When is “Recycling” not Recycling?
By Donella Meadows
–November 2, 1989–
Schoolkids from Vermont to Brooklyn are learning a new skill this fall — how to separate polystyrene plates, cups, and cutlery from the rest of their cafeteria garbage, so the plastic can be recycled. The same lesson is being taught to customers at McDonald’s restaurants in New England. Paper napkins and uneaten French fries go in [...]
Dear Folks: October 29, 1989
Dear Folks, It’s Saturday night, the end of a balmy, hazy, calm, blessed Indian summer week. Foundation Farm was busy all day taking advantage of the nice weather to knock items off our fall chore list. Don oiled up the garden tools and put them away and worked on getting the snowblower set up and running. I mixed up three 50-lb [...]
101 Things you can do About the Greenhouse Effect
By Donella Meadows
–October 26, 1989–
By some stroke of providence, every step we need to take to reverse the greenhouse effect is worth doing anyway. Every step is technically possible. Most of them will even save money. Unfortunately for our sense of drama, preventing global climate change need not be a great, grim sacrifice. We are not called upon to save [...]
A Nation Hyped on New-Jazz
By Donella Meadows
–October 26, 1989–
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a place one could turn in this world of relentless, 24-hour, super-hyper news for quiet, useful information. That place was our local public radio station.
All morning long there was a slow-speaking, imperturbable host who read the news every hour, roughly on the hour, if he [...]
Harvesting One Hundredfold
On the whole, human beings are not managing this precious and productive planet very well. Many of the resources that sustain life and wealth are being overuses and abused. The basic needs of all people are not being met. The costs of the mismanagement in economic loss, environmental impoverishment, and human suffering are enormous. Yet the earth has more than enough [...]
