By fully embracing and practicing this principle of interconnectedness—called interbeing—we become more effective agents of change and have a stronger positive influence on the world.Throughout the book, Eisenstein relates real-life stories showing how small, individual acts of courage, kindness, and self-trust can change our culture’s guiding narrative of separation, which, he shows, has generated the present planetary crisis. He brings to conscious awareness a deep wisdom we all innately know: until we get our selves in order, any action we take—no matter how good our intentions—will ultimately be wrongheaded and wronghearted. Above all, Eisenstein invites us to embrace a radically different understanding of cause and effect, sounding a clarion call to surrender our old worldview of separation, so that we can finally create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.With chapters covering separation, interbeing, despair, hope, pain, pleasure, consciousness, and many more, the book invites us to let the old Story of Separation fall away so that we can stand firmly in a Story of Interbeing.

    The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies(relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading.The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings."The Resilient Homestead" is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.

    Every single human society that has relied on annual crops for staple foods has collapsed. Restoration Agriculture explains how we can have all of the benefits of natural, perennial ecosystems and create agricultural systems that imitate nature in form and function while still providing for our food, building, fuel and many other needs - in your own backyard, farm or ranch. This book, based on real-world practices, presents an alternative to the agriculture system of eradication and offers exciting hope for our future.

    MacKinnon realized the grassland he grew up on was not the pristine wilderness he had always believed it to be. Instead, his home prairie was the outcome of a long history of transformation, from the disappearance of the grizzly bear to the introduction of cattle. What remains today is an illusion of the wild--an illusion that has in many ways created our world. In 3 beautifully drawn parts, MacKinnon revisits a globe exuberant with life, where lions roam North America and 20 times more whales swim in the sea. He traces how humans destroyed that reality, out of rapaciousness, yes, but also through a great forgetting. Finally, he calls for an "age of restoration," not only to revisit that richer and more awe-filled world, but to reconnect with our truest human nature. MacKinnon never fails to remind us that nature is a menagerie of marvels. Here are fish that pass down the wisdom of elders, landscapes still shaped by "ecological ghosts," a tortoise that is slowly remaking prehistory. "It remains a beautiful world," MacKinnon writes, "and it is its beauty, not its emptiness, that should inspire us to seek more nature in our lives."

    Increasingly disillusioned by mainstream medicine's mechanistic approach to healing and fascinated by the farming revolution that is changing the way we think about our relationship to the earth, Miller left her medical office and traveled to seven innovative family farms around the country, on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Farmacology, the remarkable book that emerged from her travels, offers us a compelling new vision for sustainable health and healing—and a wealth of farm-to-body lessons with immense value in our daily lives.Miller begins her journey with a pilgrimage to the Kentucky homestead of renowned author and farming visionary Wendell Berry. Over the course of the following year, she travels to a biodynamic farm in Washington state, a ranch in the Ozarks, two chicken farms in Arkansas, a winery in California, a community garden in the Bronx, and finally an aromatic herb farm back in Washington. While learning from forward-thinking farmers, Miller explores such compelling questions as: What can rejuvenating depleted soil teach us about rejuvenating ourselves? How can a grazing system on a ranch offer valuable insights into raising resilient children? What can two laying-hen farms teach us about stress management? How do vineyard pest-management strategies reveal a radically new approach to cancer care? What are the unexpected ways that urban agriculture can transform the health of a community? How can an aromatic herb farm unlock the secret to sustainable beauty?Throughout, Miller seeks out the perspectives of noted biomedical scientists and artfully weaves in their insights and research, along with stories from her own medical practice. The result is a profound new approach to healing, combined with practical advice for how to treat disease and maintain wellness.

    Combining the thoughts and beliefs from a diverse range of essayists, this collection highlights the current ecological crisis and articulates a much-needed spiritual response to it. Perspectives from Buddhism, Sufism, Christianity, and Native American beliefs as well as physics, deep psychology, and other environmental disciplines, make this a well-rounded contribution. The complete list of contributors are Oren Lyons, Thomas Berry, Thich Nhat Hanh, Chief Tamale Bwoya, Joanna Macy, Sandra Ingerman, Richard Rohr, Wendell Berry, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Sister Miriam MacGillis, Satish Kumar, Vandana Shiva, Pir Zia Inayat-Kahn, Winona LaDuke, John Stanley, John Newall, Bill Plotkin, Geneen Marie Haugen, Jules Cashford, and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee.

    Financial collapse, climate change, resource depletion, and a growing gap between rich and poor are but a few of the signs. Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer ask, why do we collectively create results nobody wants? Meeting the challenges of this century requires updating our economic logic and operating system from an obsolete “ego-system” focused entirely on the well-being of oneself to an eco-system awareness that emphasizes the well-being of the whole. Filled with real-world examples, this thought-provoking guide presents proven practices for building a new economy that is more resilient, intentional, inclusive, and aware.

