We have trapped ourselves in an economic model that requires over-consumption to fuel its progress. Unfortunately, the collateral damage of funding relentless growth is often excessive levels of personal, institutional, and national debt. The way we deal with debt says a lot about the basic assumptions baked into our current economic model.

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There’s nothing wrong with consumption of basic goods and services. It’s when consumption takes on a life of its own that we risk overshooting the carrying capacity of the planet, as illustrated in Our Ecological Footprint, by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees. We don’t really “consume” most goods. We just use them and throw them away. The resulting build-up of hazardous and non-hazardous waste is not sustainable. That’s why green packaging, green supply chains, and green products are receiving so much attention.

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