A Sarasota microforest with native plantings and pathways

THE ENVIRONMENTAL GUY

Laughs and Laments

Charles C. Reith, PhD

A lively, candid memoir of a life spent on the front lines of America's environmental movement — the messes, the fights, and the strange education of becoming "the environmental guy."

Not a lecture. A life.

Most environmental writing tells you what's wrong with the world. This one tells you what it's actually like to spend a career trying to fix it — the toxic wetlands, the skeptical ranchers, the politics that turned "environmentalist" into a fighting word.

It's funny when you least expect it, and honest in a way most memoirs aren't. You don't read The Environmental Guy to learn facts. You read it to understand what it costs — and what it gives back — to spend a life caring about a planet that doesn't always cooperate.

Compelled by curiosity; propelled by purpose.

Laugh out loud as Reith recounts the characters and mishaps of a career spent in the field.

A book for anyone who loves the planet — and loves a good story.

$Charles wheeling a young helper through the microforest$

Meet Charles

Before you read his book, meet the man who lived it.

He's spent his life going where the damage was worst — Superfund sites, polluted rivers, deserts spreading faster than anyone wanted to admit — and finding, again and again, that recovery was possible if someone was stubborn enough to start.

Discover…

Why bats are some of the most misunderstood creatures on Earth
What earthworm castings are actually worth — and why farmers pay for them
What it's really like to clean up a toxic Superfund site
How a microforest can grow ten times faster than nature intended
What it means to advise governments and corporations who'd rather not listen
Why being an environmentalist in Florida became its own kind of adventure

He's Not Finished

After decades of dealing with environmental problems, Charles is still looking for ways to make things better.

Today, working with Veterans for Common Sense, Charles plants microforests across Sarasota using the Miyawaki Method — dense, native plantings that grow into thriving forest ecosystems in years, not decades. It's the same instinct that's driven him for fifty years: find the damage, and get to work fixing it. The book tells you how he got here. The microforests show you he isn't done yet.

BUY THE BOOK

Lectures

SURF: Charles describes the many benefits of microforests to communities such as his coastal Florida community

Backyard Wonders: Charles explores the majestic treasures that Louisianans can find right in their backyard

Charles works with the Mangrove School as the kids and staff get their hands dirty learning about microforestry and the Miyawaki Method (Video by Bill Wagy)

Microforest Planting with the Heritage Harbor: Engaging the community to teach kids and improve the playground (Video by Bill Wagy)

Charles worked with scientists and students at the American University of Nigeria to develop and implement strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change

Laugh, cry, never give up hope

Pre-order the paper copy Kindle EPUB PDF

Available soon

From Charles

The Blog

Coming Soon

Field notes from fifty years of this work

Charles's blog is under construction — reflections on the book, the microforests, and whatever's on his mind that week. Check back soon.

Beyond the Book

Writing & Research

Coming Soon

Papers, talks, and technical writing

A home for Charles's academic and professional writing — research, speaking engagements, and consulting work — is on the way.

Beyond the Book

Reith Energy & Environmental Development

After decades of international consulting work spanning twenty countries on four continents, Charles turned Reith Energy's focus toward his own backyard: Greater Sarasota. What started as a global sustainability practice is now a platform for hands-on advocacy and activism on the environmental issues closest to home.

Touring an industrial switchgear facility

Touring an industrial facility during a consulting assignment

Ceremonial dress during work in Yola, Nigeria

From industrial plants and mining sites to ceremonial welcomes in Yola, Nigeria — two decades of work across twenty countries.

Sarasota built its reputation on a rare quality of life — natural areas, green building, and a community of environmental nonprofits and engaged citizens. Charles's view is that this legacy is now threatened by over-development, declining water quality, and a creeping complacency, and that reversing course means raising environmental engagement to a genuine tipping point — not just slowing the damage, but actively restoring the region's ecological resources.

Storm Water & Lakes

Florida House Institute

As a board member of the Florida House Institute, Charles works to bring the property's permaculture-inspired, storm-water-retaining landscape design into wider use across Sarasota's residential and commercial developments — a direct answer to the estuary's declining water quality, red tide, and worsening flooding.

Community Water Stewardship

Mira Lago & Palmer Ranch

Closer to home, Charles serves on his community's board and lake committee, coordinating monthly water-quality monitoring and working to keep the neighborhood's lakes ecologically healthy — work he echoes as a member of Palmer Ranch's Natural Asset Committee.

Microforests & Veterans

A Katrina-Informed Demonstration Project

Drawing on lessons from his time studying New Orleans's urban forest after Hurricane Katrina, Charles is coordinating the design and installation of a high-performance microforest in Sarasota — funded by a Rotary Sarasota Bay grant and built by Florida Veterans for Common Sense as part of a veteran-operated enterprise.

Presenting Suncoast Microforestry at Rotary International's Environment Hub

Presenting the Suncoast Microforestry project at Rotary International's Environment Hub.

Climate & Clean Energy

100% Renewable by 2030

As a Sierra Club steering committee member, Charles helps carry Sarasota's commitment to 100% renewable municipal energy by 2030 out into the community — making the case, in plain economic and environmental terms, for why the shift matters.

Touring a large-scale solar installation

Renewables in practice — from rooftop solar to wind turbine maintenance.