eco barons

I learned a TON about environmental activism in this book by Edward Humes!  In his words, "In an era in which government has been either broke, indifferent or actively hostile to environmental causes, a band of visionaries – inventors, philanthropists, philosophers, grassroots activists, lawyers and gadflies – have been using their wealth, their energy, their celebrity, and their knowledge of the law and science to persuade, and sometimes force, this country and the world to take a new direction." 

He tells the story of these eco barons like the former CEO of Espirit who works tirelessly to protect some of the last pristine wilderness in Chile and around the world, the former CEO of Burt's Bees who invested in saving the Maine Woods, the LA pool cleaner who worked with Arnold to lower global warming, and many others who dedicated their lives to saving the planet.

I picked this up as a possible book for our freshman humanitarian research project, but it may be a bit too heady for them.  In spite of this, I'm so glad I read it!  It reaffirmed the notion that you don't need to be a billionaire (or millionaire!) to make a change.  You just need the resolve to take the first step and do more than just talk about what needs to be done.