Every spring, my dad used to quip, “Spring has sprung, the grass is riz; I wonder where the birdies is?” Okay, it doesn’t make much sense, but he and I shared a love of bad poetry, so I thought I would post this couplet in homage to him.
Spring officially arrived on March 20th this year, and the birdies is singing their little hearts out in the bush outside my window. But April in Colorado can still feel like winter. It is overcast and chilly today, and it may snow tonight. In this climate, most trees don’t bud until May Day, and it doesn’t pay to plant flowers until after Memorial Day.
But at least we have the birdies, thanks in part to Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, arguably one of the most influential books on the environment ever written. Nearly forty years ago, in 1972, our government banned DDT for agricultural use, heeding Carson’s warning about its overenthusiastic employment having the potential to silence songbirds across the country.
I read Carson’s excellent book while living off the grid in Taos and found it to be both riveting and disturbing, especially for its commentary on the interplay between the industries that manufacture pesticides and the government agencies that regulate them. Silent Spring qualifies as one of my favorite books relating to the environment. Below are my top five. (If you want to recommend your favorites to me, I am always looking to add to the books piled on my nightstand waiting to be read.)
1. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson. This book requires you to concentrate when reading it, particularly when she describes the chemistry behind pesticides. But it is worth your attention if you want a complete, coherent picture of how chemical pesticide use came about in this country, what its negative implications are (and the science behind them), and how its use has spiraled out of control.
2. Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat. I read this when I was in high school and remember loving it. Never Cry Wolf tells Mowat’s story as a biologist sent to research how wolves in the Canadian Yukon were ostensibly killing all the caribou and, therefore, should be systematically hunted themselves. He finds, of course, that the wolves and caribou managed to balance their numbers just fine until humans came along and started overhunting the caribou and shooting the wolves for sport. When I tried to re-read this book recently, I was put off by the stiff language. But it doesn’t matter: the message is still sound. Besides, they made an excellent movie out of it.
3. Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey. This is another book I read in Taos. It is a classic environmental screed in which Abbey rails against roads in national parks (among other things) and tells a rollicking good tale to boot. I may read it again for some perspective now that we are once more debating the value of roadless wilderness.
4. The Not-So-Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live, by Sarah Susanka. Over ten years ago, Susanka adjured us to build our houses smaller but smarter. After a decade of largely ignoring her advice, our country is finally getting the message. However, remodeling rather than building new is still the most economically viable option for most people and the most environmentally friendly way to go. Hence, her latest book, Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live, which I am looking forward to reading.
5. Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. The original blueprint for using less stuff and reclaiming your life from the corporate treadmill, this book was my inspiration to de-clutter, de-stress, use less, and spend less.
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