We Can’t Go On Growing This Way
By Donella Meadows
–April 2, 1992–
Twenty years ago there were 3.6 billion people in the world. Now there are 5.5 billion. In another twenty years, according to United Nations projection, there will be 7.5 and by the end of the next century 12.5 billion.
In 1970 the world had 250 million automobiles. In 1990 there were 560 million. Still only about 10 [...]
Dear Folks: January 26, 1992
Dear Folks, I can remember when winters around here were snowy from Thanksgiving to Easter. I can remember the snow being so high we could ski right over the garden fence. There were winters when the drifts mounted up higher than the kitchen window. We used to have to wear snowshoes just to do the chores.
Sigh. Now we have to wear [...]
Names, Faces, and Families
By Donella Meadows
–February 28, 1991–
A weeping Iraqi man approached a BBC reporter outside the bombed bunker in Baghdad and handed him six identity cards. “My wife and children were in there,” he said. The reporter looked at the cards — a 32-year-old woman, five children under the age of eight. Each card had a picture, except the newest, that of [...]
Letters from Africa, Help from America
By Donella Meadows
–December 20, 1990–
“The sheer brutality of the poverty is the hardest for us to get used to. It takes them so much energy just to live a day, it leaves me humble and in awe. Most Ugandans we have met are warm and friendly, quick to smile. Nothing short of a miracle to us that this is so.”
Charlotte [...]
Four Not-So-Easy Things You Can Do To Save The Planet
By Donella H. Meadows
–Summer 1990–
It’s wonderful, the Earth Day burst of publications with lists of things we can do to save the planet. It’s great to see so much energy behind recycling, energy-efficient light-bulbs, and fundraisers for the rainforest .
Most of these efforts are easy. Some even pay off. It takes no more trouble to throw an aluminum can into [...]
