Jennifer Power Scott

Although there has been a rush of books on “green” jobs” in the past few years, very few offer Canadian content. Green Career$: You Can Make Money and Save the Planet is written by a Canadian author and former CBC reporter Jennifer Power Scott. It’s based on an article she wrote for Canadian Living magazine, and most of the green job profiles found in the book are of Canadians and people who were educated in Canada.

The majority of the book’s content comes from interviews and biographies describing each individual’s inspiration to pursue a “green” job, the subsequent jobs the person has held and how these jobs supports the environment. Profiles include Tom Szaky, the CEO of TerraCycle; Daniel Musgrave, a Bonobo caretaker at the Great Ape Trust; and Tom Garvey, a (beer) brewer. The profiles are divided by industry, such as politics, health and activism, so readers can easily look for specific industries for ideas about some of the green careers available. Each of the profiles includes side bars with additional information, such as other organizations working in that same sector, or there is a reference to a “budding career”, or a short profile of a person just getting started in the field. Full colour photos of the interviewees are also included in the middle of the book.

Most of the careers profiled in the book require a university degree, sometimes a graduate degree, and usually the completion of a relevant internship. The author also provides a list of relevant websites, including “green” college/university campuses, where students can complete their education or take study-abroad terms.

Green Career$ is written in a pleasant conversational tone. All of the profiles are short and informative, giving the reader an idea about what careers to pursue in each sector of the green economy and how to get started in the field. The book is also an important Canadian contribution in this genre of career guides.… (mais)