Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future

Offers 175 actions readers can take to create a more sustainable global environment. You care about the environment — the world you live in, and the world you are going to leave behind for future generations. Perhaps you already avoid wasting energy and buying more things than you need — reducing your Ecological Footprint. Yet there is a limit, given your family and circumstances. What can you do that will truly help heal our planet? Our Environmental Handprints is the first book to fully explore your "Handprint" — how you can create sustainability in your life and in the world. Your Handprint is limited only by your imagination. The good you do can be greater than your Footprint. It is time to put more energy into your Handprint! The smart beauty of the Handprint is that it can be self-perpetuating. Take planting a tree as an example. You put a seedling into the ground, water it, and then leave it alone. That tree will then grow itself and pull carbon dioxide from the air and create oxygen for us to breathe for as long as it lives. And, seeds from that tree create more trees. Here, Jon Biemer draws our attention to proven strategies across the spectrum. We make a difference with the choices we make about the clothing we buy, the investments we make, and even the food we choose to eat. Handprint Thinking applies to shelter (eco-remodeling and LEED buildings), motion (electric cars and living without a car), and earth-friendly energy. He provides 175 proven Handprint suggestions that will help readers align their interests, lifestyle, and motivations toward a more sustainable earth.

"This book is for all of us who think that we are doing all that we can to help heal the planet. It is a relief to learn that there are always more ways we can work together to take better care of the precious environment that sustains us all." Judith A. Ramaley, president emerita, Portland State University

"The Handprint — what a beautiful and elegant metaphor and example for respectfully and lovingly saving our planet from the ravages of climate change and environmental degradation!" Thom Hartmann, author of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight

"The most important thing an individual can do in the fight against global warming is join in the movements reshaping our politics and economies--but many people have creativity to spare, and this volume is a perfect guide to all the personal things that can make a difference too." Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy

"Readers should be inspired, informed, and ready to go." Booklist, Starred Review Offers 175 actions readers can take to create a more sustainable global environment. You care about the environment--the world you live in, and the world you are going to leave behind for future generations. Perhaps you already avoid wasting energy and buying more things than you need - reducing your Ecological Footprint. Yet there is a limit, given your family and circumstances. What can you do that will truly help heal our planet? Our Environmental Handprints is the first book to fully explore your "Handprint" - how you can create sustainability in your life and in the world. Your Handprint is limited only by yourimagination. The good you do can be greater than your Footprint. It is time to put more energy into your Handprint The smart beauty of the Handprint is that it can be self-perpetuating. Take planting a tree as an example. You put a seedling into the ground, water it, and then leave it alone. That tree will then grow itself and pull carbon dioxide from the air and create oxygen for us to breathe for as long as it lives. And, seeds from that tree create more trees. Here, Jon Biemer draws our attention to proven strategies across the spectrum. We make a difference with the choices we make about the clothing we buy, the investments we make, and even the food we choose to eat. Handprint Thinking applies to shelter (eco-remodeling and LEED buildings), motion (electric cars and living without a car), and earth-friendly energy. He provides 175 proven Handprint suggestions that will help readers align their interests, lifestyle, and motivations toward a more sustainable earth.

Jon Biemer has more than forty years of experience creating sustainability including Repair Cafes, Free Cycling, Village Building Convergences, and ballot initiatives for Outdoor School and Clean Energy. Biemer is a mechanical engineer and holds a certificate in Process-oriented Psychology. He has managed utility energy conservation programs and now provides Organizational Development consulting to non-profits. He offsets his Carbon Footprint and buys resale clothing. In 2013 he walked the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route from Alberta to Nebraska with the Compassionate Earth Walk. Over the years, Jon and his wife have planted food forests, eco-remodeled their home, and lived without a power clothes dryer, refrigerator and car.