All living organisms consume energy, modify resources from the environment and produce waste. That is an inescapable fact of life. But in nature all material wastes are recycled as inputs to other living organisms. The only true waste is diffuse, low-grade heat.
In order to create a truly sustainable economy we must mimic the ecosystem so that the waste of every household and business becomes resource inputs to other enterprises and the only waste produced is diffuse, low-grade heat from renewable resources like solar.
In Direct Pointing to Real Wealth author Thomas J. Elpel demonstrates that it is inevitable that we will create an ecologically sustainable economy. Tom turns conventional thinking on its head and out-lines steps you can take to increase your prosperity right now while closing the loop on waste and speeding the transition to a greener world.
Direct Pointing to Real Wealth is an enlightened look at the nature of money. Discover how the economy is like an ecosystem and how money is a token we use to represent calories of energy in the ecosystem. Toms unique approach to money takes you beyond the numbers game to a direct examination of the laws of physics, biology, and economics. These laws are the same today as in the Stone Age, when people worked only a few hours per day and had much more leisure time than we do now.
Whether you are raising a family or running a business, Toms book gives you a fresh new look at economics, ecology and how to achieve your Dreams. Break through perceived limitations to discover a world of prosperity and abundance!
Prosperity on an income of less than $15,000 a year? Tom and Renee Elpel prove that anyone can still live the American Dream-- to own a quality home free and clear of a mortgage! With few resources to start from, Tom & Renee squeezed $50,000 worth of benefit from a minimal annual income. Today, with no house payment, low energy bills, and few other expenses, the Elpel's have the freedom to do pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want too.
The Elpel's live in Pony, Montana with their three children. They enjoy a close connection to the natural world with lots of camping, hiking and canoeing.
Direct Pointing to Real Wealth was inspired by Tom's interest in nature and his desire to show that it is more profitable to work with the environment rather than against it. Tom is also the author of three other books inspired by nature, including: Participating in Nature, Botany in a Day and Living Homes. REVIEW1: "You have been a tremendous inspiration to us. Your books positively took ideas that had been running around in my head for years and tied them together for the foundation of my thinking. Without your books and ideas, I would still be trying to fit all my ideas and philosophies into one big picture. You've helped me get all those thoughts into goals, realistic goals, and I thank you." REVIEW1_SOURCE: John Y. / Wausau, Wisconsin
Thomas J. Elpel had the rare opportunity as a child to spend hundreds of hours with his grandmother Josie Jewett. Together they explored the hills and meadows near Virginia City, Montana, collecting herbs, looking for arrowheads and watching wildlife. Grandma Josie helped Tom to learn about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired him ever since. She also sparked his interest in survival skills.
Tom was born in Los Altos, California in 1967 to Edwin and Jeanette Elpel. Every summer the family traveled back to Montana to be close to the extended family. They spent much of that time with Grandma Josie. Tom's father died in 1979, and the following summer the family moved permanently back to Montana. Tom attended junior high and high school in Bozeman, Montana.
"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was to go to Grandma's house," Tom said. "When she moved from Virginia City to Pony, I followed her. Renee and I eventually bought land just a couple blocks from her place."
Tom's first serious exposure to wilderness survival skills began at the age of 16, when he went on a 26-day, 250-mile walkabout in the desert canyons of southern Utah with Boulder Outdoor Survival School. The following year he and Grandma Josie went together to Tom Brown's Tracker School in New Jersey. From there Tom spent thousands of hours practicing and developing survival skills in his "backyard" in the Rocky Mountains.
Tom met his sweetheart Renee in high school, where they both spent a lot of time in the art room. He asked her to go on a hike with him, and she said "no." But later Tom asked her again to go for a walk, and she said "okay." To Renee there was a big difference between a hike and a walk. Hiking didn't sound like much fun to her, but walking sounded good. In 1988, two years out of high school, they walked 500 miles together across Montana, starting in Pony, and ending at Fort Union on the North Dakota border. They were married in the Pony Park the following summer.
The couple bought a five-acre parcel in Pony, just two blocks distance from Grandma Josie's house. They moved into a tent and started building their dream home of stone and log. They both worked with troubled teens in wilderness therapy programs, so they commuted to Idaho, Utah, or Arizona for three-week trips, then came home to spend their money on building materials. (Be sure to read Tom's article Building a House on Limited Means for more details.)
Tom's desire to make a difference in the world started early, partly the result from watching too much news with Walter Chronkite as a child. By the time he entered junior high he was on a mission to change the world. Friends in high school said he would grow out of his idealism and learn to accept the world as it was, but so far that hasn't happened. (He hasn't exactly changed the world either, but he insists he is still working on it.)
