Here's the link- Check it out!

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

Hiya
I am joining this group because I love science and history. I am big into environmental concerns and love ecology. Hope to learn a lot :)

Classyreader wrote: "Hiya
I am joining this group because I love science and history. I am big into environmental concerns and love ecology. Hope to learn a lot :)"

Thanks for joining the group, Hiya .....Which themes on Science are your favorites?

Thanks for inviting me to join your group Michelle.

I'm Hayes. I live in Rome, Italy (where it is raining, finally, after threatening and not raining all day), but I'm originally from New York.

I studied biology at university, but I was ultimately led to a different career: I worked as an EFL teacher (English as a Foreign Language) for 25 years.

One of my heroes is Stephen Jay Gould.

Hayes wrote: "Thanks for inviting me to join your group Michelle.

I'm Hayes. I live in Rome, Italy (where it is raining, finally, after threatening and not raining all day), but I'm originally from New York.

..."

Buonasera Hayes, you're welcome....Thanks for joining the Green group community

Will the Blue Fin Tuna be fished to extinction? This looks like a "goodread" - just read this review in the NYT: "Four Fish" by Paul Greenberg.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/boo...

" Four Fish " by Paul Greenberg is an interesting book to read with a theme in relation with our reading challenge for " The year of Biodiversity " Thanks for the link, Timothy. I'll add it for comments and discussions at the thread " Food and Nutrition"

Hello everyone! I just started poking around GoodReads and this group looks very interesting! I'm fascinated by popular science books of all kinds, and nature books especially. Anything about birds has a fast track to my shelf.

I've heard several interviews with the author of Four Fish on public radio lately, and that might be my next related read.

Looking forward to the discussions here!

You're welcome Leilani ! Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food is among an impressive list of books of The Green group written by famous authors. I hope you'll find a lot of interesting themes to discuss about Environment, Life Science and Natural History with an international perspective.

The Green group organize four seasonal book club with, for each book club, a theme in relation with our differents topics. The theme of the Autumn book club is " Seasons and Weather in Titles " .

Hi Group! Thanks for inviting an author like me to chat with you here. We've had a fascinating time - and today, Wednesday Aug 11, is our last day, if you want to join in.

Here's what we're talking about right now - the need for protected nature reserves all over the world.

"One of my favorite few days of scuba diving of all time was at the remote, offshore Philippine coral atoll of "Tubbataha." To remain one of the world's natural wonders, and a Unesco World Heritage Site, it is necessary that the government has armed guards who live on the remote reef all year around, and patrol in gunboats...I've also been diving in areas of those 7,000 islands where fishermen have dynamited the reef. Those fishermen may not know it in the instant of their need, but they are killing their future, and that of their children!"

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

I gotta say this is one interesting group. The conversations in here are worth a talk show...move over Oprah :o)
All the talk in this group makes me want to travel a bit more next year...hopefully there will be funds for that, we haven't even made it to the coast this summer yet. I love the Washington coast...very scenic. The Olympic Nation Forest is amazing and the area around Cresent Lake is beautiful.

Thank you, Steven...Hmmm, you like to travel. Believe me, you won't regret it :-) Although we are in the virtual world here at Goodreads, I promise you a lot of great travel around the world with all the Green group's discussions, books and with " The Group Talks with Authors " !!!

Please, don't forget the rules of The Green group:)

" Please refrain from using foul language, and always remember to be courteous and respect other people's opinions and views "

Hi everyone--I found this amazing-looking group because of Dan Morrison's book The Black Nile: One Man's Amazing Journey Through Peace and War on the World's Longest River. Some of us will also be reading and discussing this book at the group I help moderate, Great African Reads. Anyone interested in Africa (or not sure if they are interested in Africa) is most welcome to join or visit our group. We are a friendly bunch and I think it's safe to say we have some overlapping interests. I'm really excited about the environmental focus that the discussion with Dan here has and I'm especially excited to read other books with this group. I've been looking for a group like this! I intend to learn a lot. Oh, I am somewhere in the United States adapting to some rather wild and wacky weather patterns...

Hi Marieke, welcome at The Green group. I particularly enjoy to have two moderators of the group " Great African Reads " in our group community. The talk with Dan Morrison about his book The Black Nile: One Man's Amazing Journey Through Peace and War on the World's Longest River is the event of " The Group Talks with Authors" until August 20, 2010. The environmental focus is a part of the discussion. The Nile's River inhabitants, their culture and languages, the history of a complex territory along The Nile, from Ancient Civilizations to The 21th Century are among interesting themes to discuss with Dan.
I want to thank you for your interest at our differents discussions about Environmental Science, Life Science, Natural History and The History of Science and I hope you'll find a lot of books to read at our polls's choices.

" The Group Talks with Authors " will host new authors during the upcoming months. Here's the link of the group community's future events
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

Hi I'm a reader, author, reviewer. I'm always interested in knowing which natural history, nature science, eco-type books are rocking the world of readers.

Amy wrote: "Hi I'm a reader, author, reviewer. I'm always interested in knowing which natural history, nature science, eco-type books are rocking the world of readers."

You're welcome, Amy. I hope you'll find at The Green group a lot of great readings in any genre, any format, about the World Earth-friendly Literature to the History of Science.
I have recently read that a lot of authors writing fictions, short stories or reviews like to read Science books to increase their knowledge in the field of the History of Science.