Welcome to Ecology Begins at Home! Learning to live with fewer resources A clear and concise guide to low resource living. Positive, practical, hopeful ways to make our world a better place, one step at a time. Read it, reflect, experiment, make changes, then share your experience with friends! We all want to preserve the planet for our children’s future!
Home Download A secure future Low energy cooking Measuring success Change begins at home Further reading	Why personal change, why economize with resources? Today every square inch of the earth’s surface area has been taken for human use, including all the planet’s land, water, groundwater, mineral resources and the oceans. Our beautiful planet is quite simply full, actually more than full since 1 and 1/3 planet are needed to maintain the current level of consumption (and 4-6 planets would be necessary if everyone lived like us). Earth is degraded—severely damaged—since we take out more from nature than nature grows back each year. Forests, fish, farmland, minerals and biodiversity (to name a few resources) are diminishing each year. Climate change makes this situation worse: drought and flooding reduce the amount of farmland and fresh water available and destroy crops, animals and villages. These natural physical limitations (or planetary boundaries, as they are called) together with forthcoming population increase and economic growth for the poor make it necessary for us all to reduce our demands on the common planetary resources. (Technical change and industrial effectiveness, though worthwhile, can only do so much, not by far enough.) Reducing our needs isn’t especially difficult. But it requires a new way of thinking and a whole lot of creativity and cooperation! Many people’s experience tell us that we can be happy and fulfilled without high consumption—and much more secure when know we have a fully functional ecosystem that can continue to provide us our basic needs far into the future. Ecology Begins at Home is my story of learning to live with fewer resources. Besides concrete, practical examples, it also reflects how my thinking changed, how new habits developed out of experimenting freely, how creativity and cooperation helped me to find happiness and satisfication with what I had (we all have a lot to be thankful for!). It describes my journey into this new era of planetary boundaries and limited resources that we find ourselves in and I hope it will help you on your journey as well! Download Ecology Begins at Home The pdf is free! Simply click one of the links below to open the book, then click the Print or Save button. Ecology Begins at Home 2008. The latest Green Books edition (1,3 MB, prints onto 64 pages). Comprehensive, up to date and packed with climate change solutions that can be applied immediately by concerned readers everywhere. Ecology Begins at Home 1989. The original edition (5 MB, prints onto 31 pages). Simpler, shorter and appreciated by many for its numerous illustrations (my own pen and ink drawings) on almost every page. Ekologi börjar hemma 2011. (5 MB, prints onto 35 pages) The Swedish edition newly updated in 2011, based on the 1989 English edition with its illustrations. If you want a bound copy you can order the English edition (2008) in paperback from www.greenbooks.co.uk (bulk rates available). Reviews of Ecology Begins at Home —The most important single book any citizen of the planet can read on environmental issues… amazingly clear and simple … immensely empowering … bursting with creativity and the fun of exploring. Pierre Pradervand, author of The Gentle Art of Blessing, in Cygnus Books reviews, April 2009. —An essential guide to low-impact living … easy steps we can all take at home to reduce our impact on the planet. Friends of the Earth, Scotland, 2006. —Read it in one sitting and fell in love with it … fun, immediately rewarding, and easy enough to do right this minute, Community Regeneration, Rodale Institute, USA, 1990. —Easy to read … practical little book. Archie use[s] the choices he makes to change the world. The Environment Centre, Swansea, Wales, 2009 —An invaluable guide to reducing one’s impact … riveting… [for] even the most hardened environmentalist, Environment Magazine, UK, 2006. —The best book yet on how to green your lifestyle …makes the whole subject very clear and understandable. Permaculture Magazine UK, 2005. —Inspirational… within minutes I was implementing changes … If you are finding it hard to persuade family members, this book’s non-preachy methods might just work! Green Parent Magazine, UK, 2005. —The most genially simple and concrete guide to practical ecology out today. Should be spread in massive editions, not the least to children, who easily understand it and who are usually less habit-bound than we adults. Swedish Library Service 1990. Archie Duncanson. Today I am retired, live in Stockholm, Sweden and work with the Transition Towns movement locally. I grew up in Los Angeles and trained as an industrial engineer. My working life was half in industry (finding ways to be more efficient) and half in the schools teaching science and writing about the environment. I believe teachers can be the most important people in life—my favorites were the ones who asked good, intriguing questions that made you think! You can contact me at the addresses below. Let me know how you like the book and how you use it to prepare for the future, the world our children will soon meet! Copyright 2005-2011 Archie Duncanson, Ornstigen 9, SE-183 50 Taby, Sweden. duncansonian=at=yahoo.com. You are welcome to copy, distribute and quote the above material for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to the author and publisher. For other permission, please contact Green Books, UK.