Power to the People

Contents

Welcome

Small Ideas Big Future • Satish Kumar

Social justice, environment and peace are more important than ever

Frontline

Apple Tops Greenpeace Gadget Survey • Lorna Howarth

The environmental impact of hi-tech gadgets

Building Blocks from Bags • Lillian Sum

Making building blocks from plastics in India

The House that Waste Built • Lorna Howarth

Strategies for building low-energy, permanent buildings from waste material

Action From the Grass Roots • Lorna Howarth

Grass roots initiatives around the globe

Festival of Wellbeing • Greg Neale

Soil, soul and making connections

Ecologist

Trust the People • Sarah Beattie-Smith

The Scottish independence campaign has reawakened the thirst for localism and democracy

Devolution: The Cities Are Ready and Waiting • George Ferguson

The mayor of Bristol argues for greater urban autonomy

A Handful of Hope • Angus Reid

A poetic project that gives voice to a people's constitution

Time for a Constitutional Convention • Rupert Read & Rebecca Johnson

A citizen-led constitution is needed to give real power to the people

The News Where You Are • James Robertson

Reflecting on media alienation

A Crisis This Big Changes Everything • Oliver Tickell

Naomi Klein outlines the need for radical change

Fossil Fuels: The Toxic Relationship • Max Lawson

Calling for an end to pollution subsidies

We Are Soil • Vandana Shiva

The need for organic stewardship

It's Anything But Dirt • Craig Sams

A holistic approach to the science of soil

My Green Life • Sharon Garfinkel

An interview with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

Quotes

The Tree • William Blake

Extract from a William Blake poem

Keynotes

Lost For Words • David W. Orr

A plea for the appreciation of language, literature and the use of well-crafted words

Undercurrents

The Market is the New Religion • Jeremy Seabrook

Apologists for unbridled capitalism overlook it's ancestry and its limitations

Every Little Helps • Ros Coward

Lifestyle changes can all add up

Ethical Living

The Buddha and the Sacred Earth • Rob Burbea

Examining Buddhist attitudes to Nature

On Trial: A Way of Life • Adam Weymouth

A community fighting against climate change in Alaska

Words of Power • Matt Harvey

Poetry inspired by renewable energy

When the Grass is Not Greener • Jane Hurst

Planting an alternative to the traditional lawn

Sourdough - but oh, so sweet • Susan Clark

A recipe for making sourdough bread

A Tribute to David Nicholson-Lord • Greg Neale

Reflecting on the work of regular contributor and author of Up the Elephant Round the Castle

Regulars

Letters to the Editors

A selection of letters to our editors

Crossword • Timothy Bonsor

A brain teaser full of ecological clues

Poetry - One Spade of Earth • Peter Abbs

New translations by Martyn Crucefix

The Arts

Music Is My Religion • Satish Kumar

An interview with Amjad Ali Khan, India's master of the sarod

Nature Through the Lens

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition

Art - By the People, For the People • Fiona MacCarthy

A new exhibition on the visionary William Morris

A Treasure Cave of Sacred Geometry • Ian Skelly

Understanding Nature's patterns through the teaching of geometry

Reviews

The Prophet of Gaia • Stephan Harding

Review of A Rough Ride to the Future

Hawk on the Wild Side • Tony Juniper

Review of H is for Hawk

Shared Wealth Need Not Be Lost • Pat Conaty

Review of Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons

The Answer Lies in the Soil • Matt Dunwell

Review of The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet

Speaking Up For Fish and Bees • Russell Warfield

Review of Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat

Feet First • Ralph Pite

Review of A Philosophy of Walking

Wise Old Codgers • Lindsay Clarke

Review of Proteus and the Magician: The Letters of Henry Miller and John Cowper Powys

Web Exclusives

Article - A Guardian Landscape • Gay Watson

Exploring a new sculpture garden in Cornwall

Article - Remembering Bhopal • Vandana Shiva

Bhopal marks a political, economic and legal watershed for India and the planet.

Review - Doing - with consciousness • Alex Haxeltine

Review of The Unselfish Spirit: Human Evolution in a Time of Global Crisis