Radical simplicity : small footprints on a finite earth / Jim Merkel ; foreword by Vicki Robin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Merkel, Jim.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human ecology.

Sustainable development.

Nature--Effect of human beings on.

Nature.

Simplicity.

Conduct of life.

Lifestyles.

Physical Description:

xxi, 248 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Gabriola, B.C. : New Society Publishers, 2003.

Summary:

Imagine you are first in line at a potluck buffet. The spread includes not just food and water, but all the materials needed for shelter, clothing, healthcare, and education. How do you know how much to take? How much is enough to leave for your neighbors behind you -- not just the six billion people, but the wildlife, and the as-yet-unborn? Many people feel the need to change their own lifestyles as a tangible way of transforming our unsustainable culture. Radical Simplicity is the first book to guide you toward a personal sustainability goal, and then offer a way to lower your footprint to be more equitable among all people, species, and generations. Using three tools -- including steps from Your Money or Your Life and techniques from Our Ecological Footprint -- it enables you to customize your own journey to sustainability. A practical, personal answer to 21st century challenges, Radical Simplicity will appeal to a wide range of people including spiritual seekers, policy makers and sustainability professionals.

Contents:

Part I Journey to simplicity 1

Chapter 1 Building the Case for Global Living 2

Inside Ourselves 6

Outside Ourselves 6

We Have No Other Choice 9

Chapter 2 A Culture of Global Living 11

Material 12

Non-material 13

Three Sacred Cows 13

Lovable Limits 16

Chapter 3 Sustainability in Action 17

Learning from the Chumash 20

The Muir Trail 22

Learning from Kerala 26

Theories 33

Experiences 35

Practical Lessons 36

The Kani 39

Leaving Kerala 41

The Global Living Project 44

The Findings 45

Part II Three Tools 51

Chapter 4 Sharing the Earth 52

Living Equitably 54

Inter-species Equity 54

Inter-human Equity 58

Inter-generational Equity 62

The Sustainability Sweatshop 67

Part 1 Simple Goal Setting 67

Part 2 Tough, Sweaty Goal Setting 68

Part 3 Cool-down and Visualization 71

Three Tools 72

Ecological Footprinting 72

Your Money Or Your Life 72

Learning From Nature 72

Whole Systems 73

Chapter 6 The First Tool

Ecological Footprinting 75

Footprinting Science 76

What's In a Footprint? 77

Calculating Footprints 81

How Big is My Footprint? 83

How Big is My Paycheck? 83

Quick Footprint Quiz 86

The Footprinting Calculator 94

Footprinting Language 95

Using the Calculator 96

Fine-tuning the Calculator 98

Making Comparisons 98

Footprinting 110

Step 1 Flows 112

Step 2 Taking Stock 113

Step 3 Determining Your Footprint 122

Chapter 7 The Second Tool

Your Money or Your Life 123

The Nine Steps of YMOYL 124

The Family of Fulfillment Curves 124

Four Qualities and Six Realities of "Enoughness" 125

Why is this Tool so Timely? 127

The Making of a Movement 128

Success Stories 130

Ways to Use This Tool 131

Financial Independence 131

Periodic Financial Independence 131

Flexible Work 132

A Job You Truly Believe In? 132

Restorative Employment 132

The First Five Steps 132

Step 1 Making Peace with the Past 133

Step 2 Being in the Present 134

Step 3 Where is it All Going? 134

Step 4 Three Questions that will Transform Your Life 135

Step 5 Making Life Energy Visible 136

Chapter 8 The Third Tool

Learning From Nature 138

Courting the Wild 138

Fear of Nature 139

Being in Nature 140

Secret Spot 140

Walking Meditation 141

Owl Walk 141

Vision Quest 141

Doing in Nature 142

Day Walks 142

Tracking 142

Overnights 142

Human-powered Activity 143

Harvesting Wild Foods and Medicines 143

Harvesting Fuel and Fiber 143

Harvesting Fertility 144

Vegetable Gardening 144

Studying Nature 144

Watersheds 144

Identification and Behavior 145

Ecology 145

Biomimicry 146

At Home in Nature 146

Part III Integration 149

Chapter 9 Applying the Tools 150

Getting Strategic 151

Big-ticket Items 151

Low-hanging Fruit 152

The Triple Bottom Line Test 154

Improving Energy Efficiency 156

Efficiency's Caution 158

Guiding Principles 158

Good Old-fashioned Principles 158

Permaculture Principles 159

Spiritual Principles 162

Chapter 10 The Wiseacre Challenge 164

Who Lives on One Wiseacre? 166

Experiencing Poverty 167

Wiseacre Scenarios 168

Wiseacre Food 169

Wiseacre Housing 173

Wiseacre Transportation 176

Wiseacre Goods and Services 178

Wiseacre Stocks 179

Wiseacre Wastes 180

Chapter 11 The One-hundred-year Plan 182

Freely Choosing to Have Fewer Children 184

The One-hundred-year Plan 185

Who Is Having Small Families 186

Making it Personal

The Options 188

Simplified Population Model 189

One-child Families 189

Two-child Families 189

Three-child Families 190

Family Size Versus Wild Space 190

Sustainability and Family Size 191

Chapter 12 Toward a Sustainable Future 193

Appendix A Footprint Factors 203

Appendix B Footprinting Worksheets 211

Appendix C YMOYL Worksheets 223

Appendix D Wiseacre Worksheets 234.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0865714738

OCLC:

52920557