Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living

by Nicole Caldwell

Intellectual arguments alone will not sway the dominant paradigm; to be motivated to create change, people must be moved. Art has the power to inform, influence, and inspire. The creative impulse can, quite literally, change the world. Better explores the intersection of sustainability and art, showing how each of us can reinvent our lives as our greatest artistic achievement. Presented in the context of the unique story of Better Farm, a blueprint for environmentally conscious living originally established as an intentional community, this unusual guide blends theory with practical, hands-on, DIY ideas to incite your own creative adventures, Better is a concrete application of the Better Theory, which views every experience—good or bad—as an opportunity for exponential personal growth. Packed with life lessons and tips for making any lifestyle more sustainable, while drawing on everyone's inherent creativity, this unique book provides the inspiration to live more simply, take more chances, and engage more with the natural world. A must-read for anyone who questions the purpose of the daily grind or grapples with the need for more meaning in his or her life. Nicole Caldwell is the co-founder of Better Farm, a sixty-five-acre sustainability campus, organic farm, and artists' colony serving as a blueprint for environmentally conscious living. Her writings have been featured in Mother Earth News , Reader's Digest , and Time Out New York , among others.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2015

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author didn't really seem to have a defined plan when she wrote the book and as a result, it ends up reading very discombobulated and in some places, braggy. Nonetheless, there are some interesting tips and ideas worth propagating.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caldwell presents a passionate discussion of the need for sustainable living in our lives and the impact our choices and the choices of others have on the world as a whole. The book is divided into 3 parts: an introduction and background into her experiences and Better Farm, an overview of the need for embracing sustainable living, and projects to get one started on the journey.

Throughout the book, Caldwell did a good job citing sources regarding sustainable living (footnotes for each chapter are provided at the end of the book). I could tell that this subject is very important to the author as was evident in her passionate discord on certain areas.

Overall, the book held my interest and I would recommend it to anyone seeking information on how others have made the transition to a sustainable lifestyle.

(Review of DRC via Edelweiss)

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect guide for anyone wanting to live a better purer existence .Nicole Caldwell is the perfect guide sharing with us her personal life experience&then guiding us in how to live a better more sustainable life.