Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything »

Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., covered behavioral and brain sciences for The New York Times for twelve years and is codirector of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University. He has taught at Harvard, his alma mater, and as a consultant addresses groups and businesses around the world. He is also the author of Emotional Intelligence,Working with Emotional Intelligence, Primal Leadership, and co-author of Destructive Emotions.

Goleman draws on cutting-edge research to show us a fresh way out of the largest crisis of our time—the environmental crisis that looms over us all.

Publishers Weekly

Two years ago, British fashion designer Anna Hindmarch produced the must-have accessory of the season: a bleached, organic cotton tote manufactured in fair-wage factories, subsidized with carbon offsets and emblazoned with the slogan, "I'm NOT a plastic bag." But according to Goleman (Emotional Intelligence), the people who bought the bag were advertising their ecological ignorance, not their consciousness. In this thorough examination of the inconsistencies and delusions at the core of the "going green effort," the author argues that consumers are "collective victims of a sleight of hand," helplessly unaware of the true provenance and impact of the products they purchase: they reassure themselves by buying "environmentally friendly" tote bags that, upon ecological assessment, reveal some uncomfortable facts, e.g., 10,000 liters of water were required to grow the cotton for one bag, and cotton crops alone account for the use of about 10% of the world's pesticides. Goleman's critiques are scathing, but his conclusion is heartening: a new generation of industrial ecologists is mapping the exact impact of every production process, which could challenge consumers to change their behavior in substance rather than just show. (Apr.)