    Yet omnivore and herbivore alike, the forces of meatonomics affect us in many ways.Most importantly, we've lost the ability to decide for ourselves what - and how much - to eat. Those decisions are made for us by animal food producers who control our buying choices with artificially-low prices, misleading messaging, and heavy control over legislation and regulation. Learn how and why they do it and how you can respond.Written in a clear and accessible style, "Meatonomics" provides vital insight into how the economics of animal food production influence our spending, eating, health, prosperity, and longevity"Meatonomics" is the first book to add up the huge "externalized" costs that the animal food system imposes on taxpayers, animals and the environment, and it finds these costs total about $414 billion yearly. With yearly retail sales of around $250 billion, that means that for every $1 of product they sell, meat and dairy producers impose almost $2 in hidden costs on the rest of us. But if producers were forced to internalize these costs, a $4 Big Mac would cost about $11.

    Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to this vision of a restored, healthy planet-only in harmony, not mortal combat, with the rest of nature.But with a million more of us every 4 1/2 days on a planet that’s not getting any bigger, and with our exhaust overheating the atmosphere and altering the chemistry of the oceans, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. For this long awaited follow-up book, Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were probably the most important questions on Earth — and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth’s ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth?Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world’s cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it’s in their own best interest to limit their growth. The result is a landmark work of reporting: devastating, urgent, and, ultimately, deeply hopeful.By vividly detailing the burgeoning effects of our cumulative presence, Countdown reveals what may be the fastest, most acceptable, practical, and affordable way of returning our planet and our presence on it to balance. Weisman again shows that he is one of the most provocative journalists at work today, with a book whose message is so compelling that it will change how we see our lives and our destiny.

    From the recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food, pharmaceutical industries and much more, it has been estimated that these and other services are each year worth about double global GDP. Yet we take most of Nature's services for granted, imagining them free and limitless ... until they suddenly switch off.

    Instead we are always co-arising or co-creating the world, and we cannot escape the consequence of what we do to the environment. Joanna Macy's innovative writing beautifully demonstrates that by broadening our view of what constitutes self we can cut through our dualistic views and bring about the emergence of the ecological self, that realizes that every object, feeling, emotion, and action is influenced by a huge, all-inclusive web of factors. Any change in the condition of any one thing in this web affects everything else by virtue of interconnectedness. "Greening of the Self" is visionary and future-oriented, making it essential reading for anyone who wants to discover the knowledge authority and courage to respond creatively to the crises of our time. Based on a chapter in Joanna Macy's bestselling "World as Lover, World as Self."

    We are members of a one-earth society, and caring for the earth and soul is interrelated! This is the message of Satish Kumar, the internationally-respected peace and environment activist who has been gently setting the agenda for change for over 50 years. In Soil, Soul & Society, Satish presents the new trinity for our age of sustainability. One that shares the knowledge that we ourselves are very much part of nature; that what we do to nature we in fact do to ourselves; and that the earth is soulful. In this book, he urges readers to create a new consciousness that reveres nature and explores how as a global society we need to embrace diversity and become pilgrims on this earth not tourists. To bring about change in the world we must be the change we wish to see.

    Once-lush grasslands, the source of precious food and water, are growing dry and bare. Rivers that used to flow year-round now run dry after the rains. Grazing animals want for food. What is causing this “desertification” of the earth, and how can we stop it? In The Grazing Revolution, biologist Allan Savory presents a solution that’s as radical as it is simple: huge herds of livestock, managed to mimic the behavior of the natural herds that once roamed grasslands centuries ago. Tracing his own story of discovery, Savory debunks common misconceptions and provides a vivid chronicle of the process by which he has seen scrubby wasteland revert to robust ecosystems. Our age-old agricultural practices are contributing greatly to the global climate change underway; Savory argues that by re-imagining these practices, we can reverse desertification and save the planet.

    A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres.Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides:Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storageInformation about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varietiesFarm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterpriseWhether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.Pam Dawling is a contributing editor with Growing for Market magazine. An avid vegetable grower, she has been farming as a member of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia for over twenty years, where she helps grow food for around one hundred people on three and a half acres, and provides training in sustainable vegetable production.

    Lippard is one of America’s most influential writers on contemporary art, a pioneer in the fields of cultural geography, conceptualism, and feminist art. Hailed for "the breadth of her reading and the comprehensiveness with which she considers the things that define place" (The New York Times), Lippard now turns her keen eye to the politics of land use and art in an evolving New West.Working from her own lived experience in a New Mexico village and inspired by gravel pits in the landscape, Lippard weaves a number of fascinating themes—among them fracking, mining, land art, adobe buildings, ruins, Indian land rights, the Old West, tourism, photography, and water—into a tapestry that illuminates the relationship between culture and the land. From threatened Native American sacred sites to the history of uranium mining, she offers a skeptical examination of the "subterranean economy."Featuring more than two hundred gorgeous color images, Undermining is a must-read for anyone eager to explore a new way of understanding the relationship between art and place in a rapidly shifting society.

