Confessions of an Eco Sinner
  • Published: 2 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9781905811120
  • Imprint: Eden Project Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $27.99
Categories:

Confessions of an Eco Sinner

Travels to find where my stuff comes from

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Sep 2010
Paperback
2 Mar 2009
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This book offers the hidden story behind all our everyday things, revealing the cost of well-meaning but muddle-headed thinking.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Ever wondered if declaring support for fair-trade and then chucking Kenyan beans from your shopping trolley to reduce food miles really added up? Or whether the women in Bangladeshi sweatshops really want you to stop buying the clothes from their sewing machines? Or how the system works when you dump stuff but never buy from a charity shop?

While none of us should stop trying, it was never easy being green. Mindful of his footprint, Fred goes in search of the source of the cotton in his shirt, the prawns in his curry and the people who grew, mined or made all his stuff in an attempt to discover the true story behind our everyday things. This compelling story of his travels moves green thinking on to a new, more sophisticated plane.
  • Published: 2 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9781905811120
  • Imprint: Eden Project Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $27.99
Categories:

About the author

Fred Pearce

The Times described Fred Pearce recently as one of Britain's finest science writers. An author and journalist based in London, he has reported on environment, popular science and development issues from over 60 countries over the past 20 years, specialising in global environment issues. He is the environment and development consultant for the New Scientist and writes regularly for the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent the Times Higher Education Supplement and Country Life. In the US he has written for the Boston Globe, Audubon Magazine, Foreign Policy, Seed, Popular Science and Time and has written reports and extended journalism for WWF, the UN Environment Programme, the Red Cross, UNESCO, the World Bank and the UK Environment Agency. He is syndicated in Japan, Australia and elsewhere and his books have been translated into at least ten languages, including French, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Spanish.

He was voted BEMA Environment Journalist of the Year in 2001 and has been short-listed for the same award in 2000, 2002 and 2003. He is a past recipient of the Peter Kent Conservation Book Award and the TES Junior Information Book Award.

He is a regular broadcaster on radio and TV, and has given public lectures on all six continents in the past two years.

'Fred is one of the few people that understand the world as it really is' - James Lovelock, scientist

'[Fred is] one of my heroes' - Rt. Hon John Gummer MP, former UK environment secretary

Praise for The Landgrabbers:

'Brilliant: Fred Pearce has lifted the lid on an issue that has yet to register with most people. Anyone who cares about the fate of the planet should read this.' Chris Mullin


Fred's books include: The Landgrabbers, Peoplequake, Deep Jungle, When the Rivers Run Dry, The Last Generation, Confessions of an Eco Sinner and Ian and Fred's Big Green Book for children.

portrait photo of Fred Pearce

Also by Fred Pearce

Our Planet
Peoplequake
The Landgrabbers
Deep Jungle
The Last Generation
See all

Praise for Confessions of an Eco Sinner

Pearce shows us how our greed, and our wilful blindness, are ruining the world in faraway places . . . An excellent book.

Guardian

Sometimes frightening, always enlightening, it will teach you more about other people's lives than you ever thought possible.

New Scientist

Beguiling . . . honest and revealing . . . optimistic . . . A big book for big problems.

Country Living

Follow in his global footprints as you read this compelling, thoughtful, provocative and utterly fascinating book.

CHOICE magazine

[Pearce] makes a strong case that the well-meaning Joe Publics of the world really do need someone to tell it like it is, in language they can understand and with the vital statistics intelligible to all. Essential reading.

New Agriculturist

This is a splendid book and will do much good to counteract the comfortable hypocrisy of urban and suburban greens who pretend to 'save the earth' while carrying on business as usual. Fred Pearce goes out and sees the world as well as thinking and writing about it; he is one of the few that understand the Earth as it really is and we must listen to him.

James Lovelock, author of THE REVENGE OF GAIA