Eric wrote:
>Though I have not read the book, I will throw my ideas out anyway. So,
>what else is new : ) It sounds like a moderately shallow approach to
>"greening the home environment". There seems to be some basic "un-green"
>assumptions:
>- that we should live in what most of us recognize as a standard house,
>- that choosing this product over that product is good enough,
>- that a house is "safe" if it's not toxic,
>- that it's okay to pollute elsewhere, as long as it doesn't off-gas in the
> home,
>- that Nature is rather harsh and should be kept at a distance or tamed,
>- that if we're "careful", we can still do what we've been doing,
>- that a little tweak here or there is all it will take to make everything
> okay.
Yes, another (supporting) viewpoint is: Sustainability is a
process and while we are moving from unsustainable to
sustainable we will be utilizing many unsustainable
practices. It is the direction the process is headed that
matters. On another list you said:
Sustainable is one side of a continuum, unsustainable the
other. They are divided by a point in the middle. At the
extremes are devastation and invigoration. Sustainable
means that the system in question will continue to function
at a level of vitality relative to the degree of benefit or
destruction and disruption caused by one's actions.
Unsustainable means that the destruction and disruption of
one's actions will not allow the system to continue; the
system will progressively degrade, at a speed relative to
the level of destruction and disruption of one's actions,
and at some time cease to function.
So... it is ok for the chemically sensitive to use unstainable
practices to survive. If the process of living is moving towards
sustainability and not converging on unsustainability it is ok.
Each of us can choose the rate of progress and steps which fit
our lifestyle. What we do not want to change are the ethics,
direction of travel, ongoing education, and basic components
that keep us inside a "process".
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
