In 2004, the Rhizome Collective based in Austin, Texas received a grant to rehab an old warehouse building. Today that building offers workshops on radical urban sustainability and houses an Indy Media Center, an infoshop, a community radio station, Bikes Across Borders, Food Not Bombs, and Art and Revolution. Through years of work and organizing, two members of this collective have put together a fabulous book for anyone seeking real sustainability.

The book focuses mostly on practical ways we can all become more sustainable in the area of food, water, waste and energy. However, the book starts off with a brief commentary about the importance of practicing what the authors call "radical sustainability." In an age when phrases like "sustainable development" and "green consumerism" are tossed about, the members of the Rhizome Collective think it is important for us to seriously critique practices that essentially do nothing "to challenge the patterns of over-consumption and excess that have created the environmental crisis."

Toolbox for Sustainable City Living advocates radical sustainability that "recognizes the inseparability of ecological and social issues and the necessity of ensuring the solution to one problem does not create or worsen another." So for instance, the authors argue that instead of just putting up solar panels, which uses materials that are not sustainable, people could find used lumber and construct a windmill.

Another aspect that is central to radical sustainability is the idea of autonomous development. This kind of development provides everyone with the skills to do the necessary work and it gives control over basic resources to those using them. What this means is that there is no reliance on experts and specialists to make your home or community more sustainable.

The book is full of beautiful wood print art and photos of projects the collective has worked on. There are instructions and ideas on everything from raising chickens, catching rain water, using waste water, growing mushrooms, constructing a composting toilet, or producing your own bio-fuels. All of these practical applications have global impact since much of what we consume is not local and therefore is not sustainable. What the Rhizome Collective is really advocating are the creation of autonomous communities - communities that promote egalitarianism and justice. Toolbox for Sustainable City Living is an important contribution in the debate about sustainable living and an excellent resource for those who want to practice living that way.

Scott Kellogg and Stacey Pettigrew, Toolbox for Sustainable City Living, (South End Press, 2008)