A Week to Reflect upon Leadership
By Donella Meadows
–June 9, 1989–
In Iran the Ayatollah died. In Poland the people, voting semi-freely for the first time in 40 years, rejected their party leaders. In the United States the Speaker of the House, two heartbeats away from the Presidency, stepped down, covered with mud. In China the People’s Army fired into a crowd of unarmed people.
It was a [...]
Consumer Pressure Speeds up a Farming Revolution
By Donella Meadows
–June 1, 1989–
They say money doesn’t make the world go round, but sometimes it changes the behavior of human beings wonderfully.
I have been trying for years to get farmers in many countries to see the wisdom of using fewer fertilizers and pesticides. I’ve been working especially hard in Hungary, where groundwaters are badly polluted with agricultural chemicals. I [...]
Eco-Chic for the Eco-Freak
By Donella Meadows
–May 25, 1989–
A young environmentalist friend was telling me the other day that she can’t eat a tuna fish sandwich without being ragged by her compatriots. “Is that albacore?” they pry. “If not, why not?”
Eco-fashion has evolved. When I was a young activist, back around Earth Day 1970, we did not eat tuna at all. It was laced [...]
Dear Folks: May 20, 1989
Dear Folks, It’s Saturday night. I just officially collapsed after two days in the garden, came in and washed off the top several layers of dirt, looked for something I could do sitting down, and remembered it was time to write you.
We just had our week of spring; now it’s summer. A week of spring is a standard joke in New [...]
High Up Ozone Versus Low Down Ozone, and Outer Atmospheric Confusions
By Donella Meadows
–May 18, 1989–
A fat lady in apron and snow boots is out on her porch earnestly spraying an aerosol can out into space. The caption says, “Mrs. Alice Snood of East Icicle, Vermont, is doing what she can to get rid of the silly ozone layer. She says a global warming trend would be a darn good idear [...]
