The Overstory by Richard Powers

This is a one big book.

A lot of trees because the whole story is about them. There are humans who hear the voice of the trees and pick up the cause of conserving it.

There is nothing like sustainable consumption. It is just there or not there. For a real long time (billions of years) the eco system was growing with the disruption until the humans start growing their consumption exponentially. There are so many technological and scientific advances that this was bound to happen. Nobody was thinking what burning coal would cause when the first steam engine moved. We are moving from one fuel to another but the consumption is going to stay.

The trees are getting extinct fast and deforesting is one of the biggest cause. Blaming the conglomerates for this disturbance is the fastest conclusion that we can jump on to but the one thing which gets neglected is that eventually all of these are individual consumption. There are cars, machines factories which are releasing these poisonous gases into the environment but they are serving for the individual human need.

It needs more of a revolution than rebellion to bring the balance back. It all came with the technological advances and the technology is going to find a solution for this. To make it happen it will require a habit of conscious consumption which is equally difficult but not impossible. And if it doesn't happen, nature will find its way which is going to be very disruptive for the whole ecosystem (trees or living beings).

Coming back to the book, this is big and a tad bit boring at times with a lot of details. But if you are not looking for a quick summary reading it whole is recommended.

Peace