Karl-Henrik Robert started The Natural Step by defining the key scientifically sound environmental principles on which everyone could agree. The conditions for sustainable life on earth are, in Robert's words, "non-negotiable and absolute." The beauty of this model, he adds, is that since it is absolute, you can audit yourself in that direction. He outlined these "Four System Conditions" as follows:
Fossil fuels, metals, and other materials must not be extracted at a faster pace than their slow redeposit into the Earth's crust. Otherwise, quality will be lost due to the inevitable spread of wastes and their accumulation towards often unknown limits, beyond which irreversible changes occur. Today, in practical terms, this means radically decreased mining and use of fossil fuels.
Substances must not be produced at a faster pace than they can be broken down and integrated into the cycles of nature or deposited into the Earth's crust. Otherwise, quality will be lost due to the inevitable spread of substances and their accumulation towards often unknown limits, beyond which irreversible changes occur. In practical terms, this means decreased production of natural substances that are accumulating, and a phase-out of all persistent and unnatural substances, such as plastic, freon, or PCB's.
The ecosystem must not be harvested or manipulated in such a way that productive capacity and diversity systematically diminish. Our health and prosperity depend on the capacity of nature to reconcentrate and restructure wastes into resources. Today, this means sweeping changes in our use of natural resources for agriculture, forestry, fishing, and planning societies.
Basic human needs must be met with the most resource-efficient methods possible, including a just resource distribution. Humanity must prosper with a resource metabolism meeting the above three system conditions. This is necessary for social stability and cooperation in making future change. Today, in practical terms, this means an increased technical and organizational efficiency in the world, including a more resource-economical lifestyle in wealthier regions.
* In America, each person uses, directly or indirectly, about 125 pounds of material every day, or about 23 tons per year (e.g., fuel, gravel, industrial minerals, industrial metals, forestry products, agricultural products).
* Every day, U.S. farmers and ranchers draw out 20 billion more gallons of water from the ground than is replaced by rainfall.
* The total flow of our waste equals at least 250 trillion pounds, of which only about five percent is recycled.
* For every 100 pounds of product we manufacture in the United States, we create at least 3,200 pounds of waste.
* In a decade, we transform 500 trillion pounds of molecules into nonproductive solids, liquids, and gasses.
Karl-Henrik Robert explains that "nonproductive garbage," produced by our linear way of living and working, never finds its way back into the cycles of society or of nature to be reused or absorbed. As we busy ourselves with tearing down more than we rebuild, he notes, we are racing toward world-wide poverty in a monstrous, poisonous garbage dump.
The only thing that can save us from the consequences is the restoration of cyclical processes where wastes become new resources for society or nature.
The Natural Step promoters explain that the principles are not judgmental and prescribe no values on what companies or individuals or groups can or can't do, as long as they work within the system conditions. They educate business leaders, politicians, and scientists in the Four System Conditions, then ask for their advice about how to work within the conditions, thus engaging them in the creative process.
There has been some success in recruiting businesses to integrate the Natural Step principles into their operations. One of the more than sixty global corporations that have signed on is a $1 billion multinational carpet and flooring company. About 3.5 billion pounds of carpet end up at the landfill yearly. By adopting the Four System Conditions, the carpet company plans to lease its carpet service, replacing carpet tiles as they become worn, then recycling the old tiles into new ones for fresh carpeting. Other companies adopting Natural Step concepts include Electrolux and Volvo.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1999
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