Download or read book Buying Into the Environment written by Christoph Erdmenger and published by Greenleaf Publishing (UK). This book was released on 2003-03-01 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Green purchasing – or eco-procurement – by local and central governments has long been recommended in documents such as Agenda 21 to be a key – although sometimes supplemental-ingredient in the achievement of more environmentally responsible economies. Certainly, sustainable consumption cannot be considered a realistic goal without the full engagement of public authorities. Many initiatives have been undertaken in OECD countries, most successfully in Japan and Denmark where green public purchasing has been proven to be workable and highly effective, while, in other countries, city municipalities have successfully pioneered the development of sophisticated public environmental purchasing policies. However, for the vast majority of countries and their major cities, the potential for green public purchasing remains woefully untapped. A key question is what would be the environmental impact if the majority of cities in Europe replicated the success stories of those leading the way? Public procurement has, after all, been an important tool in achieving other public policy goals such as defence. Why should it not be used as a tool to defend the environment? The RELIEF project, funded by the EU's "City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage" programme was established to answer exactly this question: to define the true potential of eco-procurement and to develop a strategy for change in Europe. Buying into the Environment is the result of the research segment of the project which has now been completed. A further stage-to design a Europe-wide action plan will follow in 2004. The book, organised under the auspices of the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) analyses national approaches already tested, and provides in-depth surveys on the pioneer cities such as Hamburg, Malmö and Zürich. Serious attention is given to city-specific hurdles which have been faced and overcome. The most relevant product groups for eco-procurement such as construction, transport, energy, information technology, furniture and food. are also analysed. Uniquely, the book also provides calculations on the environmental benefits potentially achievable through greener purchasing. Tools were developed and tested by the RELIEF researchers on the environmental assessment of products, public buying power and on evaluations of market conditions in order to provide scenarios for the application of green purchasing at a European level. The conclusions are that there is huge potential for both local and central governments to adapt their behaviour patterns and purchase in a more environmentally responsible way. For example, 18% of the EU's Kyoto Protocol commitment could be achieved if major cities in the European Union purchased green electricity. The results are complemented by new ideas on how best to foster innovation in public contractual arrangements-to encourage the development of products such as super-energy-efficient computers and fuel cells-and how the legal system may require adaptation and reform. The results presented in this book will provide an indispensable resource for municipalities, governments, researchers and business practitioners looking for answers on how public procurement can have a fundamental and manifestly positive effect on the environment.

Download or read book Buying for the Future written by Kevin Lyons and published by Pluto Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Supported by WWF this vital new book demonstrates how to make environmentally sound purchasing decisions. Drawing on his experience as the head of purchasing for a major American university, Kevin Lyons offers a practical guide to responsible purchasing. Working for a university with a population of 60,000 Lyons faced the challenge of how to reduce damage to the environment while still meeting the needs of this community.Lyons covers the key areas including:• purchasing policy design and implementation strategies • how to write environmentally-sensitive contracts• the relevance of environmental laws • understanding the competitive bidding process• enforcing the environmental responsibilities of suppliers • developing corporate leadership strategies• putting contractual enhancements into action• developing national and international environmental partnerships

Download or read book Buying and Selling the Environment written by Gabriela Scheufele and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-07-10 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buying and Selling the Environment: How to Design and Implement a PES Scheme provides a guide to the design and implementation of PES schemes that ‘mimic’ market processes, including three key elements: the estimation of the demand for environmental services, an understanding of the costs of supply, and how to predict the productivity of actions taken. This book will act as an instructional manual for practitioners, policymakers and their advisors in government and non-government organizations. Users will find a step-by-step demonstration based on firsthand experiences gained through a PES application at two case study sites. Finally, the book presents research in applied economics and bio-physical modeling. Presents original and novel research in PES scheme design and implementation Provides an instructional manual for practitioners, policymakers and their advisors Includes case study that is based on the practical application of rigorous concepts

