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Books written by AXIS

Books on Sustainability

 Sustainability Series™ Booklets

Books on Teamwork/Management

Winner of the American Library Association Choice Magazine Award—Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007!

"I have thumbed through this book so much the binding has disintegrated." —Rich Carlson

For more information or to order, click here. Also available as an eBook.

Business Guide to Sustainability is also available in Korean.

 

 

 

 

 The Step by Step Guide to
Sustainability Planning (2008)

“This is a fantastic resource for sustainability champions who want to transform an organization. The book supports its step-by-step guidance with examples and a cornucopia of practical checklists, forms, and tools to ensure success. Marsha and Darcy are experienced masters of the art and science of organizational change. Their latest book is a must-have resource for serious sustainability professionals.”

—Bob Willard, author of The Sustainability Advantage

For more information, click here. Also available as an e-book.

 

Dragonfly's Question:
Principles for 'the good life" after the crash
(discussion course/novella)

A course on sustainability disguised as a father-daughter story.

A great way to teach sustainability concepts to employees and citizens. Covers a wide range of topics including distributed energy, smart growth, toxic exposure, urban agriculture, local currencies, sustainable investing, homelessness, etc. Read it to understand how to shape our future or just read it for fun.

"With Dragonfly's Question, Darcy Hitchcock has created a lovely thing:  a learning tool, based on a piece of near-future fiction, that is also a pleasure to read."

— Alan AtKisson, author of Believing Cassandraand The ISIS Agreement.

"You are an amazing writer!  That book was packed with what could be our reality someday soon!  Well done!"

—Rosemary Di-Candilo, Zero Waste Alliance

"I just completed reading your book, Dragonfly's Question, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the read. You did indeed accomplish what you set out to do, making the sustainable education process a fun and enjoyable activity. I read this as part of my Sustainability 101 course which I will complete within a week or so. I could easily relate to Joe's lifestyle but also the lifestyle Tess was living made me yearn for the simpler and more satisfying lifestyle that can come from a community such as hers. As an engineer, it really made me think."

—Mike O'Malley, participant in Sustainability 101 class at the International Society of Sustainability Professionals

Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.  

Go to description at publisher's page.

Now available as a Kindle e-book!

"Fiction is the perfect tool for getting across these principles – especially in this case as it allows the reader to see how these principles can easily work practically and logistically." —Amy Brooksbank, Harry's Fresh Foods

"I wanted to tell you how impressed I am with what you have written. The story has good pacing, the characters are credible and the dialogue seems quite real. I guess even more importantly I found myself emotionally engaged in the story. And, of course, tying this all together in a sustainability and life-purpose story is very fitting and a nice reflection on the life you have chosen, on the depth of commitment you have made to these issues. Even the choice of lulu.com is very appropriate. Their concept of printing one book at a time is great while producing something that looks very professional. I have always had the highest respect for you and this book has caused it to grow even more. You definitely have a talent for this style of writing and received good support from your Muses in creating this story." —Duke Castle, The Castle Group and active member of the Natural Step Network

 

Teaching Business Sustainability
Vol 1 and Vol 2 (chapters submitted)

 

 

 

 

Sustainability Series
(how-to booklets and employee primer)

 

Sustainability Science and Engineering
(Chapter 13 - Actively Engage Communities and Stakeholders in the Development of Engineering Solutions, L.G. Heine a, M.L. Willard

Making Sense of Sustainability: An Employee Guide

How to booklets:

Developing Effective Systems to Manage Sustainability

Embedding Sustainability into your EMS

Greening Your Supply Chain

Training Employees on Sustainability

Forming and Facilitating Sustainability Teams

Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gases

Approaching Zero Waste

Choosing Greener Products

Partnering with Vendors

 

 

 Why Teams Can Fail and What to Do About It
(out of print)

 The Trust Imperative

Rx for Business
(out of print)

Why TQM Fails and What to Do About It
 (out of print)

The Work Redesign Team Handbook
(out of print)

Self-Directed Work Teams: A Trainers Role in the Transition (Contributed a chapter)

Best Practices for Teams, Volume 2 (Contributed a chapter)

Suggested Reading

To read or search hundreds of book reviews written by Darcy and Marsha, click here.

To read past book reviews, please join our free e-list by sending an email to AXIS-newsflash-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Once subscribed, go to yahoogroups.com to see past reviews. Our book reviews are also available to members of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP).

 

Sustainability Seriestm

How-to Booklets that Show You the Way

Purpose of Series* Original Series * Current Booklet Descriptions* How to Order by Check

Once you understand the importance of pursuing sustainability, the next question is usually, "How? So what do I do?" Many organizations get stuck at this point. But now there's a resource to help you.

Many of the booklets in this series (originally written early in this decade) have been superceded by The Step by Step Guide to Sustainability Planning (Earthscan, 2008). We are still selling the booklets that are not covered there. If you need one of the old booklets for some reason, please see the original listing at the bottom of this page and use the order form. Other booklets can be ordered through Paypal.

