Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

It's revolutionary! The success story of Curitiba city of Brazil mentioned in chapter 14 is a very good summary for the natural capitalism principles mentioned in this book. Last week I visited Rouen city in France and spent another night in Paris where I saw first hand a lot of practical examples of natural capitalism.. I admit that this book has made me see the world in new eyes and attitude. Besides, it made me start to bring new insights and valued practices to my kids and wife to become good contributors to Natural Capitalism in addition to translating the Human Capitalism chapter to my Arabic langauge on my wall of Facebook associated with many rich photos of Curitiba city practices picked from Google without forgetting to share my own photos from Rouen Paris visit about thier natural capitalism practices.. Our mom "earth" is worth our efforts to express our loyalty and gratitude to it. Let's stop killing our Mom.. our kids.. our wealth.. and Ourselves!

While an 'Inconvenient Truth' left us with a bedazzling realization that we really have little time left, and should get on (with) it, so to speak, this book, its authors, show us strategies and related thinking of how to go about 'doing it' ! Though it is pretty detailed reading and a bit tedious at times to get thru when examples are discussed, the authors go to great length and depth, and are convincing in that. (At times, I just skipped a little bit, to be honest). Basically the book is about a 'mind-shift' and all the positive and reinforcing side-effects of bringing about, and starting with, setting a major aim in regards to improving our relationship to the environment, and that if this is done from the side of (city) administrations and corporations, it will soon start to 'lead' a revolution that basically will leave all those behind who aren't jumping on this train ! Now giving everyone 'across the board' arguments to go and implement positive changes, it provides the basis for a 'win-win' type of discussion rather than the traditional 'us vs them' when it comes to environmentalists and industry. The length and depth of the material presented serve to make everyone a believer.

Wow, what a book. I just finished it this week and I can tell you this: if you read it and you do not start to think about the world as you know it and its instability regarding political constructs and economical systems, you should probably see a doctor. About "The Ecology of Commerce" I wrote that it is a green business manifesto. However, "Natural Capitalism" is even more and bigger when it comes to its statements about the future of the industrial world. With a more determined line of argument Hawken, Lovins, and Lovins do not only forecast the next industrial revolution but simultaneously initiate it by publishing this book. I am confident that this book is the stimulus of a new discussion which needs to be led, not only by business professionals, but everyone who is actually interested in the future of this planet and where we are going with it. - Frank Roettgers, author of Going Green Together: How to Align Employees with Green Strategies

After reading this book, it comes clear to what extent all the things we humans are doing are improvable. So optimistic, for it comprises a catalogue with hundreds of alternatives which save money, employ more people and minimise environmental impact. To me, there is no doubt the planet will survive us, you may notice the trees growing quickly in old buildings, through concrete... but, it is clear to me there is a way we humans can do better for us and the rest of the planet, and this book tells you how people are already doing it. Thanks so much to the authors for such an uplifting and inspiring book!

Natural capitalism is an excellent book that shows how efficient market mechanisms and technical innovation and good design could play a central role in improving the state of the environment, avoid catastrophical global warming and improve the standard of living. It is a fairly light read, packed with anecdotes. Most evidence presented, however, is anecdotal, which is perhaps the book's weakest point.

Book in great condition.

Paul Hawken and the Lovins have teamed up to provide one of the best overall books on "Natural Capitalism" which offers a whole new approach to the way in which we do business. For too long we have taken natural capital for granted, squandering our natural resources and unleashing an unhealthy array of by-products which have further contaminated our world. It is time to add natural capital to the ledger sheets, properly balancing our record books. But, far from being a screed the book is meticulously researched with extensive notes and references to help guide your own research into the subject. Everything from the Toyota Production System, which offered a leaner, much less wasteful approach to auto manufacturing, to the Hypercar which offers a hybrid-electric propulsion engine which would result in much greater fuel effeciency are illustrated. It is this lean thinking which the authors think will revolutionize the industrial sector, making for the greatest breakthroughs since the microchip revolution. What is most heartening is that major companies such as Ford Motor Company and Carrier Air Conditioning are adopting these practices and making them work. They are doing so because it saves money and provides them with endless growth possibilities. The authors support the lease-use system which puts the onus on the manufacturer to produce better products and maintain them throughout their service to the user, the so called "cradle to cradle" concept. New materials are resulting in much lighter and more efficient components that would reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and in time phase out petroleum products all together. Too good to be true you might say, but this is the shape of things to come once we get past the tired old dogmas that have greatly limited our economic potential. The authors show how regressive tax policies and federal subsidies have greatly handicapped our productivity and they encourage political leaders to rethink the way we hand out incentives for better business practice. This book will give you a whole new lease on life, and encourage you to rethink the way you live.