    Drawing on the experience of researchers at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, which has run hundreds of such evaluations in dozens of countries throughout the world, it offers practical insights on how to use this powerful technique, especially in resource-poor environments.This step-by-step guide explains why and when randomized evaluations are useful, in what situations they should be used, and how to prioritize different evaluation opportunities. It shows how to design and analyze studies that answer important questions while respecting the constraints of those working on and benefiting from the program being evaluated. The book gives concrete tips on issues such as improving the quality of a study despite tight budget constraints, and demonstrates how the results of randomized impact evaluations can inform policy.With its self-contained modules, this one-of-a-kind guide is easy to navigate. It also includes invaluable references and a checklist of the common pitfalls to avoid.Provides the most up-to-date guide to running randomized evaluations of social programs, especially in developing countriesOffers practical tips on how to complete high-quality studies in even the most challenging environmentsSelf-contained modules allow for easy reference and flexible teaching and learningComprehensive yet nontechnical

    From rural outposts to city streets, they are sowing, growing, selling, and eating food produced close to home--and they are crying out for agricultural reform. All this has made "local food" into everything from a movement buzzword to the newest darling of food trendsters.But now it's time to take the conversation to the next level. That's exactly what Philip Ackerman-Leist does in Rebuilding the Foodshed, in which he refocuses the local-food lens on the broad issue of rebuilding regional food systems that can replace the destructive aspects of industrial agriculture, meet food demands affordably and sustainably, and be resilient enough to endure potentially rough times ahead.Changing our foodscapes raises a host of questions. How far away is local? How do you decide the size and geography of a regional foodshed? How do you tackle tough issues that plague food systems large and small--issues like inefficient transportation, high energy demands, and rampant food waste? How do you grow what you need with minimum environmental impact? And how do you create a foodshed that's resilient enough if fuel grows scarce, weather gets more severe, and traditional supply chains are hampered?Showcasing some of the most promising, replicable models for growing, processing, and distributing sustainably grown food, this book points the reader toward the next stages of the food revolution. It also covers the full landscape of the burgeoning local-food movement, from rural to suburban to urban, and from backyard gardens to large-scale food enterprises.

    Your Strawman was created when you were very young, far too young to know anything about it. But then, it was meant to be a secret as it's purpose is to swindle you, and it has been used very effectively to do just that ever since it was created.

    In this innovative book, J. K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron, and Stephen Healy contribute complex understandings of economics in practical terms: what can we do right now, in our own communities, to make a difference?Full of exercises, thinking tools, and inspiring examples from around the world, Take Back the Economy shows how people can implement small-scale changes in their own lives to create ethical economies. There is no manifesto here, no one prescribed model; rather, readers are encouraged and taught how to take back the economy in ways appropriate for their own communities and context, using what they already have at hand.Take Back the Economy dismantles the idea that the economy is separate from us and best comprehended by experts. Instead, the authors demonstrate that the economy is the outcome of the decisions and efforts we make every day. The economy is thus reframed as a space of ethical action—something we can shape and alter according to what is best for the well-being of people and the planet. The book explores what people are already doing to build ethical economies, presenting these deeds as mutual concerns: What is necessary for survival, and what do we do with the surplus produced beyond what will fulfill basic needs? What do we consume, and how do we preserve and replenish the commons—those resources that can be shared to maintain all? And finally, how can we invest in a future worth living in?Suitable for activists and students alike, Take Back the Economy will be of interest to anyone seeking a more just, sustainable, and equitable world.

    Schwartz looks at soil as a crucible for our many overlapping environmental, economic, and social crises. Schwartz reveals that for many of these problems--climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, droughts, floods, wildfires, rural poverty, malnutrition, and obesity--there are positive, alternative scenarios to the degradation and devastation we face. In each case, our ability to turn these crises into opportunities depends on how we treat the soil.Drawing on the work of thinkers and doers, renegade scientists and institutional whistleblowers from around the world, Schwartz challenges much of the conventional thinking about global warming and other problems. For example, land can suffer from undergrazing as well as overgrazing, since certain landscapes, such as grasslands, require the disturbance from livestock to thrive. Regarding climate, when we focus on carbon dioxide, we neglect the central role of water in soil--"green water"--in temperature regulation. And much of the carbon dioxide that burdens the atmosphere is not the result of fuel emissions, but from agriculture; returning carbon to the soil not only reduces carbon dioxide levels but also enhances soil fertility.Cows Save the Planet is at once a primer on soil's pivotal role in our ecology and economy, a call to action, and an antidote to the despair that environmental news so often leaves us with.

    Michael Tellinger has come full circle since his epic “Slave Species of god” in 2006, by proposing a blueprint for the emancipation of the slave species called humanity. Tellinger exposes the previously misunderstood origins of money and the rise of the royal banking elite that have controlled the world for millennia and continue to do so today through the modern banking families. He points out that money did not evolve from thousands of years of barter and trade, but that it was maliciously introduced to the human race as a tool of absolute control and enslavement. Tellinger makes a strong case that if we do not understand our human origins, we cannot come to terms with why the world is so messed up in the 21st century. He demonstrates that our current situation presents us with a unique opportunity to change the course of our destiny. Michael Tellinger describes how the ancient African philosophy of UBUNTU will allow us to seamlessly move from a divided, money-driven society, to united communities driven by people, their passion for life and their God-given talents. Coming to terms with our enslavement as a species is critical to discovering the path to full enlightenment.UBUNTU Contributionism presents a solid foundation for a new social structure to take us into a new era of true freedom from financial tyranny and real prosperity on every level of human endeavour. For more information on Michael Tellinger and his other groundbreaking books and research into human origins, the vanished civilsations of southern Africa and the advanced technology they used, please visit his website: www.michaeltellinger.com