In an effort to tackle the issues of making a living while making the world a better place, Tom wrote his first book (more of a booklet) in 1991, which evolved over the years into Direct Pointing to Real Wealth. He has always written about subjects he wanted to learn and developed professionalism by writing, reflecting, revising, and republishing. He typically publishes four or five draft editions in comb-bound format before printing with a conventional paperback binding for the mass market. Along the way he started his own publishing company, HOPS Press, LLC, and created a successful internet bookstore.
In 1991 Tom also founded Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School (HOPS) and has been giving classes on everything from Stone-Age living to stone masonry ever since. His basic philosophy is that the wilderness survival skills are useful to connect with nature, but you shouldn't run away from the problems of modern society. Instead, we need to apply the lessons and spirit of living close to nature towards the quest to solve our worldly problems.
"Experts and lay persons alike bemoan the difficulty of creating a sustainable lifestyle, but it really isn't that hard." Tom said. "Renee and I had less money and less skills than a lot of people, but we built an energy-efficient passive solar home, and we now generate our own electricity with solar panels. Sustainability isn't that difficult, you just have to stay focused on the goal."
Tom and Renee Elpel adopted three children, Felicia, Cassie, and Donny in 1996. Edwin was born to them in 2001. The family has been on many great adventures together, exploring the world by canoe, by car, or occasionally by bus and train. Tom has continued to passionately pursue his writing career no matter what other distractions there might be, learning to focus even through a parade of kids marching back and forth through his office.
In 2001 Tom founded Jefferson River Canoe Trail Association (originally named 3Rivers Park) to help sustain Montana's traditions of open space and open access along the Jefferson River segment of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
The publishing business and internet bookstore took over Tom and Renee's house room by room, until they bought Granny's Country Store in 2003. Although the store is an hour away from Pony, there is a house built into the store, so they migrate back and forth between the two places. The property at Granny's Country Store included enough room to launch Green University, LLC, which is Tom's latest endeavor to make real and lasting change in the world.
Tom's grandmother died in 2004 at the age of 89. Her love for nature continues to inspire Tom every day. Although he is insanely busy, getting out into nature remains a high priority, and he continues to hone his wilderness survival and awareness skills.
4.0 out of 5 starsA thoughtful look at money ... and the world, September 6, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Direct Pointing to Real Wealth: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Money (Paperback)
Thomas Elpel's book covers a broad span of topics, from do-it-yourself skills around the house and garden to international economic theory and practice, but its core message is that many people seem to plan their lives backwards. They go out to make money without first thinking about how to spend it to make themselves secure and happy, or how their work might hurt the environment and other people. Elpel proposes that we first decide what we want in life, including material wants, then work toward those things as goals, making money when we need it but not as our primary objective. Not everyone will want to move to the country and raise their own food, but every reader of this book will find food for thought and kernels of insight into the way our lives, the economy, and the world function. A lot of people who frequently get themselves into financial trouble would benefit from this book but, unfortunately, they're probably the ones least likely to read it.
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This review is from: Direct Pointing to Real Wealth: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Money (Paperback)
This is the third book of Tom's that I have read. There is no way to say enough to describe how this book has affected me. It comfimed, for me ways that I veiwed money and my personal views of finances. It also gave me the inspiration and insight to approach finances from a different level. I bought the book on a gut feeling (I wasn't interested in it, that I knew of) and I am really glad I did. Starting in November a class will be taught at our Nature School using this classic "Field Guide". Bravo Tom, great information, Thank you! And to those wondering to read it or not...definately, get this book and cherish it!
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 starsTextbook more than Field Guide, November 26, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Direct Pointing to Real Wealth: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Money (Paperback)
I am reviewing this book from the viewpoint of a person who is on a very limited income. I must say that I was quite excited about the possibilities this book had to offer after reading some articles related to the subject on the Hollowtop website. Those articles were very well written, and had some advice that was helpful to someone like me dealing with extremely limited funds. Reading those, and thinking that they were a taste of what was to come, I decided to buy the book. Sadly, those articles were much better written than the book. There are some excellent ideas presented on economic/enviormental theory, and closing the loop on waste; hence the 2 stars, but most of the information seems to be recycled from other authors/sources, and written for corporations. He even recycles several of his own paragraphs word for word throughout the book. I felt that the text wandered on the most interesting points, leaving me frustrated over the effort to see his reasoning. Some passages had the distinct feeling of listening to a Brian Tracy "success tape". I had hoped that the author would elaborate on the building of their house, the methods his family uses to close the loop on waste, and how they got by on 5% of their income. This is a fascinating subject. I'd like to see a more cohesive version written in the author's personal experiences, and scaled to a small as well as corporate level.
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