Louis Cox

A thriving engineering firm called NRG Systems in Hinesburg, Vt., is a leader in research & development of instrumentation for wind turbine energy systems all over the world. It is also known for its unique physical plant, built in 2004, one of only four industrial facilities in the world to receive gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. With such features as superinsulation, passive solar gain, on-grid photovoltaic power, and ground-source heating and cooling, the building uses about a fourth of the energy of a conventional building.

A less-celebrated achievement of NRG Systems is that it has proven to be a very healthy, pleasant place to work, as its very low personnel turnover attests. It has no dehumanizing cubicles. Its spacious work spaces are constructed almost entirely of green products and recycled materials that are pleasing to the senses. Climate controls bring in fresh air whenever outside temperatures are within a certain range. Because heating and cooling fluids are circulated through massive slab floors, there are no distracting background HVAC noises. Indoor plants provide a fresh, wholesome ambience. Large windows overlook a happy landscape of farm fields, woods, lakes, and mountains. Employees are given ample breaks to use indoor and outdoor exercise facilities.

This innovative concept in workplace design is celebrated in a DVD in the QEW video lending library titled, The Next Industrial Revolution, with architect William McDonough extolling new zero-waste industrial processes and productive people-friendly working environments. However, exploring the physical and psychological reasons for such amazing practical results did not fall within the scope of this video production. That's where Richard Louv's new book, The Nature Principle--Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books 2011), takes up the cause.

The "Principle" that Louv identifies is the natural source of all that is healthy and constructive. It is not a speculative ideal or theory. It is a fundamental process that is built into the universe. Like Newton's "Law" of Gravity, it can't be repealed and we flout it at our peril.

This sounds like the same "principle" that 18^th century Quaker John Woolman referred to as the moral force undergirding all Creation that, when honored in right living, leads to personal health, spiritual integrity, and peaceable communities. Conversely, when the principle is spurned or forgotten, the inevitable result is illness, strife, moral decline, and social conflict in all realms of life.

Louv's Nature Principle was presaged as well by the founding of "Friends Committee on Unity with Nature," now called Quaker Earthcare Witness. While the idea of living in "unity with nature" continues to be the cornerstone of the Earthcare movement, it has often been misunderstood as a romanticized escape to unspoiled wilderness, or even worship of nature itself. But it's not just a hope or aspiration. It is the fact of our being dependent on the processes of nature, despite any notions we may have of being independent of and masters over the rest of the natural world.

The New Story is an inspiring account of our essential oneness with the creatively evolving universe, as revealed by modern life sciences and physics. But we are only beginning to imagine and explore its everyday practical applications. Louv, who also wrote the best-selling Last Child in the Woods--Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books 2005), makes an important contribution here. He shows the reader that recovering from our epidemic of Nature Deficit Disorder does not require going back to a primitive pre-technological existence. We can retain much of the benefits and comforts of modern life while applying the Nature Principle to our homes, schools, workplaces, health-care systems, communities, farms, recreational programs, industries, and other facets of life, Louv maintains.

Although HD televisions, smart phones, and other technologies claim to be the epitome of sophistication, the long-term results have been desensitization of our bodies and diminishment of our spirits. "Taken to extreme, a denatured life is a dehumanized life. Man (sic) becomes a kind of cosmic outlaw. Electronic immersion, without a force to balance it, creates the hole in the boat, draining our ability to pay attention, to think clearly, to be productive and creative."

But it's never too late, Louv states. "Reconnecting to nature, near and far, opens new doors to health, creativity, and wonder."

Unity with nature, next page >>

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