Goleman, Daniel (2009). Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What we Buy Can Change Everything. New York: Broadway Books. ISBN: 978-0-385-52782-8
“Going Green” is everywhere right now, and nowhere more than in retail stores. Most of the things that we think of as good for the environment, such as recycling and bringing our own bags to the supermarket, but Goleman suggests that these aren’t the most important things we should be doing. The problem is that knowing what the right choices to make is not easy. The production, manufacture and transportation of products each have their own environmental impacts that, when we’re standing in the store, are impossible to know or compare with one another. The people who study these things are highly detailed specialists who create complex reports. Everyone, from manufacturers to retailers to consumers are in the dark about what are the best things they should do for the environment and how to evaluate the choices available.
Goleman paints an eye-opening picture about the present and future of ecological awareness, and the need for all of us to become more aware of the impact of what we do. To make us aware, he gives many examples on everything from yogurt lids to shampoo to pharmaceuticals, but he also uses some faulty logic, especially when describing the environmental past. While I take him at his word that human ecological impact on the planet is accelerating and becoming more negative, I feel he gives to much a romantic picture of the past. He says the past was a more innocent age, and that th choices did not seem to matter as much. There is much literature about the industrial revolution that suggests that captains of industry knew exactly what they were doing and that there were people who were trying to stop it.
But I agree with Goleman that the future is the important thing here; the problem is that the whole thing seems so overwhelming. And our expectations have become set that we expect certain standards in our products and homes. If it turns out that these things are harmful, will we be able to give them up? And with so many people in the world, it seems that the potential for dire consequences is great, and the chance of reversing it is small. Most of us decide that doing something, trying, is better than not. Ecological Intelligencesuggests that the solution is for each of us to become aware of our own impact, and to spread that messsage to others and to the companies we do business with.