Ecological Footprint
If current material and population growth
trends continue and population stabilizes at
10 billion people in 2040, we will need
between eight and twelve additional planets.
World Carbon Emissions, 1950-2000
From Fossil Fuel Burning
Million
Tons
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
World Mean Temperature
15.8
15.6
15.4
15.2
15
14.8
14.6
14.4
14.2
14
13.8
13.6
Source: State of the World, World Watch Institute
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1950s
1960s
Economic losses
1970s
1980s
1990s
Number of major catastrophes
Underbelly of our Industrial
System
ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION
Global Warming
SOCIAL INEQUITY
& POVERTY
*M = Manufactured Capital
Habitat Loss
Decimated Biodiversity
Erosion
Deforestation
Widespread Pollution
Waste to Landfill
Poverty
Child Labor
Malnutrition
Injustice
Cancer
Unclean Water
Human Rights Violations
Toxic Chemical Exposure
The Concept of the Funnel
Decline of Living Systems
Margin for Action
Population x Affluence x Technology
Environmental Concerns
•Mass extinctions
•Deforestation & soil erosion
•Air & water pollution
•“Super” bacteria, viruses, and insects
•Dwindling natural resources
•Cancer rates increasing
•Reproductive disorders increasing
•Fisheries collapsing
•Water tables falling
•Climate Change
Extinctions
•51% of freshwater animal species are declining in
number.
•One in four vertebrate species are in sharp decline or
facing serious pressure from human activities.
•One of every eight known plant species is threatened
with extinction or is nearly extinct.
•One in ten tree species—some 8,750 of the 80,000 to
100,000 tree species known to science—are
threatened with extinction.
•The overall rate of extinction is estimated to be
1,000 to 10,000 times higher than it would be
naturally.
Acid Rain
Rain forest destruction
Fisheries collapse
Global warming
Forest loss
Toxicity
Water Pollution
Nuclear Plants
Air pollution
Jobs vs. environment debates
Flooding
Ground water
contamination
Energy
Sources
PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABILITY
Hunge
r
Monocultures
The Purpose of The Natural Step:
To develop and share a common framework comprised
of easily understood, scientifically-based principles that
can serve as a compass to guide society toward a
sustainable future.
© 1996 Paul Hawken, Karl-Henrik Robèrt, and The Natural Step
System Condition No. 1
Substances from the Earth's crust must
not systematically increase in the
biosphere
This means: fossil fuels, metals and other minerals must
not be extracted at a faster rate than their redeposit and
regeneration in the the Earth's crust.
System Condition No. 2
 Substances produced by society must
not systematically increase in nature
HALOGENATED
COMPOUNDS
chlorodifluoromethane
chlorotrifluoromethane
dichlorofluoromethane
chloromethane
trichlorofluoromethane
dichloroethylene
Freon 113
methylene chloride
chloroform
1,1,1 – trichloroethane
carbon tetrachloride
trichloroethylene
chloropentane
chlorobenzene
iodopentane
3-methyl-1-iodobutance
chloroethylbenzene
dibromodichloromethane
dichlorobenzene
chlorodecane
trichlorobenzene
ALDEHYDES
acetaldehyde
methyl propanal
n-butantal
methylbutanal
crotoaldehyde
n-penanal
n-hexanal
furaldehyde
n-heptanal
benzaldehyde
n-octanal
phenyl acetaldehyde
n-nonanal
methyl furaldehyde
n-decanal
n-undecanal
n-dodecanal
KETONES
acetone
methyl ethyl ketone
methyl propyl ketone
methyl vinyl ketone
ethyl vinyl ketone
2-pentanone
methyl pentanone
methyl hydrofuranone
2-methyl-3-hexanone
4-heptaonone
3-heptaonone
2- heptaonone
methyl heptaonone
furyl methyl ketone
octanone
acetaphenone
2-nonanone
2-decananone
alkylated lactone
phthalide
OXYGENATED
ISOMERS
C4H6O
C4H8O
C5H10 O
C4H6O2
C6H12 O
C7H10 O
C7H14 O2
C6H6O2
C6H14 O2
C6H16 O
C7H8O2
C7H10 O2
C9H18 O
C8H6O2
C10H12 O2
C10H14 O
This means:
substances must not be
produced faster than
they can be broken
down and be
reintegrated into the
cycles of nature or be
deposited in the
Earth's crust
C10H16 O
C10H18 O
C10H20 O
C10H22 O
C9H8O2
C11H20 O
ALCOHOLS
methanol
isoproponal
n-proponal
1-butanol
1-pentanol
x-furfuryl alcohol
2-ethyl-1-hexanol phenol
2,2,4-trimethylpenta-1,3-diol
x-terpineol
ACIDS
acetic acid
decanonic acid
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
System Condition No. 3
The physical basis for the
productivity and diversity of
nature must not be
systematically deteriorated.
This means: the productive surfaces of
nature must not be diminished in quality
or quantity, and we must not harvest
more from nature than can be recreated
or renewed.
