Natural Capitalism
by Paul Hawken, Amory B. Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins · first published 1999
9mentions
5recommended by
9HN commenters
2008–2023first – last mentioned
56% recommend44% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Covers how sustainability can align with business, with concrete examples such as fuel-efficient vehicle design and sustainable agriculture; suits readers interested in the economics of resource use and industry change.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…in computers. Really, nothing in history has improved as fast as computer hardware, so it's reasonable to assume that most things won't. That doesn't mean that huge advances are not possible - read Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken to learn how 250mpg cars are possible with current tech.
on “Larry Page on how to change the world” ↗The following books also contain some good coverage of the alarming state of unsustainable agriculture especially in the US (among a number of other topics regarding sustainability): Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken (to a lesser extent)
on “Supermarket vegetables now 5-40% lower in nutrients than 50 years ago” ↗This is a huge and growing space. Random NYT article from today: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/business/dealbook/buffetts... Check out B-Corps (For benefit corporations). Read Amory Lovins' Natural Capitalism.
on “Ask HN: Is it possible to start a successful tech non-profit?” ↗I'd be curious to hear others' recommendations, but I've gotten a lot out of Good to Great, The Innovator's Dilemma, and Natural Capitalism. If you're starting a startup, I'd recommend The Lean Startup over all of those, though.
on “Ask HN: if you had to recommend one business book...” ↗I recommend 2 older books on the topic: Cradle to Cradle Natural Capitalism Appreciate other recommendations.
on “Why Recycling Doesn't Work” ↗…approach is being carried on by Thomas Homer-Dixon: <https://homerdixon.com/writing/> There are other authors: Bill McKibben's Eaarth (sic), Joel Magnusonn's The Approaching Great Transformation, the book Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, all of which I have to hand. Vaclav Smil has written his own damned library on resources and sustainability from a technical perspective, largely looking…
on “Tidal Energy Is Not Renewable” ↗Have you read the book ‘Natural Capitalism’? There is a point made that the current costs are not adequately addressed, and instead externalized to the public. It was written in 1999.
on “MGA Entertainment: A privately-owned toy company doing billions in revenue” ↗…American capitalism still stems from short-term decisions in finance, ignoring the issues of natural finite resources, ably conceptualised by the Rocky Mountain Institute: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Capitalism:_Creating_th... . I also recommend the writings of American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen from 100 years ago on how it is remote capital that increases the likelihood of businesses to have…
on “The parable of the fisherman” ↗Relevant book: https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Capitalism-Creating-Industria...
on “Google says it will run entirely on renewable energy in 2017” ↗