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One thrilled Foreign Affairs reader was L. Hunter Sheldon, then a young lawyer in California. The article prompted Hunter to seek out Amory, and a year and a half later she married "the most amazing man I have ever met--an expert in essentially everything."
Last year the two decided to divorce, but she kept his name and remained a friend and partner. Amory calls Hunter, 50, his "strategist." RMI was her idea. It was 1980; they were driving from California to New Hampshire for a teaching gig. Finances were not good. "I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up," Hunter recalls. To make the world better through "design mentality," Amory replied. That credo--shorthand for high efficiency, no waste--has made RMI a global consulting and research firm with an annual budget close to $5 million.
Design mentality permeates Natural Capitalism, the new book co-authored by Amory, Hunter and Paul Hawken. It also energizes the Lovinses' headquarters in the Rockies. Made of thick stone slabs, it is so airtight that the sun's rays entering big windows during the day keep the temperature cozy even on the coldest winter nights. The abundant sunlight almost eliminates the need for daytime artificial lighting, stimulates solar panels to make electricity, keeps the house supplied with hot water and shines on a sort of tropical forest in an atrium with a waterfall and fishponds. Getting the most out of the sun and all other resources is the essence of the Lovinses' philosophy--and Amory and Hunter won't rest until the whole world buys into it.
--By Christopher Hallowell/Snowmass