Sustainable Living Audio Book – Learn From Looking – Introduction: Part 1

GREENandSAVE Staff

Posted on Thursday 16th July 2020
Sustainable Living Audio Book – Learn From Looking – Introduction: Part 1

Sustainable Living Audio Book – Learn From Looking – Introduction: Part 1

Our GREENandSAVE Staff is pleased to provide our readers with updates on new printed books, E-Books, and Audio Books that peak our interest. If you are an author and you would like us to review your book, please let us know: Contact Us

The author of Learn from Looking, Charlie Szoradi, has given us authorization to share the written content and drawings from his book with our readers. This is one of many segments that focuses on the overall theme of sustainable design and overall sustainable living.

Book Topic: Sustainable Living

Learn from Looking is about critical thinking and reaching a sustainable future more cost-effectively than ever imagined. The book's subtitle "How Observation Inspires Innovation" speaks to the core aspect of the content, given that the author, Charlie Szoradi, is an architect and inventor who has traveled extensively around the world over multiple decades and built businesses that range from energy saving lighting to indoor agriculture systems. Mr. Szoradi shares insights on "green" clean-technology that are increasingly key for sustainability, profitable businesses, healthy living, and raising intellectually curious children in a pre and post Covid-19 world. We give Learn from Looking five out of five green stars! Note that the audio book comes with the E-book for only $15 together. Click here to Order the Audio Book on Sustainable Living

Sample content from Learn from Looking: 

 

The drawings and insights in Learn from Looking are intended to provide actionable intelligence to improve our lives and strengthen America. The content will hopefully encourage you to look at the world around you in new ways with fresh perspective relative to our homes, buildings, transportation, food, energy, job creation, education, ecosystem, and more. 

Active observation can fuel critical thinking, which is often a key driver of innovation. In turn, innovation can support sustainable design that is cost-effective and practical. Collectively, we can build a triple bottom line[i] that supports people, the planet, and profit. This multiwin approach is at the core of sustainable design and this book.

By focusing on a range of US and international examples, Learn from Looking includes many in-field drawings that lead to insights. Instead of following the leader, this strategy is more about following the clues. The premise is to look well and thoroughly—to first observe and then apply the learning to innovate and rethink paths forward. Details count throughout this book, along with supporting research data to provide the context. The idiom “Look before you leap” is a concise way of capturing the idea of taking a pause to gain perspective before taking action. 

This book is a perspectiventure. It provides fresh perspective and ventures down paths of potential extraordinary opportunity that are inspired by many ordinary elements across the global landscape. 

Perspectiventure is an unusual word for an unusual book. I created the meldword by simply combining two underlying themes in my career and in this book: perspective and venture. I have used perspective-drawing techniques for the sketches in this book, completed over two decades and across many countries. As an entrepreneur, I undertook the business venture in 2010 of bringing our manufacturing from China to the United States for our energy-saving light-emitting diode (LED) technology. This book connects perspective and venture by illustrating examples and shedding light on new mutually beneficial journeys for people, business, and the public sector.

Perspective has two relevant definitions. The first definition is a specific drawing term that is about representing our three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface, and the second more general definition is about a distinct point of view. This book includes hundreds of drawings that are in perspective and add perspective. The point of view comes through the notes that I have written on new ways to think about sustainable design and the ways that we live, work, and play.

Venture also has two relevant definitions. The noun is a risky or daring journey or undertaking. The verb is about daring to do something or going somewhere that may be dangerous or unpleasant. This book includes many insights that are outside of mainstream approaches. The views are not risky at the life safety level, but many of the recommendations are challenges to the status quo. Benjamin Franklin said, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained!” As an inventor, author, and founding father of our country, Franklin sits high on my list of critical thinkers. He is also particularly appealing to me, because he appreciated efficiency at its core, and many efficiency paths are interwoven throughout this book. Franklin said, “Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything.” Franklin may embody the sprit of perspectiventure, especially in an example such as his exploration into electricity where the kite and key became the springboard for his lightning rod invention.

 

Here are my two definitions of the new word: 

perspectiventure

per·spec·ti-ven-ture

Noun

  1. A journey that starts by looking at something from a curiosity perspective, without the goal of justifying a preconception or finding something, and leads to learning that can have a positive impact. Perspectiventure is the act of learning from looking rather than looking for something. “The architecture graduate student embarked on a perspectiventure around the world.” Synonyms: path to accidental discovery and surprise observation journey.

 

  1. A business venture that is inspired by studying something unrelated to the final products or services offered by the business. “The high-tech lighting entrepreneur built a perspectiventure inspired from low-tech solutions.” Synonyms: nontraditional business, disruptive business, and unexpected source enterprise.

 

Your Perspectiventure into This Book

 

Take the journey to turn the pages in this book with curiosity. You may find something that you were not looking for or expecting to find. You may end up relooking at your own world with fresh perspective.

Support Info:

Triple Bottom Line - 

TBL or 3BL are abbreviations for this accounting structure that has three parts: social, environmental, and financial. The three parts are also referred to as the three Ps: people, planet, and profit, or the three pillars of sustainability. Some private sector profit-focused companies as well as nonprofit and public sector organizations have increasingly explored or adopted triple bottom line practices since 1994, when John Elkington coined the phrase. Mr. Elkington is the founder of the British consultancy firm SustainAbility. He is a leading authority on sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Currently, he is the founding partner and executive chairman of Volans, self-described (http://volans.com/about/) as follows, “Volans is a think-tank and advisory firm that aims to stretch the thinking of our clients, partners and particularly leaders toward ‘Breakthrough’, that is, to look beyond incremental change and address systemic challenges at scale. Founded in 2008, we have been driving stretch agendas in different ways, ranging from bridging between mainstream business and social enterprise through to engaging innovators in such fields as big data, biomimicry, supply chain management and sustainable lifestyles.”

 

test image for this block