Introduction to Sustainability
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About the author, xvii
About the companion website, xix
1 Roots of the modern sustainability movement, 1
Meaning of sustainability, 1
Nineteenth century environmentalism, 2
Pinchot, Roosevelt, and Muir, 4
Aldo Leopold and the land ethic, 6
Better living through chemistry, the Great Smog of 1952, and Rachel Carson, 6
Environmental activism of the 1960s and 1970s and the development of environmental policy, 8
The growth of environmental laws in the 1960s and 1970s, 10
The first Earth Day, 11
International concerns, 11
Ozone and the world comes together, 12
Globalization and the Brundtland Report, 12
Deep ecology, 14
Environmental justice, 15
Measuring sustainability, 15
The road ahead, 17
Organization, 19
2 Understanding natural systems, 21
The Earth, its layers, and the rock cycle, 21
The rock cycle, 23
Biogeochemical cycles, 24
Water and the water cycle, 24
The carbon cycle and global climate change, 27
The sulfur cycle, 29
The nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, 31
Organisms and ecosystems, 33
Urban ecosystems, 35
Understanding the Anthropocene, 38
3 Measuring sustainability, 40
The United Nations Millennium Goals, 40
Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, 41
Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education, 42
Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women, 42
Goal 4. Reduce child mortality rates, 42
Goal 5. Improve maternal health, 42
Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, 43
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability, 43
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development, 43
National sustainability planning, 45
Canada, 45
Bhutan, 48
Regional sustainability planning, 49
Local sustainability measurement, 51
Green local governments in Florida, 53
Specific community plans, 56
PlaNYC, 56
London and sustainability, 57
Small towns and sustainability, 59
Business sustainability, 60
Personal sustainability, 61
4 Energy, 63
World energy production and consumption, 63
Traditional or "dirty" energy resources, 65
Oil, 65
Oil shale and tar sands, 66
Natural gas, 67
Coal, 69
Green energy, 71
Biomass, 71
Wind energy, 74
Solar energy, 75
Nuclear energy, 76
Other innovations, 78
Energy efficiency, 78
Living off the grid, 80
5 Global climate change and greenhouse gas management, 81
The end of nature?, 81
The science of global climate change, 81
The greenhouse effect, 81
Sinks of carbon, 86
Forests, 86
Reefs, 86
The IPCC and evidence for climate change, and the future of our planet, 86
Ocean acidification, 88
Phenological changes, 88
Conducting greenhouse gas inventories, 89
Step 1 Setting boundaries, 89
Step 2 Defining scope, 90
Step 3 Choosing a quantitative approach, 91
Step 4 Setting a baseline year, 91
Step 5 Engaging stakeholders, 91
Step 6 Procuring certification, 91
Greenhouse gas equivalents used in greenhouse gas accounting, 92
Greenhouse gas emission scopes, 92
De minimis emissions, 92
Computing greenhouse gas credits, 93
Climate action plans, 93
Religion and climate change, 98
Evangelical Environmental Network, 98
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, 98
Catholic Climate Covenant, 98
Jewish Climate Change Campaign, 99
The International Muslim Conference on Climate Change, 99
Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change, 100
Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, 100
Art, culture, and climate change, 100
Swoon, 100
Raúl Cárdenas Osuna and Toro Labs, 101
Isaac Cordal, 101
6 Water, 103
Sources of water, 103
Consumption trends, 106
Sources of water pollution, 108
Agricultural pollution, 108
Industrial pollution, 108
Storm water pollution, 109
Sewage, 109
Leaking underground tanks, 109
Landfills, 110
Water management and conservation, 112
National and regional water conservation and management, 112
Water supply management, 113
Water management and innovation, 115
Water quality, 115
Understanding drainage basins, 120
Drainage basins out of synch, 121
Drainage basin pollution, 121
Stream profile and base level, 121
Lakes, 121
Seas, 122
Oceans, 122
7 Food and agriculture, 124
Development of modern agriculture, 124
Meat production, 127
World agricultural statistics, 130
Food deserts and obesity, 130
Reactions to the high-tech agricultural movement, 133
Vegetarianism and veganism, 133
Organic farming, 133
Small farm movement, 134
Locavores, 135
Farm to table, 136
Community sponsored agriculture, 137
Community gardens, 138
Farmers markets, 139
