This morning, I read an article in The New York Times stating that the size of a carbon footprint in the average two-person household is 41,500 pounds a year.

Seriously, 41,500 pounds? Whoah! Uh...excuse me for a moment while I unplug my flat iron...and my cell phone. And maybe my television, microwave, and refrigerator while I'm at it.

It's difficult to conceptualize that much annual waste - but it exists. Bestselling author Thomas M. Kostigen's upcoming book, You Are Here: The Suprising Link Between What We Do and What That Does To Our Planet, makes the point that there is no "away" when we throw stuff away. Kostigen travels the globe to understand how our seemingly tiny behaviors have major consequences in ways we would never imagine, including the whithering away of Jerusalem's iconic Western Wall and the creation of monumentally destructive hurricanes, to name a few. He takes you along for the journey with clear, concise, and poignant writing. It's fascinating and scary at the same time.

So what can we do? Practical answers can be found in a fun, new book by Starre Vartan, Fairfield County's resident expert on going green in style. It's called The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green, and Vartan is refreshingly upfront about the fact that a green lifestyle requires a lot of change, but it can be done at your own pace, one step at a time. Don't miss the chance to meet Ms. Vartan in person during her visit to Darien Library on September 17th at 7:00 p.m.

Furthermore, on September 8th, acclaimed journalist Thomas Friedman returns to our Library shelves with Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America. It's one of the most highly anticipated releases of the Fall and is a book that is certain to shape the way our country thinks about, talks about, and acts on sustaining planet Earth for generations to come. With his new follow-up to the bestselling The World is Flat, Friedman presents bold visions and solutions for tackling the environmental issues that are plaguing the world, and he does so with tireless patriotism. The book's release is especially timely given the current political contest, when we are standing front and center during a pivotal moment of our nation's energy history. The hype is big, yet warranted. In my opinion, this will be one of the best books to read this coming month, if not all year.