System Condition No. 4
There needs to be fair and
efficient use of resources
with respect to meeting
human needs.
This means: basic human needs must
be met with the most resource efficient
methods possible, including equitable
resource distribution.
Income Disparities
Percentage
Richest 20%
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Poorest 20%
86.0
70.2
2.3
1960
1.1
1970
1980
1990
1994
Four System Conditions
1. What we take from the Earth’s crust
1. What we make in the lab
2. What we take from land and sea
3. How efficient and equitable we are
Applying the System
Conditions
Does this decision:
1. Decrease dependence on oil, gas,
and metals?
2. Decrease dependence on
compounds produced by society?
3. Increase the productivity and
biodiversity in nature?
4. Increase the efficiency and equity
with which resources are used?
Yes
No
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
Profitability
Cl
Re osed
ne R
w a eso
ble ur
En ce L
erg oo
y S ps
ou
rce
s
Total Cost
Accounting
Sustainable
y
fits nit
ne m u
Be m
er Co
old &
eh es
tak loye
dS p
c e Em
lan rs,
B a e s to
In v
Zero
Waste
Work with Biological &
Ecological Cycles
Self-Replenishing
High Quality of Life
Eco-System Services Healthy Communities
Social Merit
Health Crises
Malnutrition
Nature Viewed as Raw
Materials to be Extracted
Unsustainable
Externalization
of
Environmental
& Social
Costs
e
te issio
as
W Em
n & to
tio ed
uc rm
rod sfo
, P Tran
on
cti els
tra Fu
Ex ssil
Fo
Ozone Depletion
Global Warming
Gross Inequities
Resource Conflicts
nc
Declining Resources
Altered Bio/Geochemistry
Lo
ov w es
er t C
L o os
ya t L
lty ab
to or
Co tak
mm es
un Pre
itie ce
de
s
Environmental
Integrity
ns
Tomorrow’s Material Cycle
Tomorrow’s profit will come from design, not matter
Natural
Resources
Reduce
Use of
Natural
Resources
Goods and
Services
Recover
Technical
Nutrients
Closing the Material Loop
Key Concept: Material recovery starts and ends with great product design
Goals:
Need Less
material inputs
throughout
product life
Make use of
recovered
materials
Make it easy to
recover
materials
Goals:
Find sustainable
sources of
technical nutrients
Decreasing Resource Use By Design
• Design for Efficient Production
• Design for Efficient and
Effective Use
•Closing
Design
Efficient Recovery
the for
Loop
Recapture value
from materials
Learn from
experience to
improve future
design
• Take-back Logistics
Business Leaders
Higher Education
Network for Business
Innovation and
Sustainability/NW
Government
Agencies
Community
Stakeholders
Non-Profits
Building Community Collaboration
to Support Sustainable Prosperity
 catalyzing and enabling increased business to
business collaboration; i.e. best practices, IE
 linking sustainable business projects with the
teaching and research capacities being developed in
higher education institutions,
 developing informed relationships between
businesses and non-profits that profitably reward
sustainability in the marketplace,
 Collaboration between business and government that
facilitate eco-efficiency, innovation and reward
sustainable practices
Interdisciplinary Support for Sustainable Business:
Research, Teaching & Action Learning Projects
Business Management
Environmental Information Systems
Marketing
Green Building Architecture
Life Cycle Product Design
Accounting
FINANCIAL STRENGTH
through implementation of
sustainable business practices
Biomimicry
Economics
Organization
Development
Economic
Leadership
Industrial Ecology
Urban & Regional
Planning
Environmental
Engineering
Bioregional
Natural
Resource
Management
Green
Chemistry
Objectives
Political
Science
Environmental
Social
ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY
SOCIAL MERIT
through use of technologies and strategies
through promoting socially
that reduce material use, energy use,
and environmentally
toxins and waste
preferable products and services
Rural and Urban
Sociology
Human Development
Ecopsychology
Geology, Hydrology &
Atmospheric Sciences
Science/Technology
for renewable and
Efficient energy use
Biological and
Physical Sciences
Community
Development
Information
Technology
Sustainable
Agriculture
Communications
Specialists
Bioregional
Geography
Social Sciences
Figure 2
By Karl Ostrom
Network for Business
Innovation & Sustainability
An intensive one-day workshop
S
P
S
USTAINABLE
URCHASING
TRATEGIES
Using the Natural Step Framework
Thursday, May 1, 2003
Sustainable Business
Four strategies to put you on the road to sustainability
Strategy
Value from
Ecosystems
Material to
Information
Connect to
Value Chain
Connect to
Community
— Knowledge
intensive
— Green
products
— Stakeholder
agenda
— New business
opportunities
— Value per
volume
output
— Supply chain
improvement
— Local
solutions
— Renewable
materials
— Value per unit
capital
— Products to
Services
— Creative
partnerships
— Renewable
energy
— Reduce
footprint
— Remanufactu
ring
— Trust
— Offsets
— Material per
customer
— Lower
operating
costs
— Biomimicry