"The material was directly applicable to the work we are doing to 'institutionalize' sustainability into the way the County does business. I found the information easily adaptable to our organization and was able to use it immediately. When I handed it out to my team, the response was immediate - they really seemed to 'get it.'"

­ Amy Joslin, Acting Assistant Director of Sustainability, Multnomah County

Each of the how-to booklets contains:

  • Helpful background information you need to complete the task.
  • A step-by-step facilitator's guide that shows you how to do the task, including a meeting agenda, visual aids and narrative.
  • Quotes and advice; lessons learned by those in the field doing the work
  • Resources and masters of activity materials

Sustainability Series™ Booklet Descriptions

Here are descriptions of the booklets that contain content that is not covered in The Step by Step Guide to Sustainability Planning. We make them available in electronic form for only $10 each (except the employee primer called Making Sense of Sustainability). Special arrangements can be made for print copies.

Developing Effective Systems for Managing Sustainability—You need your sustainability program to become enmeshed in the organization, not dependent upon the passion of any one person. This booklet lays out a practical way of evolving a Sustainability Management System. It's based on environmental management systems but we avoid the technical jargon associated with ISO-14001.

Embedding Sustainability into your Environmental Management System. If you have an existing EMS, this booklet shows you how to take it to the next level, a sustainability management system. It shows you how and where to embed sustainability principles and practices. Co-authored with Dorothy Atwood, a renowned EMS consultant.

Greening Your Supply Chain -- What you buy can have an important influence on your environmental impacts. So many organizations are writing environmental criteria into their contracts, surveying suppliers, setting up coalitions, even collaborating with non-governmental organizations. But how do you know what approach will be best for you? This booklet helps you think through your strategy. You'll pick a product, process or supplier relationship and then select the best strategy for influencing them.

Training Employees on Sustainability (based on The Natural Step framework) -- This booklet shows you how to tailor training for your staff as well as explains what's important to do before or after the training. The booklet is filled with learning activities and demonstrations you can use in your own training. Don't reinvent the wheel with your own training. Start here.

Forming and Facilitating Sustainability Teams -- Sustainability usually requires working with people from across the organization, or sometimes even people outside the organization. These teams may include steering committees to oversee the whole effort or individual task forces/project teams to investigate promising options. In any case, it is critical to form and facilitate these teams carefully. A room-full of people represents a sizeable investment so you don't want to waste time sorting out confusion or backtracking down dead ends! This booklet provides the principles and practices that will help your teams succeed. It includes a toolbox of our favorite facilitator techniques.

 

Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gases: Doing Your Part for the Climate -- If you're in shock over your latest energy bill or want to help prevent global warming, order Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gases: Doing Your Part for the Climate. This how-to booklet shows you how to approach this task in an organization.

 

Approaching Zero Waste. Many companies have achieved zero waste (or at least a 90% reduction). They have redesigned their product so manufacturing waste can be captured and put back into the product. They've found markets for their waste streams ("residual products"). they've developed resusable containers to eliminate packaging waste. Some companies are taking back their products at the end of their useful life to make new products. If you want to save money, develop product innovations, and get rid of your dumpster, get this booklet. It was co-authored with Larry Chalfan, executive director of the Zero Waste Alliance.

Choosing Greener Products -- While not every organization may be in the business churning natural resources into products, every organization consumes those products in the operation of its business. Look no farther than your purchasing department to understand your link to consumption and waste production. Purchasing patterns not only have significant environmental implications, but they also impact an organization's financial bottom line, its relationships with its vendors and its exposure to public opinion. Purchasing is the one common practice that all organizations share that has a significant impact on sustainability. Choosing Greener Products will walk you through the process of cleaning up your purchasing habitswhile finding savings and efficiency gains along the way. Written by Marsha Willard, CEO of AXIS Performance Advisors, Inc. and Chris James researcher and consultant for non-profit organizations, governmental agencies and Fortune 500 companies on green products and services and founder and former president of FatEarth, Inc.

Partnering with Vendors: Supplier Workshops for Mutual Gain -- According to research published by Business for Social Responsiblity, inefficiencies across your supply chanin can waste up to 25% of a company's operating costs. So if you want to engage some of your first tier suppliers in a discussion about how you might improve your quality, cost, and environmental performance, read this booklet to learn how to conduct these supplier workshops.

 

Making Sense of Sustainability: An Employee Guide -- This is an easy-to-read overview for employees, filled with delightful illustrations by Charles Carroll. Unlike the other booklets, it's not a how-to booklet but instead a wonderful tool for educating employees about sustainability. It covers the Triple Bottom Line as well as The Natural Step framework. It's filled with exercises that employees can use to identify opportunities to become more sustainable at work as well as at home. Order one per person. Full color booklets ($25) or electronic files ($9.99) are available. Order.

 

To order early booklets or pay by check.

To order and pay by check, download the order form and indicate the booklets you want and mail the order form with your check to the address on the order form.

For more information on the original Sustainability Series, click here.

PUBLICATIONS, More links * Other publishing credits * Articles * AXIS Annual Reports * Suggested Reading * Reviews of other books