Drawing on modern science and ancient Greek philosophy, this book calls on us to explore our collective and personal convictions about success and good life. It challenges the mainstream worldview, rooted in economics, that equates happiness with pleasure, and encourages greed, materialism, egoism and disconnection.

Climate change is currently presented by campaign groups and scientists as an impossibly daunting threat. On the face of it, it would seem we must make impossible sacrifices if we want to do our bit for the environment and lead more sustainable, less damaging lives. This book shows that isn't the case at all. It brings together household names who share a conviction that, on the contrary, living well needn't cost the earth - and will tell you why and how.Their collective vision, covering areas from architecture and politics to food and happiness, will completely reframe the way you think about climate change and what you're willing to do about it. Far from the usual doom and gloom, many here argue that climate change presents a once-in-a-century opportunity to address a whole basket of problems with energy and imagination. If we get things right, instead of an environmental apocalypse we could end up in a win-win situation - with both more satisfying lives and robust answers to these pressing, seemingly unsurmountable, problems.Contributions include: Phillip Pullman, A C Grayling, Oliver James and John Bird on love, happiness and telling tales Kevin McCloud, Nic Marks, Stephen Bayley and Wayne Hemmingway on good design. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Colin Tudge and Rosie Boycott on good and sustainable food. David Cameron and Caroline Lucas on the politics of the good life. Tom Hodgkinson, David Boyle and David Goldblatt on having a good time. Anita Roddick, Adair Turner, Ann Pettifor and Larry Elliott on good business and work.

So often, our view of the good life is the busy, exhausted, driven, and unhappy life. But what if there was a different way to live--now, not when we get to heaven, but now? A short list of “blessings” called the Beatitudes is Jesus’ declaration of what “the good life” is, and an invitation to immerse ourselves in it. If we understand the Beatitudes, we realize they are less about what we do and more about what God is doing--what God values, how he operates, and what’s he’s up to in our (actually his) world. Authors Seidman and Graves offer a practical guide to changing our course to realize the good life now.

Living Naturally and Practically in the 21st CenturyAlicia Bay Laurel's iconic Living on the Earth is finally back in print in a 50th anniversary edition, revised and updated with new material. This book hit the homesteading, back-to-earth crowd like a whirlwind in the 1970s and its elemental wisdom and advice hasn't diminished over the decades since. Widely acclaimed in such publications as The Village Voice and The Whole Earth Catalog-which stated "this may be the best book in the catalog"-Living on the Earth gives guidance on such things as: ·Backpacking·Making soap·Canning and drying·Herbal medicine·Gardening·First aid·Weaving and homemade dyes·Musical instruments·Making dress patternsAnd so much more-the variety of topics covered is astounding. Readers will be educated, enlightened and entertained perusing this landmark work.242 pages, original line illustrations throughout

Worldwide, half a million people die from air pollution each year-more than perish in all wars combined. One in every five mammal species on the planet is threatened with extinction. Our climate is warming, our forests are in decline, and every day we hear news of the latest ecological crisis. What will it really take to move society onto a more sustainable path? Many of us are already doing the "little things" to help the earth, like recycling or buying organic produce. These are important steps-but they're not enough. In Who Rules the Earth?, Paul Steinberg, a leading scholar of environmental politics, shows that the shift toward a sustainable world requires modifying the very rules that guide human behavior and shape the ways we interact with the earth. We know these rules by familiar names like city codes, product design standards, business contracts, public policies, cultural norms, and national constitutions. Though these rules are largely invisible, their impact across the planet has been dramatic. By changing the rules, Ontario, Canada has cut the levels of pesticides in its waterways in half. The city of Copenhagen has adopted new planning codes that will reduce its carbon footprint to zero by 2025. In the United States, a handful of industry mavericks designed new rules to promote greener buildings, and transformed the world's largest industry into a more sustainable enterprise. Steinberg takes the reader on a series of journeys, from a familiar walk on the beach to a remote village deep in the jungles of Peru, helping the reader to "see" the social rules that pattern our physical reality and showing why these are the big levers that will ultimately determine the health of our planet. By unveiling the influence of social rules at all levels of society-from private property to government policy, and from the rules governing our oceans to the dynamics of innovation and change within corporations and communities-Who Rules the Earth? is essential reading for anyone who understands that sustainability is not just a personal choice, but a political struggle.

The potential conflict among economic and ecological goals has formed the central fault line of environmental politics in the United States and most other countries since the 1970s. The accepted view is that efforts to protect the environment will detract from economic growth, jobs, and global competitiveness. Conversely, much advocacy on behalf of the environment focuses on the need to control growth and avoid its more damaging effects. This offers a stark choice between prosperity and growth, on the one hand, and ecological degradation on the other. Stopping or reversing growth in most countries is unrealistic, economically risky, politically difficult, and is likely to harm the very groups that should be protected. At the same time, a strategy of unguided "growth above all" would cause ecological catastrophe. Over the last decade, the concept of green growth -- the idea that the right mix of policies, investments, and technologies will lead to beneficial growth within ecological limits -- has become central to global and national debates and policy due to the financial crisis and climate change. As Daniel J. Fiorino argues, in order for green growth to occur, ecological goals must be incorporated into the structure of the economic and political systems. In this book, he looks at green growth, a vast topic that has heretofore not been systematically covered in the literature on environmental policy and politics. Fiorino looks at its role in global, national, and local policy making; its relationship to sustainable development; controversies surrounding it (both from the left and right); its potential role in ameliorating inequality; and the policy strategies that are linked with it. The book also examines the political feasibility of green growth as a policy framework. While he focuses on the United States, Fiorino will draw comparisons to green growth policy in other countries, including Germany, China, and Brazil.