The 'One Planet' Life A Blueprint for Low Impact Development

The One Planet Life demonstrates a path for everyone towards a way of life in which we don’t act as if we had more than one planet Earth. The difference between this approach and others is that it uses ecological footprint analysis to help to determine how effective our efforts are. Much of the book is a manual – with examples – on how to live the 'good life' and supply over 65% of your livelihood from your land with mostly positive impacts upon the environment. It examines the pioneering Welsh policy, One Planet Development, then considers efforts towards one planet living in urban areas. After a foreword by BioRegional/One Planet Living co-founder Pooran Desai and an introduction by former Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson, the book contains: An essay arguing that our attitude to planning, land and development needs to change to enable truly sustainable development. Guidelines on finding land, finance, and creating a personal plan for one planet living. Detailed guides on: sustainable building, supplying your own food, generating renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions from travel, land management, water supply and waste treatment. 20 exemplary examples at all scales – from micro-businesses to suburbs – followed by Jane Davidson’s Afterword. The book will interest anyone seeking to find out how a sustainable lifestyle can be achieved. It is also key reading for rural and built environment practitioners and policy makers keen to support low impact initiatives, and for students studying aspects of planning, geography, governance, sustainability and renewable energy.

Foreword by Pooran Desai Foreword by Jane Davidson Part One: A Call for Change 1. We have only one planet Part Two: Steps Towards the One Planet Life 2. Finding Land, Finding Finance, Gaining Skills 3. Crafting a Management Plan Part Three: Practical Guidance 4. Land Management 5. Water 6. Energy 7. Building 8. Food 9. Transport Part Four: Exemplary Examples 10.1 Hockerton Housing Project 10.2 The lessons of BedZED 10.3 The Triangle, Swindon 10.4 Rachel Shiamh’s frameless straw bale home 10.5 Lammas 10.6 Hoppi Wimbush: Growing flowers to sell 10.7 Hoppi and Paul Wimbush: Dairy farming 10.8 Cornerwood: Coppicing as a business 10.9 Cornerwood: Shiitake production 10.10 The Ecological Land Co-operative 10.11 John Hargreaves: top fruit grower 10.12 Phil Corbett: Edible wild flowers and nitrogen-fixing clovers 10.13 Nant y Cwm farm: livestock management 10.14 Jay Andrews: Wetland Ecosystem Treatment 10.15 A modular studio 10.16 Ty Solar 10.17 Calon Cymru 10.18 One Planet City – Brighton and Hove 10.19 One planet living in Freiburg, Germany 10.20 The road ahead to real sustainability Afterword by Jane Davidson

David Thorpe is a writer and consultant on sustainability issues. He is a Special Consultant on Sustainable Cities Collective, the primary website for urban leaders globally; a founder and core group member of the One Planet Council; and the author of several books on sustainability, including: Energy Management in Buildings, Energy Management in Industry, Solar Technology and Sustainable Home Refurbishment, all in The Earthscan Expert Guide series. Prior to this he was the News Editor and Opinion Writer of the UK's Energy and Environmental Management magazine for 13 years. Before that he was director of publications at the Centre for Alternative Technology. For more information, see his website: www.davidthorpe.info.