Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins ISBN: 0-316-35300-0 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 12 October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.38 (48 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: US needs to realize one thing
Comment: Natural Capitalism was about how buisneses and individuals can live more sustainably. The book was writeen around four central stratagies; radical resource productivity, biomomicry, serice and flow economy, and investing in natural capital. The second chapter gave an example of a radical resource productivity by using hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cells reverse electrolysis combining Hydrogen abd Oxegyn thus saving the oil supple. One of the strong emphasis of this book was biomicry, which is when industrial processes mimic those found in nature. Photovoltaic cells are an example that was brought up in this book Service and flow economy was mentioned as being the shift from providing goods for sale to leasing services taht manufacturers would be responsiblw throughout its liftime. Investing in natural capital would be used to rebuild the resources weve degraded.
One of the best aspects of this book was that it gave practical suggestions for how people can help renew and conserve the envrironment. It not onle pointe out the environental benifits, but also the financial and practical benifits such as lower electricity costs, cleaner air, higher productivity rates, and more money being used for education instead of companies who pollute the air and earth. A disavadtage of this book is that it was a bit redundent. It emphasized the same points over and over again in similar ways.
Rating: 5
Summary: Highly important for shaping the future
Comment: This was one of those books that took me weeks to read simply because of the fact that it was so disturbingly real and struck home so well that when read before bed there was no sleeping to be had. I had the honor of seeing Paul Hawkin speak in person at the Oregon Sustainability Forum this month in downtown Portland. It is obvious how moving Paul finds the issues confronted in this book, that are faced by every member of the human race, and every other race, on the planet today. The authors of Natural Capitalism bring heartening, encouraging, and inspiring tales of communities that are successfully implementing the concepts presented here as well as the grim facts associated with current capitalist, industrialist society. If you are at all interested in the future of business, your community, and the planet I highly recomment this book.
Here are some favorite passages:
This section relating directly to my life in a cubicle company :o) :"People are not simple uniform entities that thrive in a box. They are, rather, complex living organisms that evolved in and still function best in a dynamic and divers environment."..."People are happier, healthier, and more alert unders subtly dynamic than under constant conditions."..."Buildings that are alternately a solar oven or a walk-in refrigerator, with discomfort and energy bills to match, are coming to be seen as unacceptable. In the rapidly arriving era of green design, buildings that cost more than they should to construct and run and that work worse, look worse, and make informed customers feel worse than they demand will simply stand empty. - P 88
"At first, Winston Churchill said, we shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape our lives. This high purpose requires designs that celebrate life over sterility, restraint over extravagance, beauty over tawdriness. Green buildings do not poison the air with fumes nor the soul with artificiality Instead, they create delight when entered, serenity and health when occupied, and regret when departed. They grow organically in and from their place, integrating people within the rest of the natural world; do no harm to their occupants or to the earth; foster more diverse and abundant life than they borrow; take less than they give back. Achieving all this hand in hand with functionality and profitability requires a level of design integration that is not merely a technical task but an asthetic and spiritual challenge. - P 110
"In the face of this relentless loss of living systems, fractious political conflicts over laws, regulations, and business economics appear petty and small. It is not that these issues are unimportant, but that they ignore the larger context. Are we or are we not systematically reducing life and the capacity to re-create order on earth? This is the level on which our discource should take place, for it is there that a framework for both understanding and action can be formulated. In spite of what such signals as the GDP and the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicate, it is ultimately the capacity of the photosynthetic world and its nutrient flows that determine the quality of life on earth." - P 149
Rating: 1
Summary: Nothing new Here
Comment: I find that this book fails to live up to expectations as
the authors are treading old water. Their idea of
Radical Resource Productivity, is already happening and
is a natural progression, sometimes taking longer than
we would hope, but nonetheless inevitable. They seem more
interested in Social Engineering than Economics, and simply
make observations about things already taking place, while
sprinkling in some projections for good measure.
If you're looking for ideas read Fuller's Critical Path, written
in 1981. His ideas are original and groundbreaking for the
time. Reading Natural Capitalism, I honestly felt like I was
attending a lecture given by people lauding mother nature.
I agree with their ideals and think that by and large many of the
methods can be implemented, over time, but the book isn't ground
breaking, and it fails to truly discuss economic factors, which
are so crucial to the success or failure of these methods. The
bottom line is there isn't enough practical discussion of the
factors holding these methods back. If there were it might be
possible for the authors to cut through them. Too often there are
economic factors holding companies back from making improvements
they may be fully aware would help them. That is one reason these
changes take time, lack of capital (not natural).
I think the authors are dreaming of a future that could
not possibly unfold as easily and seamlessly as they entail.
 |
Title: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough, Michael Braungart ISBN: 0865475873 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 22 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability by Paul Hawken ISBN: 0887307043 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: August, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: Biomimicry : Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine M. Benyus ISBN: 0060533226 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth by Lester R. Brown ISBN: 0393321932 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 05 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Corporation (Conscientious Commerce) by Brian Nattrass, Mary Altomare, Brian Naijrass ISBN: 0865713847 Publisher: New Society Pub Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
