We’d like to share with you a few of our favourite environmental books, movies, and information sources from China and abroad. We start with links where you can watch the most mind-blowing environmental films and continue with books and web resources.

Movies

There are now some incredible movies that we can recommend to anyone wanting to learn a lot about the environment in a very short time. All but the first are available in DVD stores, but you can preview them in China by searching for the titles on Youku or Tudou.

The Story of Stuff From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Home is a powerful and visually stunning story of our home planet. Combining aerial footage from 54 countries around the world, this movie tells the tale of earth like you’ve never experienced it before. Trust us, you’re in for a treat with this one, and it also packs a very strong message.

An Inconvenient Truth is perhaps the most important environmental film of all time. No other source has educated the public on the facts of global warming as former US vice president Al Gore did in this film. If you haven’t seen it yet, we urge you to take out your calendar now, and mark off 2 hours this week to watch this.

The Age of Stupid is a story of the present told by a historian from a devastated future. It shows the personal stories of people whose lives have been impacted by our unsustainable system: a Nigerian woman whose community has been wrecked by oil extraction, a family in the UK determined to bring wind power to their community, Iraqi children orphaned in the Iraq War and many others. In telling these stories, it strings together a narrative of the the events leading up to devastated future from when the stories are shown. It takes a very personal look at the big issues and provides not only awareness but also point of intervention.

DIRT! the Movie is simply a movie about dirt. The real change lies in our notion of what dirt is. The movie teaches us: “When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked.” But more than the film and the lessons that it teaches, DIRT the Movie is a call to action.

The 11th Hour is sometimes considered to be the sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. Narrated by actor Leonardo Dicaprio, this movie gathers some of the top environmental scientists and activists to share their views on our current environmental crisis and give us a glimpse of what solutions are possible.

State of the Planet Series is naturalist David Attenborough’s personal study of the impact that humans are having on the natural world and the future of life on Earth. The 3-part series investigates the main causes of damage to the planet and how we can help to prevent them.

Books

Introductory

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things – William McDonough and Michael Braungart – Cradle to Cradle presents a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete.

It’s all Connected – Benjamin Wheeler, Gilda Wheeler and Wendy Church – This the ultimate resource for teaching about global issues and sustainability in our ever changing and complex world. It can be used as a stand-alone text for a global issues course or as a supplemental text for other classes, including social studies, science, environmental studies, and ESL. It’s All Connected provides a thorough overview of global issues, as well as in-depth explorations of particular topics, debates, and solutions.

Earth Matters – David de Rothschild – This attention-grabbing, easy-to-read book is full of spectacular color photographs, web resources, and easy ways to start making a difference today. David de Rothschild also introduces his plan to sail across the Pacific on a boat made from 12,000 plastic bottles – a story used as inspiration for our university initiative, MaGiC (Made GREEN in China).

Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis – Al Gore – Nobel Peace Prizer Winner Al Gore matches clear explanations and commentary with superb diagrams and striking photographs from around the world to document the dramatic impacts of human industry and climate change. The former US VP turns away from blaming and pointing fingers, instead focusing on the clean energy solutions available to us.

Advanced

Natural Capitalism – Paul Hawken – In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists (Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins) show how leading-edge companies are practicing “a new type of industrialism” that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs.

Mid Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise – Ray Anderson – The founder of Interface, Inc., recounts his awakening to the importance of environmental issues and outlines the steps his petroleum-dependent carpet company is taking in its quest to become a sustainable enterprise — one that will never have to take another drop of oil from the Earth.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future – Bill Mckibben – Challenging the prevailing wisdom that the goal of economies should be unlimited growth, McKibben argues that the world doesn’t have enough natural resources to sustain endless economic expansion. Drawing the phrase “deep economy” from the expression “deep ecology,” a term environmentalists use to signify new ways of thinking about the environment, he explores and suggests new economic ideas.

The Sustainability Advantage – Bob Willard – In an era when corporations are under increasing pressure to be stewards of the environment and society as they pursue profits, business expert Bob Willard provides a practical benefit-by-benefit guide for assessing all three areas as a win/win/win proposition. Written in the pragmatic language of business leaders, this book is the first to present compelling and quantitative bottom-line evidence of the profitability of social and environmental initiatives.

The Natural Step Story – Karl-Henrik Robèrt – Few organizations have been as influential as The Natural Step in empowering and inspiring people to design a more sustainable world. In The Natural Step Story, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt describes first hand the evolution of the Natural Step framework comprised of four system conditions essential for the maintenance of life on Earth, together with a robust methodology for how to apply them strategically.

Hot Flat and Crowded – Thomas Friedman – The author takes a look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked–how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time. Although the book focuses on America, the solutions he presents are applicable around the world.

Web Resources

China

China Dialogue A fully bilingual site (including translation of comments into Chinese/English), China Dialogue provides an excellent platform for open discussion between China and the rest of the world on environmental topics. Their articles on China’s environment are some of the best-researched and most well informed you’ll find anywhere.

China Environmental Law A blog covering the latest on environmental issues and policy in China. The author, Charlie McElwee, is an environmental lawyer and clearly knows his stuff. A good guide for separating fact from fiction.

The Green Leap Forward Another environmental policy blog, a great place to get your China environmental news hot off the press with some solid environmental commentary.

Cleaner Greener China We don’t know where Richard Brubaker finds time to run Hands on Shanghai and his 15-odd China blogs, but he does. This is his environmental blog and it’s a good one.

Shanghai Scrap is written by Adam Minter, who works as a journalist for recycling publications and manages to dig up some very random and sometimes jawdropping information. Not always environment-related but always worth reading.

International

Worldchanging is a nonprofit media organization headquartered in Seattle, WA, that comprises a global network of independent journalists, designers and thinkers. This is one of our all-time favorite environmental websites, covering the most exciting news in new environmental technologies, designs and concepts.

Greenbiz is the leading resource on how to align environmental responsibility with business success.

Inhabitat is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

TreeHugger is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream.

Youthxchange is designed to help trainers and individuals to understand and communicate on sustainable lifestyles.