BERKSHIRES-
Being a grandparents is a kind of life.
Change the experience of a lot of people, but it's not just that for Daniel Goleman.
It's a planet.
Change the experience.
The prolific psychologist and scientific writer is known for his 1995 best-selling book, emotional intelligence, which challenges the existing definition of "smart. (
He considered the advantages of interpersonal relationships, such as interpersonal skills and empathy. )
He divided the book into a small part.
As a researcher and lecturer, promote emotional literacy at school and at work.
But with his grandchildren, he has a new direction for his work.
He has four children, aged between 3 and 10, and like many grandparents, he finds himself thinking that he will leave their world.
Given his way to make a living, Gorman is concerned about global warming and toxic chemicals in water and soil, he believes, his generation's tendency to make and buy things without considering the impact on the environment has exacerbated the problem.
"Unfortunately ,[
My grandson.
"Because of our collective day-to-day choices, the world may be a more sad version of the world we know now," says 64-year-old Gorman . ".
Gorman, a former science writer for The New York Times, wrote books on topics of interest to him, and he began to be passionate about the book.
The result is his new book, eco-intelligence: the hidden impact of what we buy, published in paperback on Thursday's Earth Day in a timely manner.
A premise of this book is that most of us forget the impact of what we are buying on health, the environment and society, and use something to be impetuous in our consumer life. we-don’t-know-can’t-hurt-us attitude —
Even if we think we're eco-friendlyconscious.
Most of us are functionally unable to know which products are really green, or we're just "cleaning with green PR," Golman said ".
We don't know which shampoos contain toxic chemicals, which manufacturing processes emit greenhouse gases, and which companies operate factories for developers.
It's not all our fault.
"In addition to the most obsessed among us, we all lack cognitive ability to go through endless calculations and make our decisions --
"Make the method the best," he wrote . "
"Even if we do know one or two specific hazards, who has the patience to read the list of products with dozens of mysterious ingredients in frozen pizza or light agents on the floor and compare them to similar lists of other options?
The good news, however, is that there is an emerging discipline called industrial ecology, which is designing new systems to rate the green level of the product.
Gorman quoted the website GoodGuide.
For example, the company aggregates about 200 databases and scores products based on their impact on ecology and health. (
GoodGuide even has an iPhone app that allows shoppers to scan barcodes in the store for their rating.
Another site with deep skinwww.
Database of cosmeticscom —
Assess the relative safety of personal care products. )
GoodGuide is working to expand into other categories, including electronics, clothing, pet food and paper products, and other groups are starting to join in to rate specific issues in a specific product category.
Greenpeace, for example, has released a guide to green electronics.
"GoodGuide represents the beginning of a truly ecological and transparent market.
"It can and will improve," Golman said . ".
"If more and more of us use this information, and this scale is expanded, we can create a virtuous circle, in which, the shift in consumer demand to eco-dominant products makes innovation a very Gorman said: "Get rid of harmful chemicals and find better manufacturing methods. ".
"It's not because it's a good thing, it's because it's an important business decision. . . .
Doing the right thing is consistent with doing the things that make money.
"Gorman sat in the light --
Filled with studios behind his house, at the end of a long road in a small town in western Massachusetts, he did not want to reveal.
Behind the studio is a teahouse with good ecology (
Local stone steps, timber harvested from the New Hampshire swamp, bamboo fence)
Built to satisfy his wife's passion for Japanese tea and flower arrangement-arranging;
She's Tara Bennett.
Gorman, a writer and therapist.
Gorman used the Teahouse to meditate and wrote "emotional intelligence" here, kneeling on the tatami mat until his neck was injured and the doctor stopped him.
Now he works in an ergonomic office in the studio.
Like many big ideas in life, this idea is inspired by a series of small revelations.
For example, he bought his 18-month-
A bright yellow wooden racing car made in China
Cheap for 99 cents
It wasn't long before I read that the lead in the paint would make the colors such as red and yellow look brighter and would generally be used in cheap toys.
Or when he bought pasta sauce at the local supermarket, when another brand caught his attention, he was about to buy his favorite one.
It is packed in a reusable plastic tank marked with BPA-free, an organic compound used to harden the plastic.
Just that week, he had been reading about whether BPA caused serious harm to health;
He went home and threw away all the BPA.
Plastic container. (
Changed his loyalty to pasta sauce. )
Gorman admitted that until recently, he was a clueless shopper, roaming the supermarket aisle in "unconscious mode" and making choices out of habit, if he bought something labeled "green" or "organic", it felt very ethical because he thought it would be better for the Earth. Not anymore.
"When the advertisement said something like this, I used to believe --and-
This is green, he said.
"Now, unless a product like GoodGuide has an independent transparent rating, I immediately don't believe it. . .
Or the skin is so deep that I'm sure it's green.
Because if you are told that the green person is the one who makes money from your purchase, you have good reason to be skeptical.
"He checks the rating of the tour guide before he buys things, which leads to some difficult choices: he gives up his favorite --
But the score is low.
Shampoo and deodorant.
Out of concern about mercury contamination, he avoided tuna and tried to buy fish that were not endangered or that were raised in an ecologically healthy way. (
He recommends Arctic char. )
He is using a glass water bottle or a stainless steel water bottle, but he thinks the town should bring the water dispenser back because "it's a more sustainable solution.
"He also buys locally grown products as much as possible and avoids large box shops.
He believes that "in a large box store, 30 cents taken from the dollar were left in the community, but in the local store it was about 60 cents.
He was driving a hybrid Lexus, but when he was asked to attend the presentation he tried to convince the owner to attend the webinar so that he did not need to travel.
He never gave the toy to his grandson.
He just kept it in memory.
Daniel Gorman will deliver a speech at the Oak Hill Middle School auditorium in Newton on April 28. m.
Register, contact Newton Community Education, 617-559-
6999 or www.
Newton community. org .
