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Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Review
Worldchanging is packed with information, resources, reviews, and ideas that give readers access to the tools they need to build a better future. Written by a diverse collaborative of innovators, Worldchanging demonstrates that the means for making a difference lie all around us. This team of top-notch writers, brought together by Worldchanging.com founder Alex Steffen, includes Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, Geekcore founder Ethan Zuckerman, and sustainable food expert Anne Lappé, among many others. Each chapter offers practical answers to important questions, such as: Why does buying locally produced food make sense? What steps can we take to influence our workplace toward sustainability? How can we travel, live, work, and learn in world-changing ways? How, in short, can we participate in building a better future locally and globally? Worldchanging proves that a life that is sustainably prosperous, thoughtful and democratic, dynamic and peaceful, is not just possible, it’s here. User Submitted Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century ReviewsOctober 12, 2008 An inspirational call to find your environmental calling I found this to be among the most inspiring books that I have read this year. It is not a narrative but a vast collection of small essays and notes covering topics related to changing our environment for the better. Some stories are inspirational accounts of what others have done, others are calls to action for what can be done. They focus on six categories - stuff, shelter, cities, community, business, politics and planet. There is bound to be one or two categories that matches up with your interests. As a civil engineer I found a wealth of information and resources in the stuff, shelter and cities sections. The books most valuable aspect is that it is an amazing compilation of resources for whatever areas that you decided you want to explore further. Over the course of reading this book I probably added over fifty books to my reading list. While parts of this books are meant to alarm you into action, the overall message of the book is a positive one: envision a better world and figure out what you can do to move it in that direction. By making people aware of all of the micro projects that are being tested, one cannot help but be inspired to think of the direction that he or she will take with their life. August 25, 2008 world changing: a user's guide to the 21st century Although the book looks very good and most interesting, it did NOT come with the box cover, as advertised. False advertising - I would suggest not ordering it from Amazon. July 30, 2008 Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century This book is absolutely amazing and lifechanging because of all the important information that is in this book. You just have no idea how bad we treat the world and how close we are to destroying our lives all so we can have selfish comforts on a daily basis. July 3, 2008 Environmentalism for those who confuse computer desktop themes with nature A nonsensical belief that we can solve the environmental crisis by avoiding self change. Never in our history have their been a more deluded and narcissistic generation clambering to take the helm. We're in serious trouble. February 2, 2008 A Companion to the Website A practical comprehensive compendium of the types of practices we will need to nourish if we are to live in a Bright Green sustainable and just future. More a catalog than an essay, it is divided into sections such as Stuff, Shelter, Cities, Community, Business, Politics and Planet, giving examples of sustainable work being done in each area as well as references to relevant books and web sites. There is a strong emphasis on the potential for well-designed technologies to improve the lot of all human beings. The book is basically a collection of the types of things you will find at the [...] website. December 2, 2007 Only we can change how things are This is a great book that makes us all more aware of the situation we find ourselves in presently aboard spaceship earth. We simply can not conduct business the way that we have in the past. The earth is not a business in liquidation. The green trends that are occuring now and that are gaining momentum are fascinating. This is a global book with a global focus, we are all in this together. How much time is needed? Who can know for sure but the sooner we all start, the better. November 26, 2007 If only Americans would read this instead of nonsense... Americans - take the effort to read this book, and then begin walking the road back to sanity and a life that includes responsibilities greater than satisfying your pathogenic needs to consume, consume, consume. The amount of nonsense that you buy is not an isolated behavior: it affects the entire planet. Unfortunately, I have little hope that Americans (of whom I am one) will read this book in any sufficient numbers. As long as they can afford to live beyond their means, drive their Chevy Suburbans, and self-righteously ignore the rest of the world, they will continue along this downward spiral of a depraved, consumer-driven society. November 17, 2007 A Bright Gren Future This is a great resource for forward thinking environmentalists and designers interested in creating a bright and effective future beyond the confines of worn out 'back to the yesteryears' paradigms. I found the margins a bit tight to the spleen on the inside pages, so you'll need a good reading light (or a flashlight under the covers) - but that is minor compared to the breadth of solutions available in the book. September 14, 2007 Interesting but not what I expected This is more like an encyclopedia than "a users guide for the 21st century". The hefty volume includes hundreds of short topical articles on lots of different things but doesn't go into a lot of detail on any. I was hoping for more practical examples of things I could do to survive in a changing world but was disappointed. For example, there is a section on Green Rooftops. You would think that a "users guide" might give you practical advice on creating one. Instead it talks about how they are great for saving energy and creating gardens. Okay... I get that and I agree but maybe a little more info please? All and all the writing is good and it does cover a lot of topics I just think that the description when buying it leads one to believe there is a bit more depth than there actually is. August 28, 2007 This book could change your world This publication is worth it's weight in something quite valuable. It provides a mass of information on all sorts of subjects relating to changing your outlook and how to live within the planets available resources. It has some surprisingly useful tips on things like how to make a small apartment look and feel big by using great space saving ideas; how to use less of the planets scarce resources in many ways. My only beef is that it looks like a self published volume and so lacks gravitas somehow. For example it does not have any information on the inner fly page about the book, such as year of publication, publisher, ISBN Number, and other essential info. Another problem I found was actually finding some of the reference works in the text. Not enough info to enable the reader to trace sources adequately. I found it very difficult for example to find the publisher of one work I was interested in. Google hadn't even heard of the publisher. I did find them and the book eventually but had to try very hard and boy, was it obscure. Even though the jacket and outer are quite attractive, they reek of self-publishing. This is not good for the image of a book on such an important subject. Sorry chaps, only 6 out of 10 from me. For more Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century reviews click here.
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