Download or read book Buying into the Environment written by Christoph Erdmenger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Green purchasing - or eco-procurement - by local and central governments has long been recommended in documents such as Agenda 21 to be a key - although sometimes supplemental-ingredient in the achievement of more environmentally responsible economies. Certainly, sustainable consumption cannot be considered a realistic goal without the full engagement of public authorities. Many initiatives have been undertaken in OECD countries, most successfully in Japan and Denmark where green public purchasing has been proven to be workable and highly effective, while, in other countries, city municipalities have successfully pioneered the development of sophisticated public environmental purchasing policies. However, for the vast majority of countries and their major cities, the potential for green public purchasing remains woefully untapped. A key question is what would be the environmental impact if the majority of cities in Europe replicated the success stories of those leading the way? Public procurement has, after all, been an important tool in achieving other public policy goals such as defence. Why should it not be used as a tool to defend the environment? The RELIEF project, funded by the EU's "City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage" programme was established to answer exactly this question: to define the true potential of eco-procurement and to develop a strategy for change in Europe. Buying into the Environment is the result of the research segment of the project which has now been completed. A further stage-to design a Europe-wide action plan will follow in 2004. The book, organised under the auspices of the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) analyses national approaches already tested, and provides in-depth surveys on the pioneer cities such as Hamburg, Malmo and Zurich. Serious attention is given to city-specific hurdles which have been faced and overcome. The most relevant product groups for eco-procurement such as construction, transport, energy, information technology, furniture and food. are also analysed. Uniquely, the book also provides calculations on the environmental benefits potentially achievable through greener purchasing. Tools were developed and tested by the RELIEF researchers on the environmental assessment of products, public buying power and on evaluations of market conditions in order to provide scenarios for the application of green purchasing at a European level. The conclusions are that there is huge potential for both local and central governments to adapt their behaviour patterns and purchase in a more environmentally responsible way. For example, 18% of the EU's Kyoto Protocol commitment could be achieved if major cities in the European Union purchased green electricity. The results are complemented by new ideas on how best to foster innovation in public contractual arrangements-to encourage the development of products such as super-energy-efficient computers and fuel cells-and how the legal system may require adaptation and reform. The results presented in this book will provide an indispensable resource for municipalities, governments, researchers and business practitioners looking for answers on how public procurement can have a fundamental and manifestly positive effect on the environment.

Download or read book Green to Gold written by Daniel C. Esty and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-01-09 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Publishers Weekly review: "Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake-up-call du jour-environmental responsibility-from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long-term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward-thinking, green-friendly (or at least green-acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company's bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as Wal-Mart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys-watchdogs and industry associations, mostly-working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take-back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought. "

Download or read book World on the Edge written by Lester Brown and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-06-25 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this urgent time, World on the Edge calls out the pivotal environmental issues and how to solve them now. We are in a race between political and natural tipping points. Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet and avoid catastrophic sea level rise? Can we raise water productivity fast enough to halt the depletion of aquifers and avoid water-driven food shortages? Can we cope with peak water and peak oil at the same time? These are some of the issues Lester R. Brown skilfully distils in World on the Edge. Bringing decades of research and analysis into play, he provides the responses needed to reclaim our future.

Download or read book Society and the Environment written by Michael Carolan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Society and the Environment examines today's environmental controversies within a socio-organizational context. After outlining the contours of 'pragmatic environmentalism', Carolan considers the pressures that exist where ecology and society collide, such as population growth and its associated increased demands for food and energy. He also investigates how various ecological issues, such as climate change, are affecting our very own personal health. Finally, he drills into the social/structural dynamics (including political economy and the international legal system) that create ongoing momentum for environmental ills. This interdisciplinary text features a three-part structure in each chapter that covers 'fast facts' about the issue at hand, examines its wide-ranging implications, and offers balanced consideration of possible real-world solutions. New to this edition are 'Movement Matters' boxes, which showcase grassroots movements that have affected legislation. Discussion questions and key terms enhance the text's usefulness, making Society and the Environment the perfect learning tool for courses on environmental sociology.

Download or read book The Better World Shopping Guide 6th Edition written by Ellis Jones and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2017-10-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small enough to fit in your pocket, this practical little book will help you change the world as you shop! While we strive to make our vote count every four years, few of us realize that our most immediate power to shape the world is squandered on a daily basis. Every dollar we spend has the potential to create social and environmental change. In fact, it already has. The world that exists today is in large part a result of our purchasing decisions. The Better World Shopping Guide rates hundreds of products and services from A to F, so you can quickly tell the "good guys" from the "bad guys" and ensure your money is not supporting corporations that make decisions based solely on the bottom line. Drawing on decades of meticulous research, this completely revised and updated sixth edition will help you find out who actually "walks the talk" when it comes to: Environmental sustainability Human rights Community involvement Animal protection Social justice Small enough to fit in a back pocket or handbag and organized in a user-friendly format, The Better World Shopping Guide helps you reward companies who are doing good, penalize those involved in destructive activities, and change the world as you shop! Ellis Jones, PhD is the award-winning, bestselling author of five previous editions of The Better World Shopping Guide , and co-author of The Better World Handbook . A scholar of social responsibility, global citizenship, and everyday activism, he has dedicated himself to uncovering practical ways for people to make a difference in the world. He currently teaches at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA.

