Before the Industrial Revolution, life was straightforward. Most things people consumed were produced locally, on a small scale and there was no mass transportation. So they would know where and what they consumed had come from, and probably how it been made.
Fast forward to the 21st Century and the complex, interlinking, global nature of trade. Most of us have no idea how and where the products we consume are made.
Take my hybrid bike. I decided that I was going to reduce my carbon footprint by cycling more. The bike came from a well-known shopping site. It turned out to be made in Bangladesh and imported into the UK by a British company. I have no idea whether the aluminium frame was produced in a safe, ethical and environmentally-friendly way. Was it built in a toxic sweatshop? Was the factory polluting the local water supply?There’s no real way of knowing.
And what about the bike’s components like the gears and the wheels? They’ve probably come from China, along with all the accessories which I bought like panniers. How were they produced?
I’m attempting to be green by buying a bike, but I don’t know the full consequences of my action on the environment.
But what if I could calculate the carbon, social and biological footprints of my actions with ease? That’s what psychologist Daniel Goleman describes as Ecological Intelligence. In his new book of the same name, Goleman, the author of the bestseller Emotional Intelligence, describes how we can use the new science of industrial ecology to make informed decisions about the products that we buy.
Ecological Intelligence will be released in the UK on 28th May2009. You’ll find a detailed review in a forthcoming post.
