Jan. 23, 7-9 pm at the East Brunswick Public Library

The topic will be Energy Efficiency: “The Whole House Approach”. Dave Mayer from General Heating and Cooling will discuss why energy conservation is an especially important issue today, how to reduce the carbon footprint in the home, available rebates, tax credits and loans, and do-it-yourself measures to reduce utility bills. Optional: Bring a copy of your recent energy bill. Refreshments will be served—bring your own mug.

Suggested reading: Hot, flat, and crowded : why we need a green revolution--and how it can renew America / Thomas L. Friedman


The following are selected slides from David Mayer's PowerPoint presentation:

How a Home Uses Energy
Where a typical home can waste energy?
Getting an energy audit
Available state rebates 

"On Food" PowerPoint

Click here for the PowerPoint for the November 29th meeting, "On Food"
This PowerPoint contains links that will provide additional resources that complement the presentation.

"On Food" is Tuesday, November 29th 7:00-9:00pm

Come join our discussion “On Food”. We will discuss how and where to buy locally produced groceries, taste local purchased and prepared foods, and talk about key ideas of the book “The Town That Food Saved” by Ben Hewitt. Reading the book is optional.

Over the past few years, Hardwick, Vermont, a typical hardscrabble farming community of 3,000 residents, has jump-started its economy and redefined its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America. Even as the recent financial downturn threatens to cripple small businesses and privately owned farms, a stunning number of food-based businesses have grown in the region. The Town That Food Saved is rich with appealing, colorful characters, from the optimistic upstarts creating a new agricultural model to the long-established farmers wary of the rapid change in the region.

Hewitt, a journalist and Vermonter, delves deeply into the repercussions of this groundbreaking approach to growing food, both its astounding successes and potential limitations. The captivating story of an unassuming community and its extraordinary determination to build a vibrant local food system, The Town That Food Saved is grounded in ideas that will revolutionize the way we eat and, quite possibly, the way we live. ~Amazon.com

Click here for a review from Slow Food USA. 

Click here for the East Brunswick Jersey Cat Inter-library loan request page for regular and audio books 

Click here for reviews & discussion of central concepts from Coup d' Etat Films

November 1st Meeting, 7:00-9:00: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Our next Green Book Club meeting is just one week away. If you would like to attend but have not yet picked up a copy of Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, send an email to Therlam@yahoo.com. I have an extra copy to lend. Skim the book if time is short, or just take a glance at the Sand County Almanac discussion guide (click here).  This guide summarizes key concepts of conservation and poses some thoughtful questions on our community, our connections with the world, our actions based on the decisions we make, and the resulting impacts. Leopold is considered the father of wildlife management and regarded the most influential conservationist of the twentieth century. Even if you did not have the chance to read, come join us for some an engaging discussion, and enjoy a taste of some local food.

A second, more detailed, chapter by chapter discussion guide can be found here: Discussion Guide for a Sand County Almanac. We may also use this guide if time permits.  

An excerpt from A Sand County Almanac:

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. There is no other way for land to survive the impact of mechanized man, nor for us to reap from it the esthetic harvest it is capable, under science, of contributing to culture. That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics. That land yields a cultural harvest is a fact long known, but latterly often forgotten. (p. viii)

For more on Aldo Leopold:

http://www.aldoleopold.org/

I have 2 extra Copies of "A Sand County Almanac" for our next meeting.

Next meeting date: November 1st, 7:00-9:00 pm. I just picked up 2 copies of A Sand County Almanac from Raconteur Books, Metuchen. If anyone would like a copy to read for the meeting, please send me an email: Therlam@yahoo.com

Discussion Guide for A Sand County Almanac

Liti found the discussion guide for our next book discussion on A Sand County Almanac. Thank you Liti!

We will use the questions contained in this guide as a part of our discussion: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold  It may also be helpful to read this guide along with the book prior to the meeting so we can develop our answers and ideas that we wish to share. 

Please keep in mind that the book is not available at the library. You can request it through an inter-library loan through the library and JerseyCat. You are also welcomed to use this blog to put up a request to borrow the book from other members who have already read the book.

We are looking forward to seeing you all at 7:00 on November 1st at the library!

November Meeting: A Sand County Almanac; with essays on conservation from Round River by Aldo Leopold

11/01/2011 7:00-9:00pm
A Sand County Almanac; with essays on conservation from Round River by Aldo Leopold 

The above link will bring you to the original Oxford edition.

Click here for the Ballantine edition which replaced discussions on evolution. Please read either edition prior to the next meeting.


