Sustainability Books Column

Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World

by Jared Green (Princeton Architectural Press)

Designed for the Future is a collection of 80 projects that use sustainability design to improve life in communities and cities around the world. The author asked architects, urban planners, journalists, and artists, “What gives you hope that a sustainable future is possible?” Their imaginative answers give an inspirational look at the innovative designs of the future. Complete with pictures of landscapes and buildings, the book offers one-page overviews of each project. With a variety of ideas, from cooling strategies employed by ancient temple cities of Cambodia to mushroom ‘ecoboard’ that can replace Styrofoam, the book tells an amazing story on every page about how people are already designing more sustainable ways of life.

Architects, planners and academics have shifted their philosophies towards integrating natural systems into their practices to reduce buildings' impacts and even enhance the ecological systems surrounding it. One initiative depicted is green infrastructure, a technique that uses living systems to protect coastlines from hurricane devastation. It is a tactic the US Army Corps of Engineers is committed to for future coastline resiliency projects. An alternative to hard infrastructure like steel, concrete, sea walls, and pipes, soft or ‘green’ infrastructure harnesses elements found in nature to adapt by mitigating storm water surges, preventing floods and improving areas’ ecological health. Green infrastructure practices have been adopted by planners and communities across the country organizing to plant trees that counteract erosion, rooftop gardens that reduce building heat and permeable pavement that allows for greater absorption of water, lessening flooding and restoring groundwater aquifers.

By showing the many ways people around the world are designing building projects with positive social impact that make their communities more resilient, this book is not only a great coffeetable book for anyone, but especially inspiring for environmental or architecture enthusiasts.

Afterburn: Society Beyond Fossil Fuels by Richard Heinberg (New Society Publishers)

Afterburn consists of 15 essays that thoughtfully and thoroughly delve into the movement away from fossil fuels and why the transition is so necessary. The book provides facts and point-by-point explanations about the negative repercussions of fossil fuel use that ripple out to affect economic, social and environmental conditions. The essays cover a broad array of societal ills that stem from the dependence on fossil fuels and how the intangible consequences manifest themselves in people’s everyday lives. Also touching upon systemic issues related to consumerism and the never-ending growth model of capitalism, Heinberg articulates the linkages between these challenges through a range of lenses.

A great read for any policy enthusiast or climate reality wonk who wants clear cut examples of how the fossil fuel economy has been degrading the quality of life on planet Earth. This book can be of great use to environmental supporters who would like some extra ammunition to debate our addiction to fossil fuels at their next cocktail party. The analysis also identifies cultural ties to the use of fossil fuels and the unsustainable paradox that the fossil fuel industry has entrenched us in. Afterburn does point towards the light at the end of the dark tunnel by acknowledging the steps already being taken to reduce the use and economic dependence on fossil fuels, and illustrates the possibility for the dirty energy to be phased out of society — and what our world would look like with clean energy.

The Great Transition paints an inspiring image of a better world that runs on energy generated from the natural elements of our planet. This book pulls no punches by stressing the need to transition off of fossil fuels because its negative impact on the planet is no longer in the distant future, but a problem that is surrounding our civilization today as it strives to work better and cleaner. Brown, a researcher and founder of the Earth Policy Institute, outlines the current decline of oil and coal and the emergence of clean energy sources from the sun and wind. Brown unpacks the ways in which fossil fuel use is ramping down and clean energy is surging upward faster than anyone had anticipated. The comprehensive analysis and visionary articulation detail how the adoption of renewable energy can be, and has been, driven forward by policy, economics and progressive industry leaders. Detailing the benefits of renewable energy to our economy as well as our environment, this book makes a no-nonsense proposal of a cleaner and more resilient society.

Brown focuses on the economic benefits of supporting energy that could create the enormous opportunity for innovation and job growth that America so desperately needs, utilizing geothermal and hydropower. The Great Transition is easy to read, with hard-hitting statistics and anecdotes of why we need to transition to renewable energy and how it can transform our country and our world for the better.

Living the Farm Sanctuary Life by Gene Baur

(Rodale Books)

Author Gene Baur, who Time magazine referred to as “the conscience of the food movement,” presents alternative ways of living that harmonize an individual’s spirit with the life-sustaining resources and creatures that surround them. Equal parts life guide, farm anecdotes and food philosophy, the book contains inspiring and heart-warming stories about life at the Farm Sanctuary, an organization that rescues and protects animals from cruetly and abuse, that teach simpler and healthier ways of eating and living. Peppered with healthy recipes, the book explains how we can reform our diet to live in a more mindful and sustainable way. Baur focuses on awareness of our choices as consumers, workers and individuals.

This book includes instructions on how everyone can learn to feel better by living, working and eating more sustainably. It contains tidbits of knowledge about how the reader can be a catalyst for change in their own community as well as greater platforms to advance sustainability that they can support. This cook book and life motivator is a breezy read to both reflect on the food system and to learn helpful life techniques that are sustainable and spiritually revitalizing.

Click here to see the book previews in Ft.Myers Magazine.