Book of the Week (January 26, 2009)

On the New Book Shelf in the Library lobby
Call Number: HD 9940.A2 T56 2009

Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes

By Kelsey Timmerman

Product Description: Ninety-seven percent of our clothes are made overseas. Yet globalization makes it difficult to know much about the origin of the products we buy—beyond the standard "Made in" label. So journalist and blogger Kelsey Timmerman decided to visit each of the countries and factories where his five favorite items of clothing were made and meet the workers. He knew the basics of globalized labor—the forces, processes, economics, and politics at work. But what was lost among all those facts and numbers was an understanding of the lives, personalities, hopes, and dreams of the people who made his clothes.

In Bangladesh, he went undercover as an under-wear buyer, witnessed the child labor industry in action, and spent the day with a single mother who was forced to send her eldest son to Saudi Arabia to help support her family. In Cambodia, he learned the difference between those who wear Levi's and those who make them. In China, he saw the costs of globalization and the dark side of the Chinese economic miracle.

Bouncing between two very different worlds—that of impoverished garment workers and his own Western lifestyle—Timmerman puts a personal face on the controversial issues of globalization and outsourcing. Whether bowling with workers in Cambodia or riding a roller coaster with laborers in Bangladesh, he bridges the gap between impersonal economic forces and the people most directly affected by them. For anyone who wants to truly understand the real issues and the human costs of globalization, Where Am I Wearing? is an indispensable and unforgettable journey.

Want to learn more? Visit the Where Am I Wearing blog

Book of the Week (January 5, 2009)

On the New Book Shelf in the Library

Call Number: NA 7117.5 .R66 2008

Green Homes: Case Studies for the 21st Century

by E. Ashley Rooney

Publisher's Description: Building a green home or redesigning an existing home to be green is more than energy efficiency and preservation of natural resources. It is about integrating cost-effective design and materials to better the well being of inhabitants.

Explore the many ways architects have achieved sustainability, incorporating commonsense strategies of solar orientation, natural ventilation, recycling of household water, and making use of cutting-edge materials and building technologies such as earth sheltering, thermal mass, super insulation, geothermal heating and cooling, and photovoltaic electrical generation - all without compromising their aesthetic goals.

Here are more than 50 green homes in North America, shown in 400 color photographs. Many have won major awards; others have been the subject of media attention and tours. This book will help the homeowner, builder, and architect design homes that are more energy efficient, reduce consumption and emissions, and incorporate sustainable materials. The residences presented here demonstrate the range of potential solutions and ideas for building a sustainable house.