Blue Planet Run: The Race to Provide Safe Drinking Water to the World - Hardcover

From The Flint Journal First Edition
OK, I really hate to admit this, but there's no denying it: "Blue Planet Run - The Race to Provide Safe Drinking Water to the World" sounds like a noble but dirt-dry text on scholarly environmental issues. It's not just me. In fact, a co-worker walking past my desk took one quick glance at the book's plain white cover, muttered "boring" and kept on walking. But please, don't judge this book by its cover. Trust me on this. Just open the oversized volume to any page at all. You won't want to put it down. "Blue Planet Run" is a visually stunning tour de force by some of the world's top photojournalists, backed up by thought-provoking essays and profound commentaries on the many ways humanity is confronting the growing lack of a clean and plentiful water supply. The book's collection of more than 250 photographs are at once beautiful and haunting, enlightening and disturbing, inspiring and even, at times, amusing. From the cornfields of Nebraska to an oil-fouled Nigerian port, this group of talented artists and visionaries takes us on an amazing journey around the world. And despite its global scale, it is first and foremost a book about people, in a very intimate and individual sense. You'll meet Kenyan runner Emanuel Kibet; Las Vegas homeowner Joseph Cooper, who's replacing his backyard lawn with artificial turf; Imelda Carreon Valdozino and her mission to test for toxins in Mexico City's water supply. From the anonymous to the famous, young and old, rich and poor, their faces are all our faces, and their challenges belong to us all. Need another incentive? Buying this book isn't just a passive venture into eco-awareness. One hundred percent of the royalties from "Blue Planet Run" will be used to provide clean water to people around the world who desperately need it. Learning about a problem is the first step toward being part of the solution.

The Blue Planet Run volume represents two extraordinary projects. The first is the result of a worldwide search for images and stories to capture the human face of the global water crisis. For one month, 40 talented photojournalists crossed the globe taking photographs to show the extent of the problem. At the same time, a team of researchers contacted photographers on every continent to identify existing bodies of work focused on this crucial issue. Simultaneously, 20 runners representing 13 nationalities embarked on a 95-day nonstop relay race around the globe, serving as messengers to raise awareness of the severity of the water crisis.
The book also features original essays from an extraordinary range of noted writers, environmentalists, inventors and journalists including Diane Ackerman, Fred Pearce, Dean Kamen, Michael Malone, Bill McKibben Jeffrey Rothfeder, Michael Specter, Paul Hawken and Mike Cerre.