Sustainability by design : a subversive strategy for transforming our consumer culture / John R. Ehrenfeld.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ehrenfeld, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sustainable development.

Consumption (Economics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The developed world, increasingly aware of "inconvenient truths" about global warming and sustainability, is turning its attention to possible remedies-eco-efficiency, sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility, among others. But such measures are mere Band-Aids, and they may actually do more harm than good, says John Ehrenfeld, a pioneer in the field of industrial ecology. In this deeply considered book, Ehrenfeld challenges conventional understandings of "solving" environmental problems and offers a radically new set of strategies to attain sustainability. The book is founded upon this new definition: sustainability is the possibility that humans and other life will flourish on Earth forever. There are obstacles to this hopeful vision, however, and overcoming them will require us to transform our behavior, both individually and collectively. Ehrenfeld identifies problematic cultural attributes-such as the unending consumption that characterizes modern life-and outlines practical steps toward developing sustainability as a mindset. By focusing on the "being" mode of human existence rather than on the unsustainable "having" mode we cling to now, he asserts, a sustainable world is within our reach.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Is the Sky Falling, and, If So, Does Anyone Care?

Chapter 2. Solving the Wrong Problem: How Good Habits Turn Bad

Chapter 3. Uncovering the Roots of Unsustainability

Chapter 4. Consumption: A Symptom of Addiction

Chapter 5. A Radical Notion of Sustainability

Chapter 6. The Tao of Sustainability

Chapter 7. Change, Transformation, and Design

Chapter 8. Culture Change: Locating the Levers of Transformation

Chapter 9. A New Story for Nature

Chapter 10. The Importance of Being . . .

Chapter 11. Consumption and Need

Chapter 12. To Care Is Human

Chapter 13. Creating Possibility with Products

Chapter 14. Presencing by Design

Chapter 15. Creating Possibility Through Institutional Design

Chapter 16. Implementing Adaptive Governance

Chapter 17. The Special Role of Business

Chapter 18. Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-231) and index.

ISBN:

9786612089374

9781282089372

1282089374

9780300142808

0300142803

OCLC:

391334910