    Orphaned at an early age, Beresford-Kroeger was raised by elderly relatives in Ireland in the Druidic tradition, taught the overlap between the arts and sciences, and the triad of body, mind and spirit. After pursuing a PhD in medical biochemistry, Beresford-Kroeger set out on a quest to preserve the world's forests. In this warm and wise collection of essays, she gives us a guide for living simply and well: which foods to eat and which to avoid; how to clean our homes and look after pets; how we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from illness; and why we need to appreciate nature. She provides an easy dose of healing, practical wisdom, blending modern medicine with aboriginal traditions. This inspiring, accessible book emphasizes back to basics, with the touchstone not an exotic religion or meditation practice, but the natural world around us.

    magazine called “the coolest little startup in America.” Tom Szaky dropped out of Princeton a decade ago to found TerraCycle, a company that makes the nonrecyclable recyclable. TerraCycle is now at the forefront of the eco-capitalist movement, partnering with more than 35 million people in twenty countries in the collection of waste and transforming that waste into useful products. Creating trash cans from chip bags and plastic benches from cigarette butts, TerraCycle has redefined recycling. Revolution in a Bottle is a rollicking tale of entrepreneurial adventure and an essential guide to creating a company that’s good for people, good for profits, and good for the planet. Since Revolution in a Bottle was first published in 2009, TerraCycle has grown dramatically from a small company offering worm poop in a soda bottle to a pioneer of recycling worldwide. This completely revised and expanded edition continues the story of this incredible company.

    In ancient times, however, a wizard was actually a freelance intellectual whose main stock in trade was good advice, supported by a thorough education in agriculture, navigation, political and military science, languages, commerce, mathematics, medicine, and the natural sciences—in essence, the true Renaissance man.John Michael Greer proposes a modern mage for uncertain times; one who possesses a startling array of practical skills gleaned from the appropriate tech and organic gardening movements forged in the energy crisis of the 1970s. From the basic concepts of ecology to a plethora of practical techniques such as composting, green manure, low-tech food preservation and storage, small-scale chicken and rabbit raising, solar water heating, alternative energy sources, and more, Green Wizardry is a comprehensive manual for today's wizard-in-training.Providing a solid practical introduction to the entire appropriate tech toolkit, this book is a must-read for anyone concerned about decreasing our dependence on an overloaded industrial system and, in a world of serious energy shortages and economic troubles, making life a great deal less traumatic and more livable.John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history and an internationally renowned Peak Oil theorist whose blog The Archdruid Report has become one of the most widely cited online resources dealing with the future of industrial society. He is the author of more than thirty books, including The Wealth of Nature and The Long Descent.

    

    Explanation of this incongruity lies in the fact that sustainability efforts are rarely positioned to include food choice in an accurate or adequate manner. This is due to a number of influencing cultural, social, and political factors that disable our food production systems and limit our base of knowledge—falsely guiding us on a path of pseudo sustainability, while we devastate the ecosystems that support us, cause mass extinctions, and generate narrowing time lines because of our global footprint that will ultimately jeopardize our very survival as a civilization. Dr. Oppenlander’s goal with this book is to increase awareness in order to effect positive change—before it is too late. Food Choice and Sustainbility is a groundbreaking book, and given the urgency and magnitude of the problem, it’s a book that anyone who cares about our future and that of other species should read —individuals, academic institutions, businesses, organizations, and policy makers. Categories of global depletion are detailed, widely held myths are debunked, critical disconnects are exposed, and unique, profound solutions are offered. Food Choice and Sustainability also unveils a new model of multidimensional sustainability for developing countries to eradicate world hunger and poverty as it compels us all to become aware of the enormous effect of our food choices, make necessary changes, and then, inspire others to do the same. As Dr. Oppenlander explains, ""For most people, the word sustainable means “lasting a while” or “enduring” and unfortunately it’s usually customized or molded to fit a momentary need or want—all fairly subjective. For me, sustainability must account for the realities of time, space, relativity, and optimization. The concept of being sustainable must project beyond self to include society and future societies, human and non-human life—both domesticated and wild life. The thought of achieving sustainability must extend through many layers—economic, social, ethical—not just ecological—and ultimately be carried by our choice of foods."

    This toxic legacy impacts the environment, our health, our watersheds, and land that could otherwise be used to grow healthy local food and medicines. Conventional clean-up techniques employed by government and industry are tremendously expensive and resource-intensive and can cause further damage. More and more communities find themselves increasingly unable to rely on those companies and governments who created the problems to step in and provide solutions.Earth Repair describes a host of powerful grassroots bioremediation techniques, including:Microbial remediation—using microorganisms to break down and bind contaminantsPhytoremediation—using plants to extract, bind, and transform toxinsMycoremediation—using fungi to clean up contaminated soil and waterPacked with valuable, firsthand information from visionaries in the field, Earth Repair empowers communities and individuals to take action and heal contaminated and damaged land. Encompassing everything from remediating and regenerating abandoned city lots for urban farmers and gardeners to recovering from environmental disasters and industrial catastrophes such as oil spills and nuclear fallout, this fertile toolbox is essential reading for anyone who wishes to transform environmental despair into constructive action.Leila Darwish is a community organizer, urban gardener, and permaculture designer with a focus on using grassroots bioremediation to address environmental justice issues in communities struggling with toxic contamination of their land and drinking water.

