Water: A Natural History by Alice Outwater

What happens when you flush your toilet? Environmental engineer and writer Alice Outwater knows, and she guides the reader through the technical ins and outs of such delicate matters as water treatment and sewage handling--subjects she writes about with considerable charm. Here you will learn how "raw sludge brew" is separated, how methane from sewage is converted to a source of power, and how aqueducts past and present really work. Outwater also describes in lay terms the complex ecology of rivers, making a strong case for the preservation of free-flowing streams in the place of dammed waterways.  A generation after the Clean Water Act was passed, one third of our waters are still polluted, according to the author, and only 6% of contamination is caused by industry. Outwater, who managed scum and sludge removal in the Boston Harbor cleanup, reaches back into our history to chart the changes in our waters. Once, a tenth of the total land area was beaver-built wetland; the beaver's decline caused the first major shift in the nation's water cycle. The depressions buffalo made on the ground and the holes dug by prairie dogs collected rain and runoff that seeped down to the water table; our waterways have been transformed by the loss of these keystone species. Outwater looks at grasslands and forests, artificial waterways, agriculture, aqueducts and toilet bowls, sewers and sludge (she gives a guided tour of a waste-treatment plant). She makes a strong case for restoring natural systems to public lands, repopulating beaver, bison and prairie dogs. A great read!

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder by Richard Louv

Today's kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, says child advocacy expert Louv, even as research shows that "thoughtful exposure of youngsters to nature can... be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit disorder and other maladies." Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, children these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result, Louv says, they've come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality. Indeed, a 2002 British study reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name "otter, beetle, and oak tree." Gathering thoughts from parents, teachers, researchers, environmentalists and other concerned parties, Louv argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and nurture their creativity, he says, nature needs its children: where else will its future stewards come from? Louv's book is a call to action, full of warnings—but also full of ideas for change.

Omnivore's Dilema: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

Pollan examines what he calls "our national eating disorder" (the Atkins craze, the precipitous rise in obesity) in this remarkably clearheaded book. It's a fascinating journey up and down the food chain, one that might change the way you read the label on a frozen dinner, dig into a steak or decide whether to buy organic eggs. You'll certainly never look at a Chicken McNugget the same way again.Pollan approaches his mission not as an activist but as a naturalist: "The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." All food, he points out, originates with plants, animals and fungi. "[E]ven the deathless Twinkie is constructed out of... well, precisely what I don't know offhand, but ultimately some sort of formerly living creature, i.e., a species. We haven't yet begun to synthesize our foods from petroleum, at least not directly."Pollan's narrative strategy is simple: he traces four meals back to their ur-species. He starts with a McDonald's lunch, which he and his family gobble up in their car. Surprise: the origin of this meal is a cornfield in Iowa. Corn feeds the steer that turns into the burgers, becomes the oil that cooks the fries and the syrup that sweetens the shakes and the sodas, and makes up 13 of the 38 ingredients (yikes) in the Chicken McNuggets.Indeed, one of the many eye-openers in the book is the prevalence of corn in the American diet; of the 45,000 items in a supermarket, more than a quarter contain corn. Pollan meditates on the freakishly protean nature of the corn plant and looks at how the food industry has exploited it, to the detriment of everyone from farmers to fat-and-getting-fatter Americans. Besides Stephen King, few other writers have made a corn field seem so sinister.Later, Pollan prepares a dinner with items from Whole Foods, investigating the flaws in the world of "big organic"; cooks a meal with ingredients from a small, utopian Virginia farm; and assembles a feast from things he's foraged and hunted.This may sound earnest, but Pollan isn't preachy: he's too thoughtful a writer, and too dogged a researcher, to let ideology take over. He's also funny and adventurous. He bounces around on an old International Harvester tractor, gets down on his belly to examine a pasture from a cow's-eye view, shoots a wild pig and otherwise throws himself into the making of his meals.

Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power by Mark Shapiro

Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro explains in a new book that toxic chemicals exist in many of the products we handle every day — agents that can cause cancer, genetic damage and birth defects, lacing everything from our gadgets to our toys to our beauty products.  And unlike the European Union, the U.S. doesn't require businesses to minimize them — or even to list them, so consumers can evaluate the risks. Schapiro argues that that policy isn't just bad for public health: In an increasingly green economy, he says, American businesses stand to get shut out of a huge market.  WBUR interview with Shapiro, editorial director of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting.

The Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds by David Gershon

Arriving just in time to meet the groundswell of demand created by An Inconvenient Truth, it guides readers through an accessible step-by-step program for personal CO2-reduction that leaves them empowered and inspired at the difference they can make toward the issue of our time.  Grounded in over two decades of environmental behavior change research, this illustrated workbook offers readers much more than a to-do list of eco-friendly actions. With practicality and humor, bestselling author and environmental change pioneer David Gershon walks readers through every step of the carbon-reduction process, from calculating their current CO2 footprint to tracking their progress and measuring their impact. By making simple changes to actions they take every day, readers learn how to reduce their annual household CO2 output by at least 15%. And, for those who are more ambitious, there are chapters on how to become "carbon neutral" and help one's workplace, local schools and community do the same.  A recent Yale University study revealed that over three-quarters of Americans not only accept the reality that their lifestyle is contributing to climate change; they believe they have a responsibility to do something about it.  If we ordinary Americans reduce our CO2 footprint, we can have a disproportionate influence in turning the tide on global warming. When we, the consumers and voters, become part of the global warming solution, businesses and politicians will not be far behind. And as America--the planet's greatest contributor to climate change--takes responsibility for reducing its carbon footprint, the impact will inevitably ripple out.  David Gershon is one of the world's leading authorities on behavior change and large-scale transformation. He has addressed issues ranging from environmental behavior change to emergency preparedness; from organizational talent development to low-income neighborhood revitalization.