“If the discoveries of the New Alchemy Institute are so important, why aren’t you rich?” a Famous Person once asked John Todd, cofounder of the Institute. Good question. The answer is that ideas not obviously mainstream take a while to be accepted, no matter how wonderful. Convincing demonstrations don’t necessarily help either; note that there have been practical solar homes for decades, but no solar building boom until builders, buyers, bankers and educators had sufficient incentive. Recent work, imaginatively reported, got things started.
The New Alchemy Institute’s experiments (Next Whole Earth Catalog, p. 177) in aquaculture, bioshelters, small-scale farming and innovative architecture have proven successful, but so far
have not ignited a massive thrust towards an ecologically sound,
