Best of
Sustainability

1980

Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change


William R. Catton Jr. - 1980
    Even utility and oil companies now promote conservation in the face of demands for dwindling energy reserves. And for years some biologists have warned us of the direct correlation between scarcity and population growth. These scientists see an appalling future riding the tidal wave of a worldwide growth of population and technology.A calm but unflinching realist, Catton suggests that we cannot stop this wave - for we have already overshot the Earth's capacity to support so huge a load. He contradicts those scientists, engineers, and technocrats who continue to write optimistically about energy alternatives. Catton asserts that the technological panaceas proposed by those who would harvest from the seas, harness the winds, and farm the deserts are ignoring the fundamental premise that "the principals of ecology apply to all living things." These principles tell us that, within a finite system, economic expansion is not irreversible and population growth cannot continue indefinitely. If we disregard these facts, our sagging American Dream will soon shatter completely.

Golden Thread: Twentyfive Hundred Years of Solar Architecture and Technology


Ken Butti - 1980
    Beginning with the passive solar designs of fifth-century Greece, through the solar-powered steam engines of 19th century America, and on to the new revolution in solar-inspired architecture, [the authors]provide the reader with an amazing story. A Golden Thread is must reading for anyone serious about the real potential for the sun's energy & its place in our history & future." (Wilson Clark, from the back cover)

New Roots for Agriculture


Wes Jackson - 1980
    agriculture to the edge of disaster. Tillage has hastened the erosion of irreplaceable topsoil everywhere and a technology based on fossil fuels has increased yields for short-term profits, leaving crops ever more vulnerable to diseases, pests, and droughts. Such, says Jackson, is "the failure of success." As high-technology agriculture becomes more wasteful and expensive, more farmers are being forced off the land or into bankruptcy. Jackson's major solution calls for the development of plant combinations that yield food while holding the soil and re-newing its nutrients without plowing or applying fossil-fuel-based fertilizers or pesticides. His new way of raising crops, by working with the soil's natural systems, would keep the world's bread-basket producing perpetually.

Weeds: Guardians of the Soil


Joseph A. Cocannouer - 1980
    

Hydroponic Food Production: A Definitive Guidebook of Soilless Food-growing Methods


Howard M. Resh - 1980
     A complete manual and an encyclopedic reference work on soilless food production. Technically comprehensive with nearly 400 photographs and detailed drawings on every form of hydroponics for temperate, tropical, or cold climates. A state-of-the-art work widely used by advanced home gardeners and by professional hydroponic growers. Well organized with impeccable academic and professional credentials. Illustrated.

My Small Country Living


Jeanine McMullen - 1980
    There she fell in love--with Wales, its people, and most of all with the farm that, on an impulse, she decided to buy. In this delightful volume she recounts for us the joys and frustrations of living on her small holding. Here you will meet the people who helped her: among them "Mrs. P," her eccentric Australian mother; "The Artist," her less-than-steadfast boyfriend; the vet, Bertie Ellis, with his macabre sense of humor, and her neighbors, Gwyneth Griffiths and Myrddin Party.But above all there are her animals: Doli, the draft horse, who is Jeanine's closest confidante; the wayward goat Whacky; her beloved whippet Merlin; Douglas and Daisy, a pair of "highflying" geese; and assorted other sheep, cattle, pigeons, and cats--even a unicorn--all of whom come vividly to life in these pages.

Living More With Less


Doris Janzen Longacre - 1980
    In 1980, before living simply and green; became trendy and popular, Doris Janzen Longacre, author of the enormously popular More-with-Less Cookbook (over 900,000 sold), wrote Living More with Less, a practical guide for living in simple, sustainable, and healthy ways--ways that keep the future of the planet, and the plight of poor people, in mind. Thirty years later, Living More with Less 30th Anniversary Edition is being released as a way to celebrate and honor Longacre's foresight and vision, and to pass on her vision for simple and sustainable living to a new generation. Revised and updated by Valerie Weaver-Zercher, this 30th anniversary edition is true to Doris Janzen Longacre's spirit of living in ways that keeps poor people, God's creation and each other in mind--and is loaded with new and practical tips in areas such as money, travel, clothing, housing, celebrations and recreation.

The Food And Heat Producing Solar Greenhouse


Bill Yanda - 1980
    

Thermal Shutters And Shades: Over 100 Schemes For Reducing Heat Loss Through Windows


William A. Shurcliff - 1980
    Are you interesting in Thermal Shutters and Shades: Over 100 Schemes for Reducing Heat Loss Through Windows?

A Design and Construction Handbook for Energy-Saving Houses


Alex Wade - 1980
    

Ecology as Politics


André Gorz - 1980
    Fighters for democratic socialism and an ecological society have each recognized the handwriting on the wall; modern society cannot continue on its present path. Neither group, however, has even begun to recognize the other's value, beyond being little more than a tactical means towards achieving their own ends. Gorz, in this exciting and penetrating gem of a book, addresses precisely this question, and offers a connection between the political and the ecological.In an age of crisis the realist becomes visionary and the visionary the rational architect of the future. Andre Gorz is just that. The present decade will be a debacle for progressive change unless our creative efforts move towards linking our concerns with the quality of life to those of economic and political structure. Andre Gorz, as this little volume bears witness, has taken up where Herbert Marcuse left off. 'The only things worthy of each,' Gorz says, 'are those which are good for all.' This book is worthy indeed of each.