For most people, there's little difference between taking a gift that is offered and gratefully receiving a gift. But for author Allyson Jayne Miller, a compassionate conservation bioregionalist, the difference is immense and holds the key to the planet's survival.

In this wise and beautiful story, Miller shares the importance of living sustainably with kindness and compassion-to gently receive from the Earth what it offers instead of greedily taking from it what we want.

Demonstrating the concept of trophic cascades-how ecosystems collapse when key predators are...