Sim Van der Ryn

Stuart Cowan

Uses case studies, anecdotes, dialogues, images and theory to provide a treatment of the concept of ecological design

Ecological Design

This is a book about ecological design, which can be defined as "any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itselves with living processes." Ecological design is an integrated, ecologically responsible design discipline. It helps connect scattered efforts in green architecture, sustainable agriculture, ecological engineering, and other fieldss. Ecological design is both a profoundly hopeful vision and a pragmatic tool. By placing ecology in the foreground of design, it provides specific ways of minimizing energy and material use, reducing pollution, preserving habitat, and fostering community, health, and beauty. It provides a new way of thinking about design

A classic is back in print! One of the favorite books of the 1970s' back-to-the-landers, The Toilet Papers provides an informative, inspiring, and irreverent look at how people have dealt with human wastes over the centuries, and at what safe designs are available today that reduce water consumption and avert the necessity for expensive treatment systems. Van der Ryn provides homeowner plans for several types of dry toilets, compost privies, and greywater systems. He also discusses the history and philosophy of turning organic wastes into a rich humus, linking us to the fertility of the soil and ensuring our ultimate well-being.

Recycling Waste and Conserving Water

The Toilet Papers

Peter Calthorpe

This classic text is a practical vision of how different types of communities can make the transition to a sustainable way of life that balances production and consumption, reduces resource waste and produces long-term social and ecological health. Our old patterns of growth are built on isolation—an isolation from the environment, an isolation between activities and ultimately an isolation between individuals. Whether city or suburb, these qualities of isolation are the same. Buildings ignore climate and place, uses are zoned into separate areas, and individuals are isolated by a lack of convivial public places. Sustainable patterns break down the separations; buildings respond to the climate rather than overpowering it, mixed uses draw activities and people together, and shared spaces reestablish community. —from Sustainable Communities

Sim Van der Ryn

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