Leaf Through These Books on Earth Day

Giving Compass Apr 18, 2018
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Leaf Through These Books on Earth Day Giving Compass

The Giving Compass family put together this book list as a starting point for readers looking to learn more about environmental problems and solutions. From informative nonfiction to inspiring fiction, this list has something for everyone. Get a hard copy or an ebook from your local library to enjoy these books without consuming natural resources.

Nonfiction:

The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
Pollan explores the relationship between humans and nature through four crops that have suffered and benefited from cultivation by humans.

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner
Originally published in 1986, this book examines the history of western water management – a topic fraught with controversy that persists to this day.

The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence
The true story of Anthony’s work to save a herd of elephants from poachers in South Africa. An animal conservation must-read.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
Louv explains the connection between children raised indoors on screens and the rise of concerning health trends.

The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams
Williams investigates current research on the health benefits of spending time in nature.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Carson’s 1962 book on the harmful effects of DDT brought environmental concerns to the fore of American political discussion. No history of environmentalism is complete without mention of this pivotal book.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
Kolbert introduces species that have already been driven extinct by human activity, and many more that are currently endangered.

World Without Us by Alan Weisman
What would the world look like if all humans disappeared? Weisman paints a compelling picture of what would crumble to dust and what would be preserved for long time periods.

Fiction:

Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy) by Jeff VanderMeer
An exploration of Area X – a twisted, natural landscape inhospitable to humans – by researchers attempting to uncover the truths buried there.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
A classic children’s book with an environmental message about extractive capitalism that is relevant to all age groups.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
This graphic novel follows the story of a princess in a post-apocalyptic world attempting to protect her people both from an invading kingdom and the creep of the toxic forest that is taking over the earth.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
In a future where society is in partial collapse due to climate change, Lauren Oya Olamina is forced from her relatively comfortable gated community to journey on foot to look for a safe and habitable refuge.

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Original contribution by Clarissa Coburn with input from the Giving Compass family. 

Learning and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact on North America take a look at these selections from Giving Compass.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    Philanthropy in Rural New Mexico

    Giving Compass' Take: • This case study by Allen Smart and Britt Davis lays out the role of philanthropy in rural New Mexico, exploring the unique cultural context.  • How can funders use this information to guide giving in rural New Mexico and inform efforts in other rural areas?  • Learn more about rural philanthropy.  An urban dweller drives into a rural New Mexico town. He is struck by all the things he takes as part and parcel of his city life that are missing in this rural place. “You poor people,” he says to a local resident. “You don’t even have street signs.” “Why would we need street signs?” the resident replies. “We know where everything is.” This exchange isn’t fiction, and it sums up a core tenet of effective rural philanthropy: Rural communities may be small, but they know what assets they have, what they need, and where they want to go. As America becomes more urban, the dominant narrative for rural life seems to shift to a tale of woe and want. Many funders fall under the spell of this narrative, immediately defaulting to a focus on what’s “wrong” with rural places — with the implication that answers to challenges must be imported rather than homegrown. “Rural work needs to be reframed from a negative (deficit) model. Too often funders assume that rural areas want or need help the way funders want to give it,” says Dr. Dolores Roybal, executive director of the Con Alma Health Foundation, a $28 million health conversion foundation that serves the entire state of New Mexico from its headquarters in Santa Fe. It doesn’t mean that there are not needs in rural communities: it just means that the people affected have to be part of the decision-making and community problem-solving. Roybal understands the perspective of rural residents first hand, having grown up in Cuarteles, a small rural community (population 469) in northern New Mexico’s Espanola Valley between Santa Cruz and Chimayo. As a member of that community, she learned at an early age to recognize assets. “When I was getting my masters degree at the University of Denver, it was the first time that I found out that other people considered us poor,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘What do you mean we’re poor? We have our home and our land, we have our community. We don’t see ourselves as poor.’” Instead, Roybal sees rural places — and rural funders — in New Mexico as “small but mighty.”

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