    Deb has taken her twenty-five-plus years as a professional medicinal plant gardener and her life-time love of the earth and the plant people, and come up with something very special.This is a must-have book for anyone interested in gardening or the plant people. I promise you this book will be well read, well worn, and well loved. --Karyn Sanders, Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine"Deb Soule is overflowing with the healing wisdom of the plant world distilled through many years of study, experience and observation. Her reverence and respect for nature and deep intuitive capacities are evident in every page of this book. What a gift! --Robert Karp, Director of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Assocoation"Way beyond food, flowers, or medicine .... here is gardening as the mindful rhythm in harmony with all living souls." --C.R. Lawn, FEDCO Seeds"Herbalist Deb Soule offers the reader a beautifully written, heart-centered gardening book that reads as much like a prayer as it does a practical guide for all gardeners, new and experienced; sure to awaken and inspire one to explore creative ways of tending the rich life held in a well-loved garden. The author shares wisdom gleaned through years of cultivating not only soil and plants, but also her research and work with the pollinators, biodynamic practices and favorite tools used in growing simple herbal remedies to nourish the gardener as they heal the Earth. Honoring traditions, ancestors and the sacredness of carrying on the work of the wise herbalists that came before us, Deb reminds us of the blessing of being called to this work!" --Kate Gilday, Herbalist, Woodland Essence"The reader will find this book endowed with glorious offerings of rich nectar. It makes me want to go out and turn the compost pile." --Richo Ceck, Horizon HerbsContentsA gardener's Notebook Biodynamics: Agriculture i Service of the Earth and Humanity Living in Harmony with the Seasons Energetic and Elemental Associations of Plant Parts Growing, Harvesting, and Using Medicinal Herbs

    Market Farming Success identifies the key areas that usually trip up beginners--and shows how to avoid those obstacles. This book will help the aspiring or beginning farmer advance quickly and confidently through the inevitable learning curve of starting a new business. Written by the editor of Growing for Market, a respected trade journal for market farmers, Market Farming Success condenses decades of growing experience from every part of the United States and Canada. It focuses on the factors that are common to market gardeners everywhere and offers professional advice that includes: - How much you'll need to spend to start a market farming business; - How much you can expect to earn; - Which crops bring in the most money--and whether you should grow them; - The essential tools and equipment you will need; - The best places to sell your products; - How to keep records to maximize profits and minimize taxes; - Tricks of the trade that will make you more efficient in the greenhouse, field, and market. This new Chelsea Green edition of a 2006 classic is greatly updated and expanded, and includes full-color photos, charts, and graphs, plus many inspiring and instructive profiles of successful market-farming pioneers.

    Now, drawing on the green living lessons gained from 10 years of putting the Cradle to Cradle concept into practice with businesses, governments, and ordinary people, William McDonough and Michael Braungart envision the next step in the solution to our ecological crisis: We don't just use or reuse and recycle resources with greater effectiveness, we actually improve the natural world as we live, create, and build. For McDonough and Braungart, the questions of resource scarcity and sustainability are questions of design. They are practical-minded visionaries: They envision beneficial designs of products, buildings, and business practices—and they show us these ideas being put to use around the world as everyday objects like chairs, cars, and factories are being reimagined not just to sustain life on the planet but to grow it. It is an eye-opening, inspiring tour of our green future as it unfolds in front of us.The Upcycle is as ambitious as such classics as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring—but its mission is very different. McDonough and Braungart want to turn on its head our very understanding of the human role on earth: Instead of protecting the planet from human impact, why not redesign our activity to improve the environment? We can have a beneficial, sustainable footprint. Abundance for all. The goal is within our reach.

    Is it time to abandon the concept altogether, or can we find an accurate way to measure sustainability? If so, how can we achieve it? And if not, how can we best prepare for the coming ecological decline? In the latest edition of Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World series, scientists, policy experts, and thought leaders tackle these questions, attempting to restore meaning to sustainability as more than just a marketing tool. In State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?, experts define clear sustainability metrics and examine various policies and perspectives, including geoengineering, corporate transformation, and changes in agricultural policy, that could put us on the path to prosperity without diminishing the well-being of future generations. If these approaches fall short, the final chapters explore ways to prepare for drastic environmental change and resource depletion, such as strengthening democracy and societal resilience, protecting cultural heritage, and dealing with increased conflict and migration flows.State of the World 2013 cuts through the rhetoric surrounding sustainability, offering a broad and realistic look at how close we are to fulfilling it today and which practices and policies will steer us in the right direction. This book will be especially useful for policymakers, environmental nonprofits, and students of environmental studies, sustainability, or economics.

