3: What is sustainable design?
A new benchmark in ecological awareness. Sym van der Ryn has long been practicing ecological design, and draws on his wealth of experience to give readers many valuable insights into this growing practice. Van der Ryn warns readers to separate the wheat from the chaff as there are many persons claiming to be toeing the line when it comes to sustainable design, but few are actually doing it. What is needed is a whole new approach to eco-friendly architecture and planning development, not just more band-aids. The book takes a fairly general approach but there are numerous references for those really interested in pursuing the subject in more depth. He outlines his principles of ecological design which begins with gaining a better awareness of your locality, by looking into the ecological history of your community. Who knows your street may be where a stream once flowed, and that your storm drain in all likelihood flows into your water source, so be careful what you dump into it! Van der Ryn avoids the cliches and pieces together a compelling set of anecdotes and observations which will open you up the broad field of possibilities. The book is well researched and written, with the valuable assistance of Stuart Cowan, a former student of van der Ryn. It is imperative that we gain a better appreciation of our natural environment before adding any more to our built environment. Sustainable design is our only future.
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