The following is a review from an Amazon.com customer:

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Classic, December 21, 1999

This review is from: A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a profoundly insightful and important book that ranks among the most significant American books of the Twentieth Century. It would be a mistake to describe this book as "nature writing" per se, or of that genre. It is a series of essays in wonderful prose in which nature, outdoor settings or situations provide the backdrop. But it is not written as a naturalist droning about the wonders of some aspect of nature. It is an inspired and deeply insightful description, by a man who clearly has a deep understanding of how nature works, about the ethical dimensions of our relationship with the land and our environment generally. Despite the simple elegance of the writing style, it can be seen (and I know from biographical information) the author draws from a vast experience and knowledge far outside the confines of the wildlife management, which was his professon. The ideas expressed, and the many quotable passages are a treasure trove for anyone interested in broad ideas, not to mention readers whose professions involve recreation, wildlife, natural resources management, the environment, and the teaching of these disciplines as well as ethics, philosophy, and english literature. In sum, this is a must read for virtually anyone who wishes to be familar with important American literature, as well as those with a particular interest in the environment, environmental ethics and philosophy.

Meeting Schedule

Location: East Brunswick Public Library

Date	Book	Location
Tuesday 9/06/2011: 7:00-9:00 pm	Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture by Dale Allen	Meeting Room 3
Tuesday 11/01/2011 7:00-9:00pm	A Sand County Almanac; with essays on conservation from Round River by Aldo Leopold The above link will bring you to the Oxford uncensored edition. Click here for the Ballantine edition which replaced discussions on evolution. Please read either edition prior to the next meeting.	Meeting Room 2
Tuesday 11/29/2011 7:00-9:00 pm	"On Food" Discussion of the Key Ideas of the Book "The Town That Food Saved" by Ben Hewitt	Meeting Room 1
Monday 12/19/2011 7:00-9:00	Cancelled	Meeting Room 1
Monday 01/23/2012 7:00-9:00 pm	TBD	Meeting Room 1
Monday 02/27/2012 7:00-9:00 pm		Meeting Room 1
Tuesday 03/13/2012 7:00-9:00 pm		Meeting Room 1
Monday 4/30/2012 7:00-9:00 pm		Meeting Room 2
Monday 5/14/2012, 7:00-9:00 pm		Meeting Room 3
Tuesday 6/12/2012 7:00-9:00 pm		Meeting Room 1
Monday 7/23/2012 7:00-9:00 pm		Meeting Room 1

Future Book Reading Suggestions

Book Titles

Please vote for future readings by entering a comment on this blog. This is only a suggested list. Feel free to add additional titles.

Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture by Dale Allen

A Sand County Almanac; with Essays on Conservation From Round River by Aldo Leopold

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food by Ben Hewitt

Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Freinkel

The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature by David Suzuki

Good News for a Change: How Everyday People are Helping the Planet by David Suzuki

Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America Thomas L. Friedman

Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Farm Together Now by Amy Franceschini

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristen Kimball

No Impact Man: by Colin Beavan

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution by Auden Schendler

Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter

Comments on "Eating Fossil Fuels" for September 6th 2011Meeting/discussion

Please join us for our first meeting, co-sponsored with the East Brunswick Public Library, September 6th, 2011 from 7:00-9:00. We will be meeting in meeting room 3 at the East Brunswick Public Library. The first book chosen for discussion is:  Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture by Dale Allen

Invitation to our first meeting

Please join us for our first meeting, co-sponsored with the East Brunswick Public Library, September 6th, 2011 from 7:00-9:00. We will be meeting in meeting room 3 at the East Brunswick Public Library. The first book chosen for discussion is:

Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture by Dale Allen

Please send an email to Therlam@yahoo.com to RSVP for more information on this event. 

Remember to use the option to borrow books at EBPL via Interlibrary Loan.


A reviewer from Amazon.com stated:

"Eating Fossil Fuels," by Dale Allen Pfeiffer, is a fascinating review of the upcoming crisis in production of food for our population. He starts with a quick discussion of land degradation and water degradation, and then goes into the data behind the use of fossil fuels in modern agriculture. With the approaching decline in global oil production, our ability to produce food will be severely compromised.
For anyone who reads much about "peak oil" or modern agricultural policy, this will come as no surprise. Pfeiffer's book shines, though, in his discussions of the examples of South Korea and Cuba. It is fascinating to consider the different paths taken by each of these countries during their politically-imposed sudden drop in oil availability.
Pfeiffer goes finishes with a discussion of sustainable agriculture and some ideas for what a concerned activist might do.
On the whole, I learned much from the short, well-written book about an important topic.

Join the Friends' Green Living

Introducing the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission's Green Living Group. Discussions are based on “green” ideas which include sustainability, nature, conservation and more. Presentations and reading choices focus on individuals or towns that model environmental sustainability. Readings are suggested but not required. Our goal is to work as a group to discover and apply solutions to today's environmental challenges at home and in our community. Let's work together to make this happen!