    From rural to urban, high tech to low tech, spiritual to secular, she discovered an under-the-radar global movement making positive and radical changes from the ground up. In this inspiring and insightful book, Karen Litfin shares her unique experience of these experiments in sustainable living through four broad windows - ecology, economics, community, and consciousness - or E2C2. Whether we live in an ecovillage or a city, she contends, we must incorporate these four key elements if we wish to harmonize our lives with our home planet. Not only is another world possible, it is already being born in small pockets the world over. These micro-societies, however, are small and time is short. Fortunately - as Litfin persuasively argues - their successes can be applied to existing social structures, from the local to the global scale, providing sustainable ways of living for generations to come. You can learn more about Karen's experiences on the Ecovillages website: http: //ecovillagebook.org/

    It applies ecological principles to designing gardens, farms, community projects, even entire human settlements. The standard seventy-two-hour Permaculture Design (PDC) course is taught all over the world to farmers, gardeners, design professionals, and world changers who want to practically create a healthier, more equitable planet. Rosemary Morrow offers evidence for permaculture's effectiveness and describes each unit of the PDC's curriculum. This fully revised and updated edition contains a wealth of technical information for teaching permaculture design and includes new findings in emerging disciplines such as regenerative agriculture. Earth User's Guide to Teaching Permaculture is of key relevance to teachers and students of architecture, landscape design, ecology, and other disciplines like geography, regenerative agriculture, agro-ecology, and agroforestry, as well as permaculture design. It leads the reader step by step through a recommended course structure, providing a flexible approach that encourages the adaptation of the materials for specific bioregional and cultural conditions. With advice on teaching aids, topics for class discussion, extensive reading lists, and tips on teaching adults, this book is bound to be an invaluable friend to the experienced and novice teacher alike.

    Harry Stoddart shares years of experience and knowledge in his quirky dissection of agriculture and what we eat. Among his many achievements, he has developed a farming system he believes is the starting point for genuinely sustainable agriculture. A sixth-generation farmer, Harry bought his parent’s swine confinement animal feeding operation two decades ago. He converted the farm to be a certified organic system and then to a new one he feels will transform the way we raise and grow our food. He shares this story and more with readers in Real Dirt: An Ex-industrial Farmer’s Guide to Sustainable Eating. Harry tackles the major food industry problems, delving into the science and economic issues surrounding sustainable farming. He navigates the “whys” and “hows” of GMOs, resistance-building doses of antibiotics, pesticides, and confinement animal housing, while elaborating on how he damaged the environment more in his first years as an organic farmer than as a conventional farmer. Harry skillfully educates eaters about how they can individually participate in and demand sustainable agriculture. Real Dirt challenges consumers to choose a better future for food production. “I found it very persuasive on many points. Also well written and clear and funny. Congratulations-- it's an important contribution to the conversation.”- Michael Pollan, Author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation (2013) and New York Times bestseller Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010)“The most important person to read the message contained in these pages is every consumer, and that's you! Your life will be better for it….You may be shocked but you won't be disappointed.”— Elwood Quinn, La Ferme Quinn, Rare Breeds Canada“[Real Dirt] provides the casual reader with a thoughtful and deeper understanding as to how society can have an impact on the way our food is produced…. Read it – you will be informed, entertained and find a personal role for your involvement in our food production practices.”— Dr. Frank Ingratta, Retired Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario“Real Dirt is a thoughtful and well researched look at our agriculture and food system…Real Dirt is a must read for anyone who is actually interested in learning about and discussing how to improve our food system for the long term.”— Rob Hannam, Owner, Synthesis Agri-Food Network

    Nature's facts essential to the designer's overall knowledge and understanding of form.

    The US green building market has expanded dramatically since 2008 and is projected to double in size by 2015 (from $42 billion in construction starts to $135 billion). But green-building pioneer Sim Van der Ryn says, “greening” our buildings is not enough.  He advocates for “empathic design”, in which a designer not only works in concert with nature, but with an understanding of and empathy for the end user and for ones self.  It is not just one of these connections, but all three that are necessary to design for a future that is more humane, equitable, and resilient. Sim’s lifelong focus has been in shifting the paradigm in architecture and design. Instead of thinking about design primarily in relation to the infrastructure we live in and with—everything from buildings to wireless routing—he advocates for a focus on the people who use and are affected by this infrastructure. Basic design must include a real understanding of human ecology or end-user preferences. Understanding ones motivations and spirituality, Sim believes, is critical to designing with empathy for natural and human communities. In Design for an Empathic World Van der Ryn shares his thoughts and experience about the design of our world today. With a focus on the strengths and weaknesses in our approach to the design of our communities, regions, and buildings he looks at promising trends and projects that demonstrate how we can help create a better world for others and ourselves. Architects, urban designers, and students of architecture will all enjoy this beautifully illustrated book drawing on a rich and revered career of a noted leader in their field. The journey described in Design for an Empathic World will help to inspire change and foster the collaboration and thoughtfulness necessary to achieve a more empathic future.

    A user's guide for dismantling modern civilization.

