Book completed

[eve_prime]

A Conservationist Manifesto, by Scott Russell Sanders. This essay collection has been on my to-read list for quite a while, and I’ve finally done so. I especially appreciated the essays where he was including reflections from his own life. The others, although well-written, were mostly echoing ideas I’d already read quite some time ago, so I got less out of them.

For example, in one of the earlier essays he contrasts a fast-paced consumer-oriented lifestyle with one that would be far more ecologically sound, but that seems likely to be considered “alternative” by many – the family was expected to make its own clothing and create its own entertainment, etc. Although surely this would appeal to some, there are many others who would find that idea potentially rather extreme, and I would argue that those of us who care about ecological issues should want to make a low-impact lifestyle more broadly appealing. My own lifestyle is reasonably low-impact, and I very seldom make any clothing or music on my own. It’s not overly consumer-oriented to listen to listening to local professional musicians and read library books! In a later essay, when he describes his own lifestyle, he’s less either/or about things.

Comments

[heleninwales]

I agree when you say that a more ecologically sound lifestyle doesn't have to all be hand-spun, home-knitted and culture free. I have quite a few items of clothing that are old enough to vote and as you say, libraries, local concerts and events and second hand bookshops exist.