YOU ARE HERE: New York Times Bestselling Co-Author of The Green Book, Thomas M. Kostigen,...

YOU ARE HERE: New York Times Bestselling Co-Author of The Green Book, Thomas
M. Kostigen, Offers Critical Dispatches from the Environmental Edge in his
Latest Book

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- YOU ARE HERE: Exposing the Vital Link
Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet (October 2008; HarperOne)
by Thomas M. Kostigen reveals the vital missing link in today's environmental
crisis: how we as individuals are connected to the planet and its very
existence. With a foreword by Kevin Bacon, the book takes readers along on
Kostigen's travels around the world into the most environmentally tenuous
places on the planet (often finding himself in dangerous situations) to
discover how our actions directly affect the environment.
"It's a very powerful message, that given the choice we as human beings
will do the right thing for our planet, and for our brothers and sisters, and
think about the actions that we do and how they're going to affect people on
the other side of the world, and ourselves."
- Kevin Bacon
YOU ARE HERE shows us the living narratives of climate change and the
consequences of our everyday actions. For example:
The Eastern Garbage Patch, Pacific Ocean
-- Off the coast of Hawaii there exists a floating mass of trash twice the
size of Texas. 100 million tons of plastic are produced each year and a
whopping 10% of that ends up into the sea.
-- FACT: In this area there are about 3 million pieces of garbage within
every square mile. Plastic does not bio-degrade, it just breaks up into
smaller particles which are then ingested by fish. When we eat seafood, we eat
the same plastic that we threw out. Much of our medical waste also goes into
the ocean; for instance, on Midway Island, birds were found with syringes
sticking out of their stomachs and toothbrushes caught in their mouths.
Mumbai, India
-- This part of India, formerly known as Bombay, is where much of our
computer and e-waste gets shipped. In a small village within Mumbai, children
live and play games like cricket on landfills full of e-waste exported from
the US.
-- In Dharavi, the largest slum in all of Asia, junk -- including more
e-waste -- is sold to the poorest of the poor, who then reprocess it into
materials sold right back to us (belts, wristwatch straps, and wallets, for
example) with no regard to toxins. These products have respected labels on
them, i.e. Reebok or Adidas.
-- FACT: 85% of the hazardous waste in the US is exported, mostly to Third
World countries like India. It isn't disposed of properly, but it's cheaper to
get rid of it there.
Linfen City, China
-- This city in China, known for its large number of manufacturing and
coal plants, has been known for years as the dirtiest place on earth.
Pollution is so high here that just breathing the air is like smoking a pack
of cigarettes a day. People routinely wear surgical masks. It is the children
who suffer most from air pollution there because it affects their lung
capacity and their growth.
-- FACT: We are China's second largest trade partner, buying almost
$300 billion worth of goods each year that are made there. About 25% of the
pollution in China comes from manufacturing goods for export to Western
countries. Wal-Mart alone spends $20 billion on goods from China.
Shishmaref Village, Alaska
-- This community is widely acknowledged to be the first in the world to
succumb to climate change. The village of 550 has been ordered to evacuate by
2015 as their homes are literally falling into the ocean due to ice
retreating / global warming. The cost to move them will be $180 million.
-- FACT: 40% of the soot that makes its way to Arctic and sub-Arctic
regions comes from south Asia, while North America, Europe, and Russia each
contribute 10-15%. Many other coastal areas are also vulnerable. Considering
that 100 million people live within about 3 feet of sea level, with more than
500 million living within thirty feet, the potential for large-scale
displacement around the world is enormous.
The Amazon Jungle (Brazil)
-- The jungle has been losing more than 60,000 square miles of rainforest
since 2000, many of it lost for good because no new trees have been planted.
Brazilians are motivated to clear rainforest to use the land for growing
soybeans, which is very profitable.
-- FACT: The world wide demand for soy has increased, and 80% of this soy
is used for animal feed. The European Union bought 10 million tons of soy from
Brazil in 2006 (about 40% of its export crop) for use as animal feed to fatten
cows and chickens that became Big Macs and McNuggets.
The Great Lakes (United States)
-- A rise in temperature is causing extreme evaporation. Lake Superior is
at its lowest point in years, and the evaporation is drying up our freshwater
supplies in the Great Lakes, a source of freshwater for more than 30 million
people.
-- FACT: Pollution is seriously affecting their water quality. 90 cities
dump sewage into the Great Lakes.
"People will be shocked at just how far the little things they do reach
and impact the world. Understanding the things we sometimes have no idea
affect people, places and things all over the world is empowering; we can
re-direct our actions, often in very simple ways, to make the planet better
and safer for us all. YOU ARE HERE shows people their global ripple effect and
gives them the tools and solutions for change." - Tom Kostigen

YOU ARE HERE / Hardcover / $25.95 / 256 pages / ISBN 978-0-06-1703942

http://www.readyouarehere.com

SOURCE HarperOne

Joy Fehily, +1-310-289-6200, Joy.Fehily@pmkhbh.com, or Lauren Auslander,
+1-212-582-1111, Lauren.Auslander@pmkhbh.com, both for HarperOne