ABSTRACT

This book emphasizes how we already have the technologies available, including renewable energy and the ability to recycle most materials, to make ecological living possible and that perceived barriers to energy transitions can be overcome.

Human life relies upon two systems: the biosphere and the system that produces our goods and services. Today, these two systems are in conflict, and we all face the question of whether we can stop damaging our environment while still supplying the essential goods and services we have come to depend on. Ecological Living presents an optimistic vision of our future by showing how decoupling the productive system from resource extraction is possible, and how this is a key means of achieving an equitable world within environmental limits. For long-term sustainability, the book argues that we must become more efficient in the use of our resources so that resource extraction, and the accompanying environmental costs, can be reduced.

Demonstrating the essential steps towards a just and sustainable world, Ecological Living will be of great interest to all students, academics, and policymakers working in the field of environment and sustainability.

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|5 pages

Ecological living

chapter 3|6 pages

Ecological living and material decoupling

chapter 4|61 pages

Is decoupling possible?

chapter 5|26 pages

Ecological living and material resources

chapter 6|61 pages

Renewable energy

chapter 7|32 pages

Agriculture

chapter 8|15 pages

Recycling

chapter 10|31 pages

What would ecological living be like?