Beekeeping, 140
The urban chicken movement, 141
Guerilla gardening, freegans, and other radical approaches to food, 141
8 Green building, 143
LEED rating systems, 143
Site selection, 145
Brownfield development, 145
Other aspects of sustainable building siting, 147
Water use, 147
Energy and atmospheric health, 148
Materials and resources, 150
Materials re-use, 150
Recycled content of construction material, 150
Locally derived materials, 151
Renewable materials and certified sustainable wood, 151
Waste management, 151
Summary, 151
Indoor environmental quality, 152
Ventilation and air delivery monitoring, 152
Construction indoor air quality management, 152
Use of low-emitting materials, 152
Indoor chemical and pollution source control, 153
Controllability and design of lighting and temperature systems, 153
Access to daylight, 153
Summary, 153
Innovation, 154
Regional priorities, 154
Expansion of green building technology, 154
Other green building rating systems, 154
BREEAM, 154
PassivHaus, 156
Green building policy, 157
Critiques of green building, 157
The greenest building and historic preservation, 158
Small house movement, 161
Further reading, 163
9 Transportation, 164
Transportation options, 164
Vehicles and roads, 164
Vehicles and fuels, 167
Rail, 169
Ship transport, 169
Air transport, 171
Space travel, 172
Roads, 174
Environmental issues with roads, 175
Mass transit, 178
Forms of mass transit, 178
Transit hubs and transit oriented development, 180
The future, 181
10 Pollution and waste, 184
Pollution, 184
Chemical pollution, 184
Heat pollution, 187
Light pollution, 187
Noise pollution, 188
Visual pollution, 188
Littering, 189
Understanding pollution distribution, 189
The US approach to pollution, 191
Clean Air Act, 191
Clean Water Act, 192
National Environmental Policy Act, 193
Superfund, 194
Sewage treatment, 195
Sewage and sustainability, 196
Garbage and recycling, 197
Garbage composition, 197
Managing garbage, 198
Reducing waste, 199
Composting, 200
Recycling, 200
11 Environmental justice, 204
Social justice, 204
Civil rights and the modern environmental movement in the United States, 206
Lead pollution and the growth of the urban environmental justice movement, 207
Environmental racism in the United States, 209
Brownfields, community re-development, and environmental justice, 210
US EPA and environmental justice, 212
Native Americans and environmental justice, 213
Exporting environmental problems, 214
Environmental justice around the world, 214
Environmental justice in Europe, 214
Environmental justice in Asia and the Pacific, 215
Environmental justice in Africa, 217
Environmental justice in Latin America and the Caribbean: oil pollution in Ecuador, 219
Environmental justice in a Globalized World, 219
12 Sustainability planning and governance, 223
Local governments and their structure, 223
The role of citizens and stakeholders in local government, 223
Community stakeholders, 224
Boundaries and types of local governments, 225
Leadership, 226
Efforts to aid local governments on sustainability issues, 227
Scale and local governments, 229
Green regional development, 229
Sustainable development, 232
Globalization, 233
Development of globalization, 233
Drivers of globalization, 234
War and sustainability, 241
Further reading, 244
13 Sustainability, economics, and the global commons, 245
The global commons, 245
Economic processes that put the Earth out of balance, 245
Social and economic theories, 246
Neoclassical economics, 247
Environmental economics, 249
Green economics, 250
Non-capitalistic economies, 250
Deep ecology, 250
Ecofeminism, 252
Destruction regardless of theory, 252
Environmental economics: externalities, 253
Measuring the economy, 253
Green jobs, 256
Cost-benefit analysis and its application in environmental economics, 262
Environmental impact assessment, 263
Environmental ethics, 263
14 Corporate and organizational sustainability management, 266
Cognitive dissonance, 266
Why are businesses concerned with sustainability?, 266
Profit, 266
Public relations, 266
Altruism, 267
Concern over the long-term sustainability of the industry, 267
Professional standards and norms, 268
Total quality management and sustainability, 268
People, planet, and profits, 268
Ray Anderson, the father of the green corporation and the growth of green corporate environmentalism, 270
Anderson's legacy, 272
Greenwashing in the corporate world, 272
Green consumers, 272
Global Reporting Initiative, 273
Sustainability reporting in the S & P 500, 275
Dow Jones Sustainability Index, 275
Sustainