Added by Cafegurl17 about 1 year ago in Books & DVDs
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
Be the change you're hoping for., February 8, 2002
Reviewer:
G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
Mahatma Gandhi said that we must be the
change we wish to see in the world (p. 1). This is also the premise of
THE BETTER WORLD HANDBOOK, which demonstrates that you don't have to be
a Ghandhi, Mother Teresa, Cesar Chavez, or Martin Luther King, Jr. to
make a positive difference in the world. By turning our good intentions
into everyday actions, even ordinary people can make a profound impact
on our local and global communities.
The authors of this definitive,
291-page handbook are college instructors and Ph.D candidates at the
University of Colorado, Boulder. (Okay, so some Boulder residents
believe that the rest of the planet rotates around our city. But when
it comes to serious issues of land development, diversity, endangered
species, public smoking, chain stores and restaurants, shopping malls,
alternatives to SUVs, and recycling, there is indeed much for the rest
of our country to learn from this very special community.) THE BETTER
WORLD HANDBOOK first identifies the problems facing our planet. For
instance, while "we have become a nation of sleepwalkers" (p. 1), the
wealthiest 20 percent of the world's population earns 30 times as much
income as the poorest 20 percent (p. 13). The average American CEO
makes 475 times as much as the average worker (p. 13). The richest 1
percent of Americans own almost as much wealth as the bottom 95 percent
of the U. S. population (p. 14). The average American consumes as much
energy as two Germans, six Mexicans, twelve Chinese, twenty-nine
Indians, or 117 Bangladeshi (p. 25). Air pollution kills nearly 70,000
Americans every year (p. 25). Development results in the extinction of
137 species each day, while the world's population grows by 212,000
people a day (p. 26). Our children watch 20,000 to 40,000 commercials
on television every year (p. 42).
After confronting these
alarming statistics, in an easy-to-read format, the HANDBOOK then
reveals how we can make the world a better place through our actions
involving money, shopping, food, friends and family, community, work,
transportation, and travel. For example, the authors encourage us to
vote, invest in socially responsible companies, take a daily walk, get
to know our neighbors, ride a bike to work or take the bus, work less,
shop locally and buy less stuff, eat organic foods and less meat, watch
less tv, volunteer, recycle, and appreciate others. They even go so far
as to offer suggestions for our personal transformation, cultivating
emotional and spiritual well-being, maintaining physical health, and
taking time for reflection in our lives. Offering us words to live by,
THE BETTER WORLD HANDBOOK is sure to become a trusted resource for
anyone hoping to change the world through the power of one.
