Treasures of the Earth Need, Greed, and a Sustainable Future Saleem H. Ali

Would the world be a better place if human societies were somehow able to curb their desires for material goods? Saleem Ali's pioneering book links human wants and needs by providing a natural history of consumption and materialism with scientific detail and humanistic nuance. It argues that simply disavowing consumption of materials is not likely to help in planning for a resource-scarce future, given global inequality, development imperatives and our goals for a democratic global society. Rather than suppress the creativity and desire to discover that is often embedded in the exploration and production of material goods - which he calls 'the treasure impulse' - Ali proposes a new environmental paradigm, one that accepts our need to consume 'treasure' for cultural and developmental reasons, but warns of our concomitant need to conserve. In evaluating the impact of treasure consumption on resource-rich countries, he argues there is a way to consume responsibly and alleviate global poverty. This is a recommended book in the January 2010 issue of "Scientic American".

Saleem H. Ali is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont and on the adjunct faculty of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. He was chosen in 2007 by Seed magazine as one of eight "Revolutionary Minds in the World" for his work on using the environment to help resolve conflicts.

"A pioneering exploration of human wants and needs and the natural resources we consume." Bookseller"