EcoIcons: Reading Colin Beavan's "No Impact Man"

Happy Earth Day everyone!

I recently finished reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. I suspect you've heard of it? Just in case... a few years ago it was "kind of a big deal." A writer from NYC (and his wife and baby) spends a year trying a myriad of ways for his family to live with zero net environmental impact. He made national news. He made the talk shows. There was a documentary. But the heart of the project was that he wanted to write a book on what he learned.

I watched the documentary a while back. It was interesting/good. Maybe that is one of the reasons I was lackadaisical about getting around to reading the book? (I already knew the plot, I felt.) Well. I should have read it sooner.  It's not very long and it flows well to make a quick and interesting read. For me, the book is a solid home run. I wish I'd read it sooner. In some ways, it was not at all what I expected.

I expected the bits about why we should try to do better for the environment. I expected the parts where he talks about what measures he undertook, and the parts where we find out if those measures were difficult or enjoyable. I did not expect intensely personal storytelling. I did not expect such deep, philosophical speculation.

In the end, I learned a little bit. But I thought a lot. And I felt more inspired than I anticipated.

At work, I like to keep a few special books. These books serve a purpose for me. If I am feeling uninspired and selfish, or even bored; when I don't want to work or have trouble focusing, I pick these books up, flip to a random page, and read just a little bit. When I do that, I am hoping that these books remind me of my priorities and my values. I am hoping they remind me that I didn't come to work to entertain myself, but to accomplish Something Good. I am hoping they keep me grounded and focused. These books are thoughtful and quotable and give my brain something to chew on, in little bits. No Impact Man is going on that book shelf. I might buy a second one to have as a loaner.

So here's a little quote for you to chew on this Earth Day, one which the author decided was the moral of the story:

"I got too paralyzed by this question of whether I was the type of person who could make a difference. Finally, during the year of the project, I realized that's the wrong question. The real question is whether I'm the type of person who wants to try."

My Favorite Okie Books

...As in, my favorite books on Oklahoma, not my favorite books by Oklahomans. But who's to say the two can't share some list items?

I began to acquire books on Oklahoma biology in my teens.  Most of those books I acquired due to schooling. I've only recently picked up the torch and again returned to collecting books on Oklahoma, but this time it is more fun because I have no classes to apply the books to. I can buy whatever I want. There are many more out there that I hope to later add to my collection so this list is not conclusive.



New Favorites

Oklahoma Hiking Trails by Kent Frates and Larry Floyd's - Gives good descriptions on many trails, listed by geographic area, with estimates on difficulty and length of time to hike them. My absolute favorite part about this book is that it shows each hike mapped out on a topographic map.

Oklahoma Off the Beaten Path by Deborah Bouziden - Although this book talks small towns and big ones alike, I use this one sort of like a travel guide to the small towns. It gives you some interesting things to see and good places to eat for a smattering of the less-touristed areas of the state; I find this particularly helpful to skim through before road trips. However, if you want one of these, get the latest edition, as  I have the 2007 print and some of the businesses have since closed.

Oklahoma Travel Guide from the tourism department - I know, right? This should be a 'duh' but it includes some handy things. I often use the spiffy chart of state parks that shows what is at each park; this alone led to us choosing Lake Murray for last year's camping trip, as they were on the chart as allowing full access for dogs!

Atlases 
I'm going to admit right here that I'm a sucker for maps, but also tell you with delight that the state government makes some pretty fantastic atlases. The two that I own are:

 Lakes of Oklahoma by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board - has lovely big color maps of all watersheds and lakes in the state along with interesting facts about each lake. Even more exciting (if you are me) is that some of the maps show the lake depths.

Oklahoma Wildlife Management Area Atlas byt the Wildlife Department - my newest acquisition. 

And while we're on the subject, this is not an atlas, but EPA's "Ecoregions of Oklahoma" map is excellent.


Old Favorites
After ecology, my favorite study area in school was taxonomy, so this should explain the following selections.

Forest Tress of Oklahoma, by the Oklahoma Forestry Department - this book has what is probably the simplest, easiest-to-use dichotomous keys I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I can usually get to identify my tree correctly quickly and on the first try, and the descriptions of the species are so succinct and the images that go with them so accurate that I am confident I'd know if I made a wrong ID.

Keys to the Flora of Oklahoma by UT Waterfall - on the flip side, this key is *not* easy to use, and I usually make at least one wrong ID going through it (I am a hobby botanist at best). The last time I tried to use it, I would have needed a dissecting microscope (which I do not own) to properly use the key. However, this is the most comprehensive key to Oklahoma's non-woody plants that I know of.

A Guide to the Study of Fresh-Water Biology- by JG Needham -  Not Oklahoma specific, but doesn't need to be; I have used this book a lot, and successfully, in Oklahoma streams.



So that's it, selections and favorites from my Oklahoma book collection, which I love to add to. (I did not even get into my wish list!)  Do you have favorites to add?