The Big Earth Book launch

Last Wednesday we officially 'launched' our Big Earth Book, at Stanfords book shop in Bristol.

Why the launch? Why the excitement? Well, this has been a giant project for us. We were told by one publisher that we couldn't possibly get it out on time, so the launch was something of a cathartic exercise. But, more to the point, we think that this is an important book. It is, as far as I know, the only serious environmental book that brings together such a vast array of subjects and then links them. You can learn about Energy, Trees, Biofuels, Worgl (sic), Bhutan and gross national happiness, Poverty, Free Trade, War, the US Empire, Bees, Mammals, Microbes and Honest Scientists - and much much more.

No chapter is more than five minutes' read, each one is stuffed either with unusual ideas or with old ideas put into a fresh perspective. It is very far from dull, and leaves you with that 'Ah - I am beginning to get it' feeling. There are lavish photos, easy graphs, great ideas and a lot of solutions. It is designed not to depress you but to make you angry - and then, perhaps, active.

Yeo Valley Organic, a local family-owned company and fellow Queen's Award winner, has been massively supportive. Look out for their half-price offer on organic yogurt pots and milk cartons, an offer so generous that some of you will take up yogurt-eating just to get hold of the book. We will be biting our cheeks and praying that some of you nevertheless go to the bookshops to buy it.