Soccer moms drive Priuses. Sport utility vehicles are going hybrid. Families are using hemp shopping bags. More and more companies are developing “green” buildings. What’s more, the business consultants say going green is easy and profitable. In reality, though, many green-leaning businesses, families, and governments are still fiddling with the small stuff while the planet burns. Why? Because implementing sustainability is brutally difficult. In this witty and contrarian audio book, Auden Schendler, a sustainable business foot soldier with fifteen year’s worth of experience, gives us a peek under the hood of the green movement. The consultants, he argues, are clueless. Fluorescent bulbs might be better for our atmosphere, but what do you say to the boutique hotel owner who thinks they detract from his? And how do you convince a chain-smoking karate expert mechanic to put biodiesel in his vehicles? Scientists tell us we have to cut CO2 emissions 80 percent by mid-century. That’s going to take more than a recycling program. We’ll only solve our problems if we’re realistic about the challenge of climate change. In this eye-opening inspiring audio book, Schendler illuminates the path. This recording features a new introduction wriiten and read by the author. Also, a new Afterword based on an article written by the author for Orion Magazine has been added to this recordig. “The sobering conclusion that I have reached after traveling to Germany, the UK, Japan, and several U.S. states, is that even the greenest nations are not planning anything like what is needed—they say some green words, but their actions don’t match the scale of the problem. Getting Green Done defines strategies that will actually help. It’s an antidote and an alternative to ‘greenwash,’ the fraud perpetrated by governments and the fossil fuel industry that threatens our planet and our children.” -Dr. James E. Hansen, director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
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"Four stars for the honest attempt to strip "green business" of it's romanticism and talk about what it's really like in the trenches. While Schendler and I don't see eye to eye on everything, I'm sure we could enjoy an evening swapping war stories over beer. "
— Lori (4 out of 5 stars)
“A lot of people talk about climate change, but Auden Schendler combats it every day. He also makes the issue fun to read about. This is an amusing, anecdotal, as well as highly informative account of what can be done to help the environment in ways large and small.”
— Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs and Einstein“By challenging status quo thinking about sustainability and taking the point of view of the business executive and the worker in the field, Schendler offers a perspective that is refreshingly realistic and pragmatic.”
— Publishers Weekly“Frankly chronicling how an internationally renowed resort found both innovative and pragmatic ways to make recycling, biofuels, and other earth-friendly applications profitable, Schendler frames his environmentally sound arguments in practical terms every business executive, home owner, and government official can relate to.”
— Booklist“The sobering conclusion that I have reached, after traveling to Germany, the UK, Japan, and several US states, is that even the greenest nations are not planning anything like what is needed—they say some green words, but their actions don’t match the scale of the problem. Getting Green Done defines strategies that will actually help. It’s an antidote and an alternative to ‘greenwash,’ the fraud perpetrated by governments and the fossil fuel industry that threatens our planet and our children.”
— Dr. James E. Hansen, director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies" A fast read that only covers the basic issues surrounding sustainability. Most of it is anecdotal, which makes for an interesting Sunday read but not for someone looking for actual strategies or information. "
— Simchamonkey, 3/5/2010" Found it useful, if only to provide me with language with which to talk about commercial-scale environmental issues, including LEED certification and business-models that address environmental problems and sustainability meaningfully. Very intentionally apolitical, if not anti-political. "
— Erin, 11/19/2009" Excellent book. Captures the challenges/angst/uphill battle in implementing green programs - I empathize completely. Wish every Fortune 500 company who are implementing green programs would write something like this so we can all swap and share our stories. "
— Jennifer, 8/26/2009" I enjoyed this book because it gave both the good and the bad of greening a large company. It focused mainly on the author's experience but dabbled a little in what other companies are doing. "
— Asta, 6/21/2009Auden Schendler is
executive director of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company. His writing has been published in the Harvard Business Review, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Scientific American, and
Salon.com. He is the author
of Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from
the Frontlines of Sustainability and lives in Basalt, Colorado, with his
wife.
Walter Dixon is a broadcast media veteran of more than twenty years’ experience with a background in theater and performing arts and voice work for commercials. After a career in public radio, he is now a full-time narrator with more than fifty audiobooks recorded in genres ranging from religion and politics to children’s stories.