The phrase, “think globally, act locally,” has been used by many proponents of environmentalism since the 1970’s. Attributed variously to David Brower, Rene Dubos and others, it was a rallying cry to consider the whole Earth when acting in one’s own milieu. With the growth of the global economy, it has become very difficult to follow this advice. A large proportion of the goods of all kinds, including food, found in retail outlets comes from long distances. Virtually all consumer electronics come from abroad. Estimates of the average distance ([food miles](http://www.ecomii.com/ecopedia/food-miles)) travelled in the US range from 1500-2000 miles. Whether… Read More
Continue ReadingGood Ideas Are Priceless
Matt May’s “In Pursuit of Elegance” blog is one I check regularly. The [latest entry](http://www.inpursuitofelegance.com/post/2009/07/01/Reward-Creativitys-Forbidden-Fruit.aspx) is terrific. It’s about learning and how ideas should be rewarded. His view will probably surprise you. > The story repeats itself all the time. Companies treat employees like a rat in a maze after cheese, by paying for approved ideas and accepted suggestions. They then wonder why they get such low participation. They give no thought to the notion that in order to get a good idea, you need a lot of ideas. > > Teachers at my daughter’s school are notorious for the… Read More
Continue ReadingAddiction Nation
As it often happens, I get triggered by something I read in the news or on the web. Today it was a [column](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/01/this_addiction_pays_its_way/) in the Boston Globe by Yvonne Abraham responding to the current debate in Massachusetts about making slot machines legitimate. After general opposition to such developments in the past, the current interest is being pushed as a means to raise state revenues in these tough times. Abraham paints a sorry picture of the addictive effects of slots on exactly those who can afford it least. > Like scratch tickets, slots are gaming’s crack. Just like the instant games… Read More
Continue ReadingBack Home
After about ten days in Europe, I am on my way home. I have about three hours to spend in Montreal before getting my flight to Boston. I have missed quite a few posts so I will use this time to compose something about my time away. I have been quite occupied with my International Society for Industrial Ecology conference and then spending time with friends, but have been looking around and listening to activities and thoughts about sustainability. A few things are very evident. At least in the two countries I visited, Portugal and Switzerland, recycling is taken very… Read More
Continue ReadingTraveling for Two Weeks
I will be away for about two weeks, traveling in Europe. I will try to blog from there, but am not sure I will have access to the internet. I am going to the 5th biennial International Conference of the International Society for Industrial Ecology in Lisbon, and then a side trip to visit friends in Switzerland. I have been the Executive Director of the Society since its inception and am stepping down from this position at the meeting. Industrial ecology is founded on the idea that industrial systems resemble ecosystems in terms of the flows of energy and materials… Read More
Continue ReadingIt’s the System, Stupid
[Sloan Management Review](http://sloanreview.mit.edu/), the magazine of the MIT Sloan School of Business, has a new editor and a new format. Sustainability is one of the primary topics they now cover. Some months ago, they began to publish extended interviews with MIT-related people who have been engaged in this topic. (Disclosure: I was one of these people, and expect to see my interview come out shortly.) The [latest one is with Peter Senge](http://sloanreview.mit.edu/beyond-green/sustainability-its-not-what-you-think-it-is/), with whom I collaborate on several projects. The subject, based on Senge’s recent book, [*The Necessary Revolution*](http://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Revolution-individuals-organizations-sustainable/dp/038551901X), is focused on how firms are adjusting to the demands that… Read More
Continue ReadingFlourishing without Growth
Sorry for the premature publishing of this post. I clicked the wrong button in my haste to get on the water and do a little fishing. The weather has been terrible for nearly a week and I have sat inside waiting for the skies to clear. Well, today the sun came out. But best of all, I hooked a couple of keeper-size striped bass, my first of the summer. I use barbless hooks and always release my catch. Today, I offer up a couple of stories playing a different tune than the usual economic news, that of well-being without economic… Read More
Continue ReadingStraight Talk about Sustainability
If you follow this blog, you know that I am skeptical or downright critical of almost all claims made about green this or that or sustainable this or that. It’s not that I believe that most claims are a form of greenwashing. Many are, but I do believe that most organizations making such claims intend to improve the state of the world. The problem all have, whether serious or manipulative, is that they do not know what sustainability really is, and don’t know how to talk about it. All action follows languaging, so if the words send a confusing message,… Read More
Continue ReadingHow About Finding Contentment in “Good” Times as Well as in Bad
I have been finding good stuff to write about in the “[Happy Days](http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/)” blog of the New York Times. The latest entry was another story about how someone was able to flourish without all the bells and whistles of typical consumerist fare. Pico Iyer, the author of that article, titled “[The Joy of Less](http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/),” is a writer who left New York more than twenty years ago for a much reduced way of life in Japan. > . . . I still live in the vicinity of Kyoto, in a two-room apartment that makes my old monastic cell look almost luxurious… Read More
Continue ReadingIn Passing–Thomas Berry
Today’s newspapers carry the [obituary](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/04berry.html) of Thomas Berry. No one has been more articulate and evocative about sustainability, even though he rarely used that word. Ordained as a Catholic monk in 1942, Berry left the isolation of the monastery to take up an academic career, teaching at a number of leading Catholic universities. But it is his writing that will be his most important legacy. In *The Dream of the Earth*, Berry tells of the power of nature to nurture spirituality in human beings, but also warned against the loss of that same “nature” to the forces of modernity. He… Read More
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