San Antonio College Library

"Buildings are the nation's greatest energy consumers. Forty percent of all our energy is used for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering machines and devices in buildings. And despite decades of investment in green construction technologies, residential and commercial buildings remain stubbornly energy inefficient. This book looks beyond the technological and material aspects of green construction to examine the cultural, social, and organizational...

"McDonald's promises to use only beef, coffee, fish, chicken, and cooking oil obtained from sustainable sources. Coca-Cola promises to achieve water neutrality. Unilever has set a deadline of 2020 to reach 100 percent sustainable agricultural sourcing. Walmart has pledged to become carbon neutral. Today, big-brand companies seem to be making commitments that go beyond the usual "greenwashing" efforts undertaken largely for public relations purposes....

"This easy-to-use manual has been written by top business consultants specifically to help managers, business owners, organizational leaders and aspiring environmental managers/sustainability coordinators to improve their organization's environmental, social and economic performance."--Jacket.

Seeking Sustainability in an Age of Complexity explains the difficulty of sustainability and why 'collapse' can occur. Using ideas from complexity theory, and its application in the areas of ecology, sociology and economics, Graham Harris weaves together a story showing just how complex the idea of achieving sustainability is, when applied at global and regional scales. This book will be of interest to ecologists, sociologists, economists, natural...

A comprehensive examination of sustainable urbanism principles and practices and speculates about its future.

From the Publisher: Many native North American cultures have origins that predate Confucius, who lived five hundred years before the birth of Christ. For generations the people of these traditions have thrived under conditions that many view as harsh if not hostile. Through their close association with nature, members of native communities have created complex systems for cooperating with one another and living within their environments. Learning...

The director of The Story of Stuff Project tracks the life of the "stuff" we use every day, transforming how we think about our patterns of consumption. This book is based on the author's 2007 internet film, "The Story of stuff." "With just 5 percent of the world's population, [the U.S.] is consuming 30 percent of the world's resources and creating 30 percent of the world's waste."--Jacket.

"What does it mean when consumers 'shop with a conscience' and choose products labeled as fair or sustainable? Does this translate into meaningful changes in global production processes? To what extent are voluntary standards implemented and enforced, and can they really govern global industries? 'Looking behind the Label' presents an informative introduction to global production and ethical consumption, tracing the links between consumers' choices...

We're overusing the earth's finite resources, and yet excessive consumption is failing to improve our lives. In Enough Is Enough, Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill lay out a visionary but realistic alternative to the perpetual pursuit of economic growth--an economy where the goal is not more but enough. They explore specific strategies to conserve natural resources, stabilize population, reduce inequality, fix the financial system, create jobs, and more--all...