Customer Reviews

You Are Here: Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thomas Kostigen's book made me see how remarkably inter-connected we are, at home and across the globe.
I was particularly struck by how, as a nation, we largely and collectively presume that because we dutifully divide our garbage into color-coded receptacles, our consumption responsibilities are complete. Oh, how wrong we are! And while Kostigen gives us a lot to feel shameful for he ultimately speaks with optimism. And best of all he writes with humor and hope. A highly relatable, useful and thought provoking read.

Kostigen sets out to write a book that informs us how connected we are to each other and how our actions affect people and environments we don't see. I am someone who cares about the environment and have done some reading on the topic and thus this book provided nothing new. If you have not read anything on the topic then you may find this book informative--I found it redundant and simplistic. Here are some examples to justify the latter comment:

Page 174: "I'd swap a burger for a salad every once in a while. This is how water-saving actions here affect people, places, and things 'there.'" Elsewhere in the book he suggests maybe not flushing the toilet to conserve water (of course there are toilet water conservation kits that may be a better and aromatically preferred choice).

Page 199: "I can--we can--make a simple difference by investigating where our clothes come from and whether they are made sustainably. It isn't easy figuring it out." Then he goes on to talk about plastic. One thing I struggle with is if it isn't easy for someone who writes a book on the topic to figure it out, he is not being very helpful by telling people to investigate where our clothes come from.

He concludes on page 207: "We can just as easily change its [the Earth] course again--for the better. Embracing knowledge and creating awareness can reshape our lives and make the future more certain."

Maybe this is my main problem with the book; change is NOT going to be easy and fixing the problems we have created is not going to be as simple as having a salad once in a while or not flushing the toilet sometimes. It is going to take a change in the way we live, interact, and act "civilized."

Book should be required reading for middle school thru college. This is type of book that people like Oprah should lend their weight to in their personal clubs. If just 50% of the world's population read this book and followed some of the small suggestions for improvement, generations of people would benefit. I urge everyone to read this book - it is so interesting and presents facts easily understood - and change something in their life style to help save the habitable world.

Tom Kostigen does all the leg work as he takes us to the earth's most polluted, environmentally corrupt places to remind us of one beautiful truth: we are all connected by the earth. We are all affected by what we do to it.

He links my toothpaste to the gangster-run logging camps and palm oil industry of Borneo. He explores the world's dirtiest city, Linfen City, China and how it affects global climate change and investigates a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas! Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?!

He travels to these ugly places, deals with shady guides, guards and gatekeepers to open our eyes. He urges us to live simply and be conscious of what we use.

Green this, recycle that. It's everywhere now--in ads, on tv and in our stores. While it's awesome for people to be jumping on the green bandwagon, I hope that they bring more than just good intentions and "green-washed" minds.

WHY should we recycle? WHY should we change our lifestyle? This book provides some of the best answers to these WHYs with each chapter introducing readers to a place on our planet that suffers the consequences of people's choices. And these places are not limited to the U.S. or a particular country. These places range from Israel to the Great Lakes to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There are plenty of great books on HOW to live a greener lifestyle, but I absolutely recommend this book to those who want to know WHY these lifestyle changes are necessary.

I learned a lot of new things from this book. It was an easy and quick read. The author gives a good amount of information (not too heavy but still extremely detailed). I definitely recommend this book for young people (middle school & high school) because I think it's something they should be aware of. A great book for adults too. It's something worth discussing.

Interesting read. Not sure what to do with this information, but it is definitely persuasive. The world is coming to an end...haha just kidding... but really.

While this book does offer a lot in terms of information, the writing itself leaves much to be desired. The author's writing style is all over the place, jumping from topic to topic as if he jotted down ideas and the book headed straight to publication from there. After a few chapters I was fed up with trying to follow his train of thought. I would suggest reading about this topic from a different source.

Unlike the five people who gave this book five stars, I think the text leaves substantial room for improvement. Kostigen's writing style is choppy and inconsistent, and I found that it didn't really hold my interest, even though I think the subject matter is critically important. There are many books in print on subjects such as climate change, ocean health and ways to reduce your environmental impact. Unfortunately, I don't think this is one of the better ones.

A great book that really makes you think about your actions. Many interesting adventures that tie together to make a good point.

The book gives lots of problems that I was not aware of in a different view.