In ancient scripture, the “poor” ate vegetables, instead of meat; so, I’d call that a pretty green focus. Up until less than 200 years ago, the world was based upon a subsistence lifestyle for all but a very few elite and powerful. The vast majority of people existed upon what they could hunt and harvest for themselves or a relatively small community. The colonial-like collecting of natural resources for the consumption of wealthier populations has often both decimated the lands of hunt-gatherers and small subsistence farmers and forced them into cities where their lifestyle may be less than subsistence.

Landscape architects need to help communicate the importance of a more sustainable and equitable layout of our sites and communities and we need to look beyond advertising to see if the products we specify truly tread lightly on the environment and economies of less wealthy peoples.

Mark L. Johnson
Ecotone Land Design, Inc.