Urban Sustainability

A while ago, I mentioned our ever popular "Green Living" section, a relatively new, but important addition to Crazy Wisdom's subject base. From basic books on the various ways to conserve energy, to instruction manuals on building straw bale houses, the section offers a diverse array of titles reflecting on the most serious issue facing our planet. Most of these titles, while appealing to a wider audience, contain ideas and suggestions that are not always feasible to implement in a city. Which is why I'm excited to highlight a couple of great titles that deal specifically with sustainability for city dwellers.

The first, The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City, is a title in the Process Self-Reliance Series ($16.95), a series dedicated to educating urbanites on making the right choices to live sustainably and self-sufficiently. Written by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen, a couple who live in the heart of Los Angeles, The Urban Homestead is full of city-friendly/earth-friendly projects. Key focuses include gardening, home economics, and water and power conservation. Also included in this handy, attractive book are plenty of bright green illustrations and tips to make projects both easy and fun.

Toolbox for Sustainable City Living, by Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew, is another great resource (South End Press, $16). The authors are two of the founders of the Rhizome Collective, a group in Austin, Texas, who transformed an abandoned warehouse into a sustainability training center. Full of intricately drawn illustrations and photographs, this book may not offer as many projects as The Urban Homestead, but the projects included are much more elaborate and detailed. Chapters are broken down as follows: Food, Water, Waste, Energy, Bioremediation.

Be sure to come in and check out these two invaluable guides to helping the planet, right here in the city!

Upcoming Author Events

I'm very happy to announce 2 exciting author events that are happening this month! The first event, which is Sunday, September 21st at 1pm, is with Robert Schwartz, author of Courageous Souls: Do We Plan Our Life Challenges Before Birth? (Whispering Winds Press, $16.95).
The book contains ten true stories of people who planned physical illness, having handicapped children, deafness, blindness, drug addiction, alcoholism, losing a loved one, and severe accidents. The information about their pre-birth plans was obtained by four gifted mediums and channels, including one who has the ability both to see and to hear the dialogue we have with one another before we’re born. The book presents the actual conversations people had with their future parents, children, spouses, friends, and other loved ones when they planned their lives together.

The other event will be on Sunday, September 29th at 2pm. Shaman and author Kenn Day will discuss his book, Dance of Stones: A Shamanic Road Trip. (Dhyanna, $17.95). Kenn will offer an introduction to his Post-Tribal Shamanism training along with descriptions and readings from his book, followed by a question and answer session and book signing.

Both events will take place in our beautiful tea room located on the second floor, overlooking Main Street. Both events are open to the public and require no pre-registration. But you may want to arrive early to ensure a good seat!