Most responses to political and social problems fall into two broad categories: libertarian/populist and authoritarian/statist. And too often, "leftist" critiques of capitalism fall into the latter category, crying "market failure" and calling for central control by government regulation. This book is the _other_ sort. And it represents the fulfillment of a long line of "hippie spirituality" that began over thirty years ago, got some airtime in Stephen Gaskin's books and Paul Williams's _Das Energi_, was put into practice at a broad level by the Grateful Dead, was incorporated into Marilyn Ferguson's _Aquarian Conspiracy_, received a consistently libertarian exposition in Mary Ruwart's _Healing our World_, and -- if Paul Hawkens and the Lovinses are right -- looks to be the wave of the future if we're going to have a future at all. (Incidentally, Gaskin recommended this book when he ran for President in 2000.) One tremendous strength of their approach is their avoidance of a very common error. Too many critics of eco-stupidity and corporate irresponsibility take themselves to be critics of the "free market" as such, failing to realize that their proposed solutions are, in an economic sense, just as "capitalistic" as (if not more so than) the problems. What they propose to replace "capitalism" by is, in fact, just capitalism again, but populated by people with better values. Well, these folks know that's exactly what they're doing, and what they propose is in effect the best general response to cries of "market failure". In a strictly economic sense, every "market failure" really represents a place that the "market" hasn't reached yet. Under the Hawken/Lovins proposal, "markets" work just fine if they take account of _all_ relevant costs. Economically, what they're saying is that (e.g.) polluters have to _internalize_ the costs of pollution. Is there a libertarian out there who would disagree in principle? Oh, we could pick nits about the details. The point, though, is that Hawkens and the Lovinses are presenting here a vision of the "free market" as what economists have always said it was: an organic, emergent, genuinely interdependent network of centers of genuinely voluntary activity by fully informed and self-responsible actors. And the resulting society looks like hippies have always said it should: less like the military-industrial complex and more like a Grateful Dead concert ;-). If Aquarian libertarianism is (as Mary Ruwart says) the key to "healing our world", then the sort of green eco-capitalism represented here is a pretty sound prescription for that healing. The Dream isn't dead, and it isn't economically irresponsible either.

If there was one key to turning around the damaging business and environmental practices of modern culture, what would it be? 'Natural Capitalism,' the seminal 1999 call for a broader focus on sustainability, presents an overwhelming case that the key is resource efficiency and effectiveness. Just as conventional capitalism is all about using financial capital effectively, so 'natural capitalism' is about expanding that bottom line focus to include the natural resources and ecosystem services underlying the ability of business and society to function in the first place. The authors argue that with appropriate shifts in business perspective and government policy, our economy could be something like 90% more efficient in its use of irreplaceable natural resources, thereby mitigating ecosystem impacts, enabling global development, and staving off climate change. Throughout history, until very recently, man has been a small actor in an overwhelmingly large world. Most of the book explores how this has given rise to our ingrained cultural patterns of wasteful resource utilization, limited focus on capital efficiency, and drive for production volumes, while assuming unbounded access to subsidized natural resources and 'free' ecosystem services. Shifting perspective to include natural capital on the business balance sheet, and to expand lean manufacturing principles beyond the factory walls is what's required to address the ecology/climate change nexus. This change in perspective is embodied in a range of sustainable business concepts, including the 'triple bottom line' (profits, people, and planet), and the 'cradle-to-cradle' model for recycling products and integrating industries to eliminate 'waste'. The basic principles of natural capitalism put forward can be summarized as: (1) focus on natural resource efficiency (2) using closed loop, biomemetic, nontoxic processes (3) to deliver more appropriate end-user services (4) while investing in restoring, sustaining, and expanding natural capital. Following these principles leads not to constraints on business or lowered expectations, but an enormous range of new business opportunities to profit from improved efficiencies and environmentally beneficial activities. One of the best expressions of this perspective comes in the discussion on climate change, providing a refreshing contrast to the recent spate of bad news on this front: "Together, the [available business] opportunities can turn climate change into an unnecessary artifact of [our] uneconomically wasteful use of resources." While the authors deliver an awesome, deeply researched articulation of their vision, showing with many examples why it's important and how it can work within our current capitalistic economies, the book has two key flaws. First, it falls prey to the syndrome first articulated by Paul Saffo, founder of the Institute for the Future, of confusing a clear vision of the future with a short path. This combines with an excessive reliance on sheer volume of examples to make their points, too many of them poorly explained, bristling with non-comparable numbers, and substituting hand-waving for real outcomes. Deeper exploration of fewer examples might have illustrated the principles better, and have been much easier to read. Also, 11 years after the original publication, many of the examples are seen to be hastily chosen and and used to support glib and overreaching conclusions that make the authors seem naive. Examples include the advent hydrogen powered cars ("hypercars"), the potential for shutting down Ruhr Valley coal production in favor of direct social payments to coal workers, or the imminent triumph of the Kyoto Protocols for international carbon trading. And, while much attention is paid to articulating the perverse incentives, misguided taxes and subsidies, and split responsibilities that impede more efficient system approaches, there's short shrift given to new technology adoption rates, the scale of existing infrastructure investments, or the political complexities of changing incentives and subsidies. However, if you are interested in understanding the genesis and foundations of the modern sustainability movement, this is a fundamental text. Despite its flaws, after 11 years the fundamental argument and principles hold up well and are still inspiring.

かつて日本人はエコノミック・アニマルと呼ばれた。これには畏怖と共に、多分に蔑称の意味合いも含んでいた。 今、わたしたちはエコノミック・アニマルから、エコロジック・ピープル（こういう言葉があるのかどうかわかりませんが）への転換期を迎えていると思う。 本書が示すビジネスモデルが日本にそのままあてはまるかどうか、門外漢のわたしには疑問も残る。 けれども、すべての経済人がこれを読んでくれれば、世の中はずいぶん変わるような気がする。 分厚い本なので、とっつきにくい方には「エコロジカルな経済学」（倉阪秀史著・ちくま新書）をお薦めしたい。