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Mountain View Reads Together is going all out this year. Not only are participants asked to read Bill McKibben’s book, “Eaarth,” but to also attend numerous November events, including a tour of Google’s greenness, an event about urbanites raising bees and chickens, and a talk by a Buddhist nun about the spirituality of being green.

Former Environmental Sustainability Task Force Chair Bruce Karney is helping to organize 11 free events throughout November, with a discussion of McKibben’s book set for Nov. 21.

“We may have a few more events this year than previously, but the environment is such a broad topic that it lends itself to more activities,” said Karney, who is organizing the events with Sharlene Gee, Andrea Gorman, Jamil Shaikh and librarian Candace Bowers.

Some of the more notable events include a yet-to-be-scheduled “behind the scenes” look at Google’s efforts to have the smallest impact on the environment possible, both in Mountain View and around the world. There will also be a Nov. 13 visit to a downtown home where chickens are being raised, a Nov. 10 talk by local chefs Laura Stec and Dr. Eugene Cordero about their book “Cool Cuisine: Taking The Bite Out Of Global Warming” and a Nov. 12 gathering of local electric vehicle owners who will speak about their experiences and show off their rides.

On Nov. 19 there will be a live presentation of “An Inconvenient Truth” by someone trained by Al Gore, with information on global warming updated since Gore’s movie version was made. There will also be a showing of “No Impact Man: the Movie,” which is about a family that tries to live for a year without impacting the environment, on Nov. 17.

Wrapping up the series of events is a talk by Sister Santussika, “a former software designer and engineer who is now a 10-precept Theravadan Buddhist nun” who is slated to talk about the spirituality and morality behind environmentalism.

On Nov. 3 there will be a tour of the SMaRT station in Sunnyvale, where Mountain View’s trash is recycled and on Nov. 19 a discussion at the library about alternatives to water-thirsty lawns.

For more information visit the MV Reads website, mvreads.org.

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  1. Lots of great events described in this article, but no details on times, places, or registration. Is there a website on this year’s MV Reads Together project where we can get information?

  3. “GSB” has kindly posted the link: mvreads.org

    All of the events are open to Mtn. View residents as well as non-residents. Only two events (Tour of the SMaRT Station and The Future of Food) require pre-registration. You can just drop in on the others, though it’s best to be early because we hope to draw large audiences for these events.

    (I am a member of the Committee that is organizing these events.)

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