The Sustainable Century

Every century is known for something big. In the 17th century it was the Renaissance; in the 18th and 19th, the Industrial Revolution; in the 20th, it was Technology & Globalization. The 21st will be known as the Sustainability Century, or will be, if we manage to survive it. It is not news that we are running short of arable land, water, minerals all the while putting impossible pressures on vital and ever shrinking ecologies, leading to resource conflicts, food insecurity, health risks, etc., etc. This alarm bell has been rung so many times it has become itself a great big scary cliché. The Sustainable Century by Design or Disaster doesn’t ring this bell much. Nor does it engage in polarizing ideologically-based or emotional opposition to whatever side of the status quo one might be on. Rather, it sets its stubborn eye on the realities facing companies and what they can, can’t, and should do to participate in and profit from efforts big and small, subtle and radical to divert the economy from humming along down its oh-so unsustainable path.