Lessons from Nature: Learning To Live Sustainably On The Earth - Hardcover

Chiras, Daniel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1559631074 ISBN 13: 9781559631075

Publisher: Island Press, 1992

Synopsis

Citizens concerned about the environment are taking up the call for a new, sustainable lifestyle. Lessons from Nature tells us what sustainability really means, and how we can achieve it.
Daniel Chiras brings the concept of sustainability to life, defining it in a variety of contexts--economic, biological, political, and ethical. He also explores creative, practical ways we can apply the principles of sustainability to agriculture, industry, transportation, and other aspects of modern life.
Chiras views the environmental crisis as an opportunity to redirect society away from short-term, stopgap solutions toward a new world ethic based on living in harmony with nature. He offers a fresh, bold vision of the future in which all human endeavors, from international policies to individual actions, unite us in our effort to save the planet.
Lessons from Nature is foremost about solutions. It opens with a frank discussion of the scope and causes of our current crisis. Next, it examines key trends in population, agriculture, energy, biological diversity, pollution, and solid waste disposal, offering feasible, affordable suggestions to put them back on a sustainable course. Chiras offers numerous examples of positive actions on the part of individuals, corporations, and governments throughout the United States and the international community, and he sets a clear agenda for additional action.

About this title

From Library Journal

According to Chiras, because present-day industrial development ignores the laws of nature, our society is doomed to destroy itself. Unless new, sustainable forms of business, agriculture, and government are adopted soon, the earth may be damaged beyond saving. Chiras proposes that humanity immediately begin to learn from nature how to organize societies that run on a sustainable basis. Yet, for all the author's examples and good ideas, this book isn't convincing. As a companion to other works on this topic, including Senator Al Gore's Earth in the Balance ( LJ 1/92), it would serve as reinforcement, but it doesn't stand on its own very well. For comprehensive collections only. Previewed in "Sources for Sustaining the Earth," LJ 5/15/92, p. 116-17.
- Randy Dykhuis, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1559631074
• ISBN 13: 9781559631075
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 303