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HomeShop at BookSurgeHistoryEuropeGreece (see also Ancient/Greece)Sustainability: a personal journey to a built sustainable community...and an amazing picture of what life will soon be like |
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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Some sections interesting, others nonsense Apr 02, 2010
By John C. Ayers
I'm amazed that I'm the first person to not give this book a 5 star rating. It doesn't come close. It's not very well written, the author is not an expert on the subject, and in the last two chapters the book swerves into new-age nonsense. The author's initial foray into building a sustainable community was misguided: a million dollar home in a location that requires frequent long car rides is hardly sustainable. If only the earth could provide enough resources for all 6.5 billion of us to live in million dollar homes! However, the book wasn't a complete waste of time, because it gave me some useful ideas about sustainability. The author is earnest and well-intentioned, and the world would be a better place if everyone tried as hard as he has. So if you would like a light, short, but informative read about lifestyle trends, and don't mind a little new-age mumbo jumbo, this book might be for you.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Sustainability - a very NOW concept Jul 04, 2010
By ohiojoanne
Recently, a friend and I met for lunch and I showed her this book. She was associated with a non-profit organization supporting businesses and sustainable practices (Entrepreneurs for Sustainability). Our server grabbed the book, looked through it, and shared his personal activities of recycling and composting, and that he also belonged to a CSA group(community-supported agriculture) which is the same one as my 77 year-old mom . Then, two people known to my friend walked through - one was in a book club on sustainability and the other from a successful business using sustainable practices. I offer these vignettes to show that the concept of sustainability is a very NOW concept touching individuals, groups, and business. And Stuart W. Rose holistically delves into it in his book, Sustainability (2010).
Through extemporaneous writing, the book reveals Dr. Rose's journey and pathways as he explores the creation of a sustainable house structure in a sustainable community with reflections upon a sustainable world. The author does not approach sustainability as a cult leader looking for disciples. His background as a pragmatic and multiple-degreed architect and engineer grounds the book in a systematic approach of discovery and learning. His research connects him with experts in building, business, real estate, local and regional government, ecology, and more esoteric topics such as change and spirituality.
The book is part journal, part instruction manual, and part primer about organizational change. Initially, Rose overviews his interest in history and patterns that lead him to sustainability as a concept towards which the world is trending. This is Rose's pattern of discovery; he expands his scope to examine a whole and then contracts to look at parts.
Rose then looks at himself and his preferences and lifestyle through the lens of sustainability. From that foundation he and his partner/spouse create a community built upon their learnings about sustainability. Rose provides enough detail and resource references to give direction to the curious without weighing down the book. And, the detail goes from building and landscape design and materials, to the challenges of doing something different within an established human system such as a local government.
Rose explores in varying detail the dimensions of sustainability; that which will create an environment that is sustainable in all senses. Some of the dimensions were Community (a broad brushstroke that includes an alternative to Robert's Rules of Order), a very brief touch on Health Care, a section on Leisure supported by an Arnold Toynbee quote, "To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization", and a long section on Trade which covers multiple currency types, knowledge management, and the yin and yang of business methodologies.
Utilizing his dimensions of sustainability, Rose aligns the practices of sustainability with the direction he sees the world going based upon trends and history. He wraps the book up by once again stepping back to his life path. Using his personal process that is neither linear nor obvious but that suits his preferences and lifestyle, Rose's openness to information and experiences outside of his comfort zone includes tying sustainability to things spiritual and unknown. Though having a background in business and a pragmatic Capricorn to boot, I can follow Rose into that realm - other readers may be less comfortable there.
Stuart Rose's book will help the reader recognize the breadth of sustainability and to provoke questions and suggest pathways. I found Dr. Rose's summary about the risks we face if no action is taken to be uncomfortable to read - both because it was lecture-y and because my ability to impact feels so limited. Yet, as Rose reminds us, Margaret Mead said that we must never doubt the power of a small group of people to change the world - that nothing else ever has. (The original of this review may be found on the Luxury Reading site)
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Beautiful easy read about sustainablility Feb 01, 2010
By Randie Trestrail
What I like about the book is that it is easy to read with just enough of the bad news balanced with major hope and
possibility for the future. People are really going to need this when they wake up and realize what is going on with the planet. Even though this is a relatively short book, the author puts forward some really deep ideas about what community and sustainability really means. These ideas are put forward after the author has taken you through his actual experience of creating sustainable homes. This is interesting information, but I think his ideas about sustainability are the best part of the book. He throws in ideas that are really surprising. Great ideas, and I hope we as a society can put them into being.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Sustainable living as you've never imagined it Jan 19, 2010
By David J. Baird
It is amazing what one man can do if he decides to dedicate his life to it. That is what this book is about. But that's not the most remarkable part. The more remarkable part is what that effort does to the man. Dr. Rose has shared with us his journey to be a positive force in making the world a better place to live. His journey starts by recognizing the physical aspects that help make the personel living environment the best it can be. He transformed that vision into a beautiful reality. But Dr. Rose shows that bricks and mortor are only the beginining. What he experiences is extraordinary and those experiences shape his vision for what life can and should be.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A visionary who took me on his journey of building his sustainable community to an amazing future! Jan 10, 2010
By Trina C. Duncan
This is a book that gives me hope for our future. The book begins with trends happening in our world--and gives an understanding of why sustainablity needs to be addressed--today. He then walks us through all the decisions and actions it took for him to go beyond theory and actually build his homes. Not just one home but a community. He gives very practical "how to's." The later part of the book looks beyond his initial project and gives us further visions and ideas to support our planet. It has greatly expanded my definition of sustainable living. It's easy to read yet, with very sophisticated concepts. Dr. Rose's book allows us to know we can dream and help create a different world. This should become a classic on sustainble living--a must read for anyone who lives on this planet and expects it to be here in the future!
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