Low-tech Magazine underscores the potential of past and often forgotten technologies and how they can inform sustainable energy practices. Sometimes, past technologies can be copied without any changes. More often, interesting possibilities arise when older technology is combined with new knowledge and new materials, or when past concepts and traditional knowledge are applied to modern technology. Inspiration is also to be found in the so-called “developing” world, where resource constraints often lead to inventive, low-tech solutions.

Inspired by the image compression on its solar-powered website, Low-tech Magazine squeezed the article catalog of its three-volume book series into just one book. Compressing the content — an editorial and design choice — produces a larger reduction in resource use than printing on recycled paper could ever do. For this book, Low-tech Magazine switched to a smaller font size, downsized most images, and opted for a two-column layout. Some articles, especially older ones, were rewritten resulting not only in fewer pages but also in better articles.

Contains more than 700 images in black and white.

Microplastics can cut a plant’s ability to photosynthesize by up to 12 percent, new research shows