Download or read book Investing in the Era of Climate Change written by Bruce Usher and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-28 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A climate catastrophe can be avoided, but only with a rapid and sustained investment in companies and projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To the surprise of many, this has already begun. Investors are abandoning fossil-fuel companies and other polluting industries and financing businesses offering climate solutions. Rising risks, evolving social norms, government policies, and technological innovation are all accelerating this movement of capital. Bruce Usher offers an indispensable guide to the risks and opportunities for investors as the world faces climate change. He explores the role that investment plays in reducing emissions to net zero by 2050, detailing how to finance the winners and avoid the losers in a transforming global economy. Usher argues that careful examination of climate solutions will offer investors a new and necessary lens on the future for their own financial benefit and for the greater good. Companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions will create great wealth, and, more importantly, they will provide a lifeline for humanity. Grounded in academic and industry research, Usher’s insights bring clarity to a complex and controversial topic while illuminating the people behind the numbers. This book sets out a practical and actionable plan for investors that will alter the course of climate change.

Download or read book The Environment and You written by Norm Christensen and published by Pearson. This book was released on 2015-01-14 with total page 705 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Note: You are purchasing a standalone product; MasteringEnvironmentalScience does not come packaged with this content. If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MasteringEnvironmentalScience search for ISBN-10: 0321957768/ISBN-13: 9780321957764. That package includes ISBN-10: 0134011058/ISBN-13: 9780134011059 and ISBN-10: 032195789X/ISBN-13: 9780321957894. MasteringEnvironmentalScience should only be purchased when required by an instructor. xxxxxxxxxxx For Introductory Environmental Science Courses (Non-Majors). Inspiring Students to Explore New Frontiers and Local Solutions The Environment and You, Second Edition, by Norm Christensen and new co-author Lissa Leege, gives today’s generation of students reason to be hopeful about environmental challenges by emphasizing the role that science plays in environmental problem solving and solutions. The text offers a solid foundation in the science and demonstrates the role that science can play in influencing personal, community and global environmental issues. The new edition has added New Frontiers discussions that emphasize the interaction between new scientific discoveries, ethics, and policy; andWhere You Live activities that invite students to use primary data sources to explore environmental principles and issues in their local community. A new chapter organization also improves connections between chapters and integrates key concepts with relevant environmental issues.

Download or read book Heroes of the Environment written by Harriet Rohmer and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This inspiring book presents the true stories of 12 people from across North America who have done great things for the environment. Heroes include a teenage girl who figured out how to remove an industrial pollutant from the Ohio River, a Mexican superstar wrestler who works to protect turtles and whales, and a teenage boy from Rhode Island who helped his community and his state develop effective e-waste recycling programs. Plenty of photographs and illustrations bring each compelling story vividly to life.

Download or read book Environment and Society written by Paul Robbins and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2022-03-17 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the conceptual tools used to explore real-world environmental problems Environment and Society: A Critical Introduction, Third Edition demonstrates how theoretical approaches such as environmental ethics, political economy, and social construction work as conceptual tools to identify and clarify contemporary environmental issues. Assuming no background knowledge in the subject, this reader-friendly textbook uses clear language and engaging examples to first describe nine key conceptual tools, and then apply them to a variety of familiar objects—from bottled water and French fries to trees, wolves, and carbon dioxide. Throughout the text, highly accessible chapters provide insight into the relationship between the environment and present-day society. Divided into two parts, the text begins by explaining major theoretical approaches for interpreting the environment-society relationship and discussing different perspectives about environmental problems. Part II examines a series of objects, each viewed through a sample of the theoretical tools from Part I, helping readers think critically about critical environmental topics such as deforestation, climate change, the global water supply, and hazardous e-waste. This fully revised third edition stresses a wider range of competing ways of thinking about environmental issues and features additional cases studies, up-to-date conceptual understandings, and new chapters in Part I on racializd environments and feminist approaches. Environment and Society: A Critical Introduction, Third Edition: Covers theoretical lenses such as commodities, environmental ethics, and risks and hazards, and applies them to touchstone environment-society objects like wolves, tuna, trees, and carbon dioxide Uses a conversational narrative to explain key historical events, topical issues and policies, and scientific concepts Features substantial revisions and updates, including new chapters on feminism and race, and improved maps and illustrations Includes a wealth of in-book and online resources, including exercises and boxed discussions, chapter summaries, review questions, references, suggested readings, an online test bank, and internet links Provides additional instructor support such as suggested teaching models, full-color PowerPoint slides, and supplementary teaching material Retaining the innovative approach of its predecessors, Environment and Society: A Critical Introduction, Third Edition remains the ideal textbook for courses in environmental issues, environmental science, and nature and society theory.

Download or read book Markets and the Environment Second Edition written by Nathaniel O. Keohane and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A clear grasp of economics is essential to understanding why environmental problems arise and how we can address them. ... Now thoroughly revised with updated information on current environmental policy and real-world examples of market-based instruments .... The authors provide a concise yet thorough introduction to the economic theory of environmental policy and natural resource management. They begin with an overview of environmental economics before exploring topics including cost-benefit analysis, market failures and successes, and economic growth and sustainability. Readers of the first edition will notice new analysis of cost estimation as well as specific market instruments, including municipal water pricing and waste disposal. Particular attention is paid to behavioral economics and cap-and-trade programs for carbon."--Publisher's web site.

Download or read book The Perception of the Environment written by Tim Ingold and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this work Tim Ingold offers a persuasive new approach to understanding how human beings perceive their surroundings. He argues that what we are used to calling cultural variation consists, in the first place, of variations in skill. Neither innate nor acquired, skills are grown, incorporated into the human organism through practice and training in an environment. They are thus as much biological as cultural. To account for the generation of skills we have therefore to understand the dynamics of development. And this in turn calls for an ecological approach that situates practitioners in the context of an active engagement with the constituents of their surroundings. The twenty-three essays comprising this book focus in turn on the procurement of livelihood, on what it means to ‘dwell’, and on the nature of skill, weaving together approaches from social anthropology, ecological psychology, developmental biology and phenomenology in a way that has never been attempted before. The book is set to revolutionise the way we think about what is ‘biological’ and ‘cultural’ in humans, about evolution and history, and indeed about what it means for human beings – at once organisms and persons – to inhabit an environment. The Perception of the Environment will be essential reading not only for anthropologists but also for biologists, psychologists, archaeologists, geographers and philosophers. This edition includes a new Preface by the author.

Download or read book Inconspicuous Consumption written by Tatiana Schlossberg and published by Balance. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *First Place Winner of the Society of Environmental Journalists' Rachel Carson Environment Book Award* "If you're looking for something to cling to in what often feels like a hopeless conversation, Schlossberg's darkly humorous, knowledge-is-power, eyes-wide-open approach may be just the thing."--Vogue From a former New York Times science writer, this urgent call to action will empower you to stand up to climate change and environmental pollution by making simple but impactful everyday choices. With urgency and wit, Tatiana Schlossberg explains that far from being only a distant problem of the natural world created by the fossil fuel industry, climate change is all around us, all the time, lurking everywhere in our convenience-driven society, all without our realizing it. By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps readers better understand why climate change is such a complicated issue, and how it connects all of us: How streaming a movie on Netflix in New York burns coal in Virginia; how eating a hamburger in California might contribute to pollution in the Gulf of Mexico; how buying an inexpensive cashmere sweater in Chicago expands the Mongolian desert; how destroying forests from North Carolina is necessary to generate electricity in England. Cataloging the complexities and frustrations of our carbon-intensive society with a dry sense of humor, Schlossberg makes the climate crisis and its solutions interesting and relevant to everyone who cares, even a little, about the planet. She empowers readers to think about their stuff and the environment in a new way, helping them make more informed choices when it comes to the future of our world. Most importantly, this is a book about the power we have as voters and consumers to make sure that the fight against climate change includes all of us and all of our stuff, not just industry groups and politicians. If we have any hope of solving the problem, we all have to do it together. "A compelling-and illuminating-look at how our daily habits impact the environment."--Vanity Fair "Shows how even the smallest decisions can have profound environmental consequences."--The New York Times

Download or read book Not Your Typical Book about the Environment written by Elin Kelsey and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written to allay children's fears about the environment, this book shows how smart technologies, innovative ideas, and a growing commitment to alternative lifestyles are exploding around the world, creating a future that will be brighter than we sometimes might think. Includes profiles of unexpected personalities.

Download or read book The Global Environment written by Norman J. Vig and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-04-14 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All serious environmental threats are now international in scope and more than one thousand international environmental agreements already exist. Yet the prospects for international cooperation leading to the management of impacts on the planet remain grim. The Global Environment meets the need for an authoritative assessment of the state of international environmental institutions, laws and policies at the end of the 20th century. The book examines disagreements over the meaning of sustainable development, problems inherent in implementing environmental policies and the conflict over the exclusion of developing countries from the Kyoto Protocol. It discusses the profound trade-offs that may be required, the role of international financial interests in promoting incompatible forms of development and analyses international environmental institutions, law and policy and sustainable development.