A Rising Tide of Eco-Optimism

Let me say right up front that I’m a big fan of all things green, but I’ve been feeling a bit out of it lately when it comes to sustainability. I wrote a book or two about it, and proudly wear the term greenie. I got the solar panels, the Prius, and the compost heap – the whole green nine yards. But lately I’ve wondered if the tide had turned, the world moved on, and maybe I had fallen out of step. Reading David Bergman’s book Sustainable Design, I think the tide is turning again, greener than ever.

Bergman’s book is all that a good design book should be. It’s simple, clear, non-jargony, and loaded with practical steps for buildings that both look good and do good. It’s about making buildings more efficient, more livable, and with a lower impact on the world around us. The book is not just about green buildings though – it’s about better buildings.  To get this message across, the book is attractive, and well written to boot.  But the real reason I like the book extends beyond the book. The best thing about the book is that Bergman is so gosh darned optimistic. And I find that I’ve missed that lately.

My first book came out in the Fall of 2008. This was a crazy time. It had been a year of heady green enthusiasm, with magazine after magazine jumping on the green bandwagon, competing to see which one could out-green all the others, with the greenest of celebrities gracing their cover. At long last it seemed that people were getting it, embracing the values that green businesses had been working toward for so many years, seeing that green business was good business, that sustainability wasn’t a political position, but a smart thing to do regardless of your political persuasion.

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Glenn Croston is the author of “75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference”, “The Real Story of Risk”, and “Gifts from the Train Station”. You can reach him at www.startingupgreen.com