Good News for a Change: Hope for a Troubled Parent

by David Suzuki, Holly Dressel, Suzuki; Dressel Holly

Book Overview

The litany of environmental bad news -- rapid extinction of species, pollution, depleted food sources -- can be overwhelming, but there's hope too. In this thoughtful look at what's happening behind... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0773733078
• ISBN13: 9780773733077
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Stoddart
• Length: 398 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Important Uplifting Facts about what is being done to HELP

This book will give you hope. It also will uncover the devastation on our planet, BUT with solutions that many are taking to change things for the better. You will learn many interesting and uplifting facts and enjoy being better informed in a way that gives a ray of hope. David Suzuki has been a favorite environmenalist in Canada for years due in part to his marvelous TV program " The Nature of Things." Truly a person who is working with all his heart to improve the Planet he loves so dearly. It is a great book to give as a gift as well to those who would like some positive spin on environmental issues, while being informed on individulas that are making a difference for us all.

Good News for a Change- An Attitude of Hope

David Suzuki and Holly Dressel's inspirational book, Good News for a Change- How Everyday People are Helping the Planet, is a compilation of stories that both inspire and inform the public of all the positive contributions both individuals and groups alike are capable of offering to their world. With concrete examples of specific instances of charitable environmental and social assistance, Suzuki and Dressel's book leaves the reader with a positive and hopeful outlook on the future, not the usually doom and gloom characteristic of zero hope for the future that oftentimes colors most environmental texts. I liked this book a lot, because it wasn't a romanticized version of the truth. Suzuki and Dressel are honest in their reasoning and allow the reader to make his or her own decisions by providing both sides of every argument. This ability adds a greater element of credibility to the text because the reader is offered pros and cons. A good example of this is the following passage, "This and other mom-and-apple-pie speeches have yet to be bolstered with real action, largely because of the way corporations are set up, and because of the internal, mainstream-economics mindset of organizations like the World Bank and the WTO...But the fact that they do address the issues of environmental and social responsibility is proof that our global society is beginning to come to a clearer agreement on shared values- and that the new shared values are sufficiently powerful that even those profiting the most from the status quo feel obligated to acknowledge them publicly" (292). Prompting the reader to recognize the unfortunate truth that oftentimes good ideas are just that, ideas that are never carried through into actions, Suzuki and Dressel contrast this truth with their stories of inspiration and hope. This duality of the text makes it a very interesting and unique read. I especially enjoyed reading this book for the last book club, and towards the end of the course, because it truly showed that solutions are everywhere, and change is possible. By displaying a diverse range of examples from the smallest community issues to the concerns of multi-million dollar corporations, Good News for a Change- How Everyday People are Helping the Planet, was able to show that inspiration can be found anyplace. Suzuki and Dressel offer not only stories of hope and change in their book, but also provide real solutions, making this text both versatile and enjoyable.

Provides a positive focus and a blueprint for survival

Good News For A Change isn't just another account of disasters and future problems; instead it provides a positive focus and a blueprint for survival by gathering the stories of everyday people and how they are helping to change their world. The solutions to saving the planet exist, the authors maintain: they just have to be identified and implemented on a range of levels. An intriguing survey results.

Making Money Like the Bee

In their first book together, "From Naked Ape to Super-Species," Suzuki and Dressel undermined all our traditional notions of progress. With hard facts, they critiqued humankind as a wreckless, out-of-control species carelessly teetering on self-(and btw, homo sapiens is the only species that kills itself) and eco-destruction. What they left out of the book, however, was a roadmap for the future. Well, here it is. "Good News" is the other half of the story - a story of how creative, ecologically-minded business is sprouting up all over the world. In this global tour de force, Suzuki and Dressel offer multiple signs of hope for the future, and uncover evidence of a veritble grass-roots ecological revolution. With this book, you will see how businesses (both big and small) can "make money like the bee." An example: Meet Judy Wicks, "a woman of about 50 with a mane of snow-white hair," owner and proprietor of White Dog Cafe and business revolutionary extraordinaire. White dog is a full-service restaurant in the university disctrict of Philadelphia that serves cruelty-free meats, organically raised produce, non-GE soy and corn oils, as well as Table Talks on the War on Drugs, the court decision to electe Bush, the GE debate, and much much more. White Dog Cafe is a $5 million grossing business cooperative (so you can bet the food is delicious), where the head cook makes the same salary as Wicks: about $65,000 a year, "a fine and comfortable living for a single parent with two college-age children." Instead of investing her extram money in expansion, Wicks choses to invest in her employees, her community, and the natural environment. White Dog runs mentoring programs, inner-city tours, holds community dances, buys local produce, offers jobs to struggling youth, provides scholarships for workers, and is active with many other local organizations, like the Chef's Collaborative 2000. In accord with her mission statement, Wicks runs her business for the benefit of her customers, the community, her employees, and the natural world. As she says, "small businesses are one of the plant's most wonderful means of *serving* and doing good." White Dog Cafe is but one of many of positive examples of people are beginning to live together harmoniously with themselves and the environment. This book will introduce to revolutionary loggers, farmers, and other local peoples from all over the planet who show "again and again that the people in the best position to know what will really work over the long term in a given area are locals committed to that area" - that is, the same people who have a long-term interest in making sure that the area remains healthy. This book is a must read for anybody, from parents to revolutionaries. Whether you are deep ecologist or quid chewing lumberjack, you will find a niche in this book. There is something for everyone. Personally, I found it to be an indispensible resource, filled with inspiring new ideas that I hope to incorp

A breath of fresh air and enthusiastically recommended

Good News For A Change: Hope For A Troubled Planet by David Suzuki (Sustainable Development Research Institute, University of British Columbia) with the assistance of professional writer Holly Dressel is a compelling and informative environmental treatise that uniquely focuses on the positive improvements of humanity's interaction with global ecosystems, ranging from small farms and ranches to multinational agribusiness corporations. As modern technology improves, more ways are being discovered to save soil, right social wrongs, and preserve more of the planet. Encouraging the reader to never give up hope for the fight to protect our planet, Good News For A Change is a breath of fresh air and enthusiastically recommended reading for ecological activists, students of environmental studies, and governmental policy makers.