June 4, 2006 - Day 5 - Week 9 - Earth’s Killer C’s

In the fall of 1995 a little book about the environment was published and my name was on the cover.  This was to have been a 230 page book, which I submitted to the publisher with confidence oozing from every pore, only to be told that only guys like me read 230 page books about the environment.  I reminded him that Al Gore’s book Earth in the Balance was longer, but that did not impress him.  However, when Earth Killer C’s was published it was the first book published in the United States in a responsible and sustainable manner.

What does this mean for a book?  The paper the book is printed on is kenaf.  Kenaf is a plant that grows like bamboo and is harvested like wheat.  The ink was soy based, and the black flecks on the 100% post consumer waste cover indicated that the residue ink was spun back onto the cover leaving no sludge.  The glue in the spine was non-toxic and no varnish was used on the cover.  The printing firm was owned by a minority family in Oakland California.  At the time it was the most benign a book could be.

Prior to my pursuing this avenue for publishing the Earth Killer C’s I realized that books, which I love a lot, contribute to the problem, but can become part of the solution when printed sustainably.

The Earth Killer’s C’s developed from a series of talks I gave in the early 1990’s on cows, cars, chlorine, chlorofluorocarbons, conception and conception. This was well received and many people began to see how each was impacting the health of the planet. When I sat down to write the book I realized how many issues that I was examining began with the letter C; thus I added:  chopsticks, clear cutting, conferences, conventions, committees, corporations, congress, communism and the church.

There were three other chapter headings that I will share in the Kreitler Compact over the next week because, ironically or providentially, they all relate speak to cancer directly.

The three:  cancer, cigarettes and chemicals.

Each of the Earth’s Killer C’s impacts our lives on a daily basis.  The two big issues which drive global warming and climate change are population growth, and over-consumption depleting the resources for tomorrow’s generations.

I am not going to write about any of that, but I will quote verbatim, and I guess that is not plagiarizing when you quote yourself, from the three chapters which illustrate what I was thinking about 12-13 years ago.

Back to Week 9