Reviews
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken
anuwolf's review
5.0
This book is more uplifting than the regular doom and gloom climate change books because it provides solutions. It gives hope. We have knowledge, we have technology, and we just need the will to change our habits in order to make a difference, on an individual level and on a societal level. It is our collective responsibility to ensure the Earth is livable and has the same beauty for future generations.
lisalark's review
4.0
Excellent collection (with index! and pictures!) of steps we can take right now, today, to stop climate change. See the associated website if you'd like to check out some steps online. These range from big to small, expensive to cheap, and have ratings to that effect. Most things have a bunch of cobenefits too. We can do this.
tommlachance's review
3.0
3/5 as a reading experience. I do not think this book is really meant to be read front to back. The individual ideas comprising the book are almost all interesting in their own right and worthy of attention. Cows and trees? I'm in. Cows on the beach? As long as they're eating the jellyfish. More cows and more trees? Yes please thank you very much.
Kinda reminds me of the Pokemon guides you used to get at the Scholastic book fairs. You didn't read them front to back, you skim, you find the good Pokemon, and you come back to those obsessively every couple of days. You are not wasting your time with fucking kakuna when you could be looking at some gengar or reading about the size of a lapras shell. The main differences being that nothing in Drawdown is as bad as kakuna, and coming back to this book every once in a while is probably not a complete waste of one's time.
Kinda reminds me of the Pokemon guides you used to get at the Scholastic book fairs. You didn't read them front to back, you skim, you find the good Pokemon, and you come back to those obsessively every couple of days. You are not wasting your time with fucking kakuna when you could be looking at some gengar or reading about the size of a lapras shell. The main differences being that nothing in Drawdown is as bad as kakuna, and coming back to this book every once in a while is probably not a complete waste of one's time.
thejuliette's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
4.0
It's nice to see a book for a change that has a positive narrative on how to battle against climate change.
kisaly's review
5.0
This isn't really a "read cover-to-cover" type of book, but more of a "dip your toe in, learn a little, and find a some hope for the state of humanity" type of book. Lots of smart and exciting content.
sophiadh's review
5.0
I thought this book would be about things that individuals could do to reverse global warming, but it is far more than that. It examines 100 solutions, 80 that are already in use and can be expanded and 20 that are still in development. The solutions range from on and offshore wind turbines, to various kinds of farming that eliminate the use of pesticides and other chemicals, to the education and empowerment of women. Some of them are things that individuals can take action on, but many of them are solutions that need to be implemented on a larger scale. I found it thought provoking about the world I live in and the built in assumptions. The solution with the largest potential impact is refrigerant management – the chemicals in refrigerators and air conditioners. It’s not so much the use of these things that cause damage to the environment, but leaks and disposal. Air conditioning has become very common in parts of the world. It was a big thing on my list of desires when I was looking for an apartment. Now I think about Drawdown every time I turn it on. Same with using my car or going to the grocery store. Awareness is a big part of driving change and this book does that very well.
hazelisoffline's review
5.0
Haven't read it all because it's more of a reference book than a book-book but god what a fantastic idea. Not only do we have the answers, they're /in front of us/, a neatly ranked laundry list of viable solutions.
brinnet's review
5.0
This book contains one to two page summaries of solutions to climate change (from "eating a plant based diet" to "windmills" to "educating women") with carefully researched statistics and data. It also estimates how much CO2 would be removed from the atmosphere if these changes were adopted by a specific, reasonable number of people and ranks the solutions by the amount of CO2 they would remove. Among the statistics are the estimated costs of implementing the solutions.
I mean, wow, right?
The solutions go from the small scale, affordable (LED lights or reducing food waste) to the county-wide, super expensive (nuclear power), and with each discussion the feasibility and sometimes controversial nature, is discussed. Some solutions are meant to be transitional (landfill gasses) and some are for the long haul (solar).
I felt inspired, excited, and hopeful, which is a delightful change from so much other climate change information focused on fear and failure.
The end section of the book touches on new, upcoming technologies to look forward to, and concludes with a reminder that people take action when presented with possibility and opportunity. Humans thrive on community, collaboration, and cooperation, so if we work together to help one another, we will do our best.
Bottom line: Anyone with any environmental leanings should check this book out. It's great for skimming, and I would also want to try to incorporate it into my classroom somehow!
👩🏻🏫🌲🌏💡
I mean, wow, right?
The solutions go from the small scale, affordable (LED lights or reducing food waste) to the county-wide, super expensive (nuclear power), and with each discussion the feasibility and sometimes controversial nature, is discussed. Some solutions are meant to be transitional (landfill gasses) and some are for the long haul (solar).
I felt inspired, excited, and hopeful, which is a delightful change from so much other climate change information focused on fear and failure.
The end section of the book touches on new, upcoming technologies to look forward to, and concludes with a reminder that people take action when presented with possibility and opportunity. Humans thrive on community, collaboration, and cooperation, so if we work together to help one another, we will do our best.
Bottom line: Anyone with any environmental leanings should check this book out. It's great for skimming, and I would also want to try to incorporate it into my classroom somehow!
👩🏻🏫🌲🌏💡
portcitykt's review
4.0
I read this following the discussion of climate change at our library’s Great Discussion group. Listing the changes in order of how impactful they could be in reducing CO2 emissions was very impressive. I found the food and women sections especially worthwhile and issues were discussed that I never thought of such as clean cookstoves. Many experts and much research went into this insightful read.