The Natural House Catalog [antikvár]

PREFACECreating The Natural House Catalog has been an exciting and challenging experience. The idea of the Catalog came out of my first book, The Natural House Book. So many people wrote to me saying that they found the book inspiring and that it had motivated them to use the ideas in their own home. But could I help them further with how and where to get this or that product or material or how to locate a certain organization? Others wrote suggesting and recommending goods they had used or projects I should see. The readers themselves soon made it obvious that what was badly needed was a good sourcing guide as a companion volume. The idea of the Catalog was born!The Natural House Book also started me off on ever-wider travels, meeting fascinating people and visiting innovative eco-projects and ventures around the world. Some of these experiences are the subject of my second book Earth to Spirit: In Search of Natural Architecture. The lengthy work and research for The Natural House Catalog have introduced me to even wider contacts. The experience has brought many surprises, perhaps the most encouraging of all is the realization of just how much is going on out there, and how many people are involved, in all sorts of ways, in making it happen. The whole field is growing rapidly.Working on The Natural House Catalog has also renewed my optimism and made me feel the message of a sustainable future is genuinely beginning to make a difference. It has been apleasure to encounter the sheer enthusiasm and commitment of so many individuals, small businesses, not-for-profit and public and private organizations, both large and small. More than this, all these are steadily accumulating to create the critical mass of ideas, energy, and resources essential for real change."Information" and "How-to" are key words today, as more and more people want to take real and practical steps toward solving problems themselves, in their own lives, at home and at work. The convergence of environmental, health, and spiritual concerns continues to influence the marketplace, and a much wider, more attractive, diverse, and affordable range of materials, products and services is available than ever before. The Natural House Catalog has been produced with these developments in mindThe Catalog has been a team effort, and I would like to thank all the consultants and team members for their support and enthusiasm without which the Catalog would not exist. In a project of this kind, although we have done our very best, there are bound to be people, projects, materials and products that have not been included, that could have been. We apologize for this in advance, but cannot claim that the Catalog is entirely comprehensive - it is impossible to be so in the limited space available, with the huge area covered. Now is your chance to get in touch and let us know you are out there.Make good use of The Natural House Catalog - start today and enjoy it.David Pearson August 1995