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Paul Hawken for President of Salmon Nation

You either are a green closet geek, or you know one.

Heather and I are definitely green closet geeks.  I sent her a copy of Natural Capitalism (aka: Nat Cap) once as a present and she couldn't put it down. I think I saw highlighter marks too.   

Anyway tonight I had the honor of speaking at the Bioneers conference. It was at Bioneers six years ago where I "discovered" Paul Hawken.  He was berating a dude from Dupont for essentially greenwashing. It was such a turn on.

Tonight I listened to his closing speech and was just so amazed. He too has evolved.  He spoke about having no enemies in this environmental mission. And that of course resonated, as we don't believe in finger shaking at Ideal Bite, but clearly he is talking about race, about religion, about life.  He has now become the peaceful warrior.  He did a visionary bit on "imagine if"... and then went into a world based upon Salmon Nation. He asked to be Undersecretary of the Owls.  Such a hoot.

Anyway, it's true. I do have an eco-crush on Paul. He is so stupendously smart, and he puts it to good use, and never yields or settles. But beautifully evolves.  Like nature. ahhhh.

Off to dream of Paul. - JB

Posted by: jboulden on 10/23/2006
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Nicole  on October 23, 2006 at 05:17 AM 1
Please don't forget Jane Goodall's Harvest for Hope. I'm truly shocked that it was omitted from the biters list of books.
Hayley  on October 23, 2006 at 07:08 AM 2
Great tip but if you're going to order books, might as well do it through a local bookstore. Check out the booksense website for the location of an independent bookstore or to order online through one of these bookstores.
Rae  on October 23, 2006 at 09:38 AM 3
You forgot a very special kind of "green" book club - Paperbackswap.com. The service allows members to post books that they are done with and request books from others on a credit basis. You get a credit for every book that arrives safely at its destination from you and you can redeem them for the books you want. It combines all kinds of good things.
elena  on October 23, 2006 at 10:10 AM 4
more on books.. I'm halfway through "The End of Food" by Thomas Pawlick. it's a very interesting look at what effects the corporatized food industry is having on world systems. if you ever need more inspiration to buy local, organic, free-range, etc.. READ THIS BOOK!
Dave  on October 23, 2006 at 10:23 AM 5
The founders of the Rocky Mountain Institute and probably the smartest "resource analysts" out there today are classified only as Paul Hawken's "friends"? Whoa... If you don't have the funds to buy all these fabulous books (even used), some are available as PDFs for the downloading. Natural Capitalism http://www.natcap.org/sitepages/pid20.php Plan B 2.0, and Lester Brown's other recent books are available at Earth Policy Institute: http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/Contents.htm Others may be available too.
Heather Stephenson  on October 23, 2006 at 10:56 AM 6
Did you really just say "Such a hoot" after writing "He asked to be Undersecretary of the Owls"? You didn't, did you? Jen wins the corny pun award for the day!!! (Little do you Biters know - Jen wins the corny pun award internally here on most days). Best part is that she totally admits it. Toasts to both the Undersecretary of Owls and Queen of Puns! - the world needs more people like you two. -H
Andrea  on October 23, 2006 at 11:01 AM 7
Have to add another book that should be on the Biter list: Let My People Go Surfing by Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard. An easy read that documents the greening of a company and highlights Patagonia's dedication to the environment and social responsibility. Enjoy!
Jen B  on October 23, 2006 at 11:18 AM 8
I can't believe I forgot one of my favorite books of all times: Biomimicry. Janine, babes, I heart you - don't take it personally. (Please call me so we can have some tea.. it is getting cold in these here parts!) http://www.biomimicry.net/
Sara  on October 23, 2006 at 02:23 PM 9
I know that any time someone puts up a list of ANYTHING, there are always people who pipe up with "I can't believe you forgot..." But uh, can I add my reccomendation? The book that got me more seriously thinking about "green" things was Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver. It doesn't deal entirely with green-related things, but a large majority of it does and she's a fantastic writer.
Larry Grob  on October 25, 2006 at 04:19 PM 10
Back to the original post on Paul Hawken for a sec. I was one of the lucky ones to see part 1 of his Bioneers presentation, over here in Massachusetts. Sounds like he saved enuf energy to dazzle the west coast as well. Along with Natural Capitalism I'd have to put David Suzuki's The Sacred Balance, as my two most influential books so far. But I emphasize 'so far', because the volume of real good and inspiring reads is simply amazing. Cheers, and happy reading... Larry Grob theunlikelyactivist.com
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