    In its place she proposes 'breakthrough thinking' an approach that recognizes the gritty reality we face but enables us to envision and co-create a world of wellbeing and health.Part I looks at the stories we tell about our world and our limited ways of perceiving it.Part II outlines new tools for understanding ourselves and the social and data revolutions we are part of.Part III sets out ways we can take action together to create the world of the possible, a thriving world, a world that works.

    Ehrenfeld, and his former student now professor, Andrew J. Hoffman, as they discuss how to create a sustainable world. Unlike virtually all other books about sustainability, this one goes beyond the typical stories that we tell ourselves about repairing the environmental damages of human progress.Through their dialogue and essays that open each section, the authors uncover two core facets of our culture that drive the unsustainable, unsatisfying, and unfair social and economic machines that dominate our lives. First, our collective model of the way the world works cannot cope with the inherent complexity of today's highly connected, high-speed reality. Second, our understanding of human behavior is rooted in this outdated model. Driven by the old guard, sustainability has become little more than a fashionable idea. As a result, both business and government are following the wrong path—at best applying temporary, less unsustainable solutions that will fail to leave future generations in better shape.To shift the pendulum, this book tells a new story, driven by being and caring, as opposed to having and needing, rooted in the beauty of complexity and arguing for the transformative cultural shift that we can make based on our collective wisdom and lived experiences. Then, the authors sketch out the road to a flourishing future, a change in our consumption and a new approach to understanding and acting.There is no middle ground; without a sea change at the most basic level, we will continue to head down a faulty path. Indeed, this book is a clarion call to action. Candid and insightful, it leaves readers with cautious hope.

    This book will tell you how.

    Brilliant! is about what happens when you harness the power of imagination and innovation: the world changes for the better! Full of examples of unusual (and often peculiar) power sources, Brilliant! encourages kids to look around for new and sustainable ways to light up the world.

    Offering expert tips on selecting the right site, choosing the best cultivars, designing and maintaining a sustainable orchard, and efficiently harvesting fruit, Barney also helps you develop a viable business plan, acquire necessary organic certifications, and identify niche markets for your products.

    It includes in-depth analysis of fifteen materials, fourteen processes, and six production life cycles, supplemented by specially commissioned photographs and diagrams.

    Now, we're surrounded by human-made frequencies that challenge our health and survival. An Electric Silent Spring reports the effects of electrification and wireless devices on people, plants, bee colonies, and frogs around the globe. It presents solutions for people who want to reduce their exposure to electromagnetic radiation. This pioneering book is for anyone concerned about the health of the environment and the people and other creatures that inhabit it.

    The book describes the intense, personal connections between Manggarai individuals and certain places a

    Enjoy natural vitality and superior sexuality through the breathing, movement and sound techniques of Reichian therapy and breathwork. Explore techniques developed by Wilhelm Reich to dissolve pent-up tensions, which he called armoring. Learn to loosen and dissolve the armoring to allow for the removal of tensions and the creation of new links between the body and mind. People learn to hold back basic needs and feelings which they have been taught to be inappropriate. An enormous amount of time and energy is spent suppressing these instincts, especially during childhood and traumatic events. Reich called the resulting blockages armoring. A most effective way to free blocked energies is through the breathing and movement techniques of Reichian therapy. Individual Reichian breathwork sessions are taught in this practical book. Anyone can improve their vitality, inspiration and passion through the breathing, movement and sound techniques of Reichian therapy revealed here. The pioneering therapist Wilhelm Reich developed these techniques in the early 20th century. He is commonly considered to be the grandfather of all deep emotional release forms of bodywork now practiced by medical doctors, chiropractors, and therapists around the world. This book teaches us to achieve our full potential, heal emotional wounds, and to create greater self-esteem and a stronger sense of well-being.

    The unprecedented urban growth in China presents a crucial development for studies on globalization and urban transformation. This concise and engaging book examines the past trajectories, present conditions, and future prospects of Chinese urbanization, by investigating five key themes - governance, migration, landscape, inequality, and cultural economy. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the literature and original research materials, Ren offers a critical account of the Chinese urban condition after the first decade of the twenty-first century. She argues that the urban-rural dichotomy that was artificially constructed under socialism is no longer a meaningful lens for analyses and that Chinese cities have become strategic sites for reassembling citizenship rights for both urban residents and rural migrants. The book is essential reading for students and scholars of urban and development studies with a focus on China, and all interested in understanding the relationship between state, capitalism, and urbanization in the global context.

    Char Miller examines this borderland region through a native's eyes and contemplates its considerable conflicts. Internal to the various US states and Mexico's northern tier, there are struggles over water, debates over undocumented immigrants, the criminalizing of the border, and the region's evolution into a no-man's land.The book investigates how we live on this contested land --how we make our place in its oft-arid terrain; an ecosystem that burns easily and floods often and defies our efforts to nestle in its foothills, canyons, and washes.Exploring the challenges in the Southwest of learning how to live within this complex natural system while grasping its historical and environmental frameworks. Understanding these framing devices is critical to reaching the political accommodations necessary to build a more generous society, a more habitable landscape, and a more just community, whatever our documented status or species.

    Whether you live in a large city, in open countryside or by the coast, if you open your eyes and follow Fiona's advice, you will find more ingredients growing in the wild than you could imagine. And once you have brought your bounty home, there are more than 100 recipes for you to try. If you love baking, try the carrot and clover cake, wild hazelnut shortbread or sea lettuce madeleines. Make the most of a hedgerow glut by making honeysuckle jelly or quince and wild thyme sorbet. Try a food-for-free main course of chanterelle puffs or wild mussels steamed with dandelions, or a quick snack of garlic mustard, chickweed and tomato bruschetta. Or indulge your tastebuds with wild berry and herb marshmallows or a wild cherry panna cotta. The Forager's Kitchen will change the way you cook - rather than shopping in the aisles of your grocery store, head off to the great outdoors and you will be amazed by the sheer quantity of food that available for free.

    This book presents an accessible overview of environmentally friendly technologies for managing animal manure more efficiently and in a sustainable manner.

    Information about moving off grid contained within includes a wide range of subject chapters including, among many others: Steps to Off-Grid Success, Personal Privacy, Communication Methods & Techniques, Water Collection & Storage, Sustainable Organic Farming, Proper Crop Irrigation Methods, Growing Fruits, Growing Herbs & Vegetables, Raising Chickens, Raising Goats & Rabbits, Canine Protection, Tilapia Fish Production, Raising Bees for Honey & Wax, Baking Bread & Healthy Desserts, Making Wine from Fresh Fruit, Preserving Food, Renewable Energy Production, Heating & Cooling Methods, Internet Communication & Entertainment, Making Bio-Diesel, Personal and Family Protection, Community Formation, Structured Savings, Bartering For Supplies and much more information!

    Furthermore, many of the social and environmental concerns that are embodied in the term 'sustainability' are directly or indirectly related to design. Designers help to define our human made environment - how it is produced, how it is used, and how long it endures. Despite some forty years of development and increased awareness of the critical relationships that exist between design decisions and modes of production, energy use, environmental impacts, the nature of work and human exploitation, design for sustainability is still not widely understood or followed. The Handbook of Design for Sustainability presents a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of this crucial subject - its development, its methods, its practices and its potential futures.Bringing together leading international scholars and new researchers to provide a substantive insight into the latest thinking and research within the field, The Handbook covers a breadth of historical and theoretical understandings and includes a series of original essays that explore methods and approaches for designers and design educators.The Handbook presents the first systematic overview of the subject that, in addition to methods and examples, includes historical perspectives, philosophical approaches, business analyses, educational insights and emerging thinking. It is an invaluable resource for design researchers and students as well as design practitioners and private and public sector organizations wishing to develop more sustainable directions.

    It offers a unique decade-by-decade retrospective of the key issues in environmental design, beginning with the most recent years and looking back to the 1960s. With an introductory chapter and further recommended reading for each decade, this book is key reading for any architect or designer practising today, and students will find a wealth of knowledge with which to support their studies. The author's beautiful illustrations, painted in a corresponding timescale to the chapters, offer further insight into the way he understands the challenges of humanity's stewardship of our planet.

    In Sustainable Ceramics, pioneer Robert Harrison draws on more than four decades of making, and a wealth of experience shared by other artists to present practical possibilities for ceramic artists.This book covers all the factors to consider when going 'green', from fuels and alternative firing technology to energy-saving methods, sustainable ways to collect and use clay itself, and ways to deal with or recycle waste materials and save water. He suggests simple and achievable methods by which to reduce the carbon footprint of ceramic art, and draws on interviews and examples throughout by practitioners who reclaim, reuse and recycle in their studio or work.Sustainable Ceramics is an essential resource for any ceramicist, studio or school looking for ideas on how to reduce the impact of their practice on the environment.

    Any way of life that is fully in balance with the family of life must be genuinely sustainable, a healthy path with a future. At present, too few really comprehend this concept. It would be wise to learn, and Sustainable or Bust is a useful tool for the job. Seven-point-something billion people can't switch to sustainable living this afternoon, because it's temporarily impossible. But the collapse of industrial civilization is now in its early stages, and when it's done, the human sphere will be much smaller, slower, and simpler. Decades down the road, many new options will become possible, including genuine sustainability. We could help our descendants find a more direct path to health and balance by learning about sustainability now, and sharing this wisdom with the young ones. There's never been a better time to hit the books and feed our minds - before the lights go out. Nothing can change until ideas change. My first book, What Is Sustainable, presented an introduction to genuine sustainability, with an emphasis on food. Sustainable or Bust is a collection of 64 book reviews, and 16 rants. It's a gallery of thinkers, scholars, and ideas that might make "normal" minds itch and squirm. This book is for pilgrims who are awake, alive, and weary of normal - minds hungry for outside-the-box ideas. I don't expect to see the end of the collapse. What the survivors, if any, choose to do is entirely beyond my control. I am not responsible for the decisions they make, but I am responsible for doing what I can to help them understand their history, predicament, and options. Who are we? Where are we from? How did we get here?

    This comprehensive guide looks at every plant group from trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals to vegetables, herbs, bulbs, and climbers. With information on the habitat, appearance and cultivation of each plan type, The Essential Plant Guide is your one stop reference with indispensible advice on planning, creating and nurturing your garden.