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

by Thomas M. Kostigen (Author)
Key Phrases: garbage patch, oxygen factory, virtual water, United States, Fresh Kills, Pacific Ocean (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In a travelogue heavy on statistics but disappointingly pale in atmospherics, Kostigan (The Green Book) invites readers to accompany him on a trip into the thick of the most environmentally tenuous places on the planet to observe the havoc caused by human behavior, from Jerusalem, where acid rain and global warming–induced salt weathering are wearing down the Western Wall, to the sewage-logged Great Lakes. He visits the future: the orgy of color, mayhem, flash modernity, and squalor of Mumbai; Linfen City, China, the dirtiest place on Earth; and the Eastern Garbage Patch, a mid-Pacific lethal marine habitat of trash twice the size of Texas. Post-trip, Kostigen exclaims, Now I see people in my actions.... I feel differently about what I do and what it does to the planet. Unfortunately, his feeble powers of description convey little feeling to the reader (the Amazon jungle is definitely a bit of Survivor out here) and his naïvely optimistic claim that We have changed the Earth's natural course of development and we can just as easily change its course again—for the better is less than convincing. (Oct.)
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From Booklist
Kostigen travels the globe to connect the dots between countries, cultures and personal choices. He opens in Jerusalem, pointing out the damage done by excess greenhouse gases to icons like the Western Wall. From there he visits Mumbai, which is threatened by rising water levels, and Linfen City, China, whose air pollution, a quarter of it caused by manufacturing goods for the U.S., negatively impacts California. Relentless demand for palm oil is destroying Borneo forests, and excess trash is forming floating garbage patches in the Pacific. Kostigen bears witness to the adverse impact of wasteful environmental practices, then writes riveting passages about how our consuming lifestyles are causing monumental catastrophes. We suffer, he writes, “from a sense of immunity.” Certainly we need crash courses like this one, from knowledgeable authors who educate instead of preach. A Paul Theroux type with an environmental agenda, Kostigen doesn’t tell us to save the world; he shows us the price already being paid for our failure to do so. --Colleen Mondor

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061580368
• ISBN-13: 978-0061580369
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #274,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #13 in	Books > Nonfiction > Urban Planning & Development > Environmental Planning
  #74 in	Books > Science > Earth Sciences > Climatology > Climate Changes
  #92 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Civil > Environmental > Pollution > Air

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading, October 30, 2008

By	Kaci - See all my reviews

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Think globally. Act locally., October 28, 2008

By	Thomas A. Carver "well red" (Fairway, KS USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A read worth discussion, December 1, 2008

By	Rachel N. Diamond "College student" (Westminster, MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.