Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet [Go the Bicycle!]
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.20.08
Years ago we made mention of a clever little book called Seven Wonders: Everyday Things for a Healthier Planet. It praised the bicycle, the condom, the ceiling fan, the clothesline, Pad Thai, the public library, and the ladybug.
Now it seems like later this year, in about May, the book will be revised and released under the title of Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet: Everyday Things to Help Solve Global Warming. Some of the original wonders remain, but others have changed. Now they explore the key issues behind global warming: transportation (the bicycle) [see great quote after the fold], population (the condom), fossil fuel efficiency (the ceiling fan), renewable energy (the clothesline), food production and distribution (the real tomato), resource conservation and reuse (the library book), and the information economy (the microchip).
The bike chapter can be founded partially excerpted on the Sierra Club site and it includes gems like this:
Pound for pound, a person riding a bike can go farther on a calorie of food than a gazelle can running, a salmon swimming, or an eagle flying.
You can pre-order with Amazon.
What would be on your list of the Seven Green Wonders of the World?
Shouldn't we be asking for it at our local library instead? :)
That's a great one-page paean to the underrated bicycle. If the rest of the book is that concise and well written, I'd replant a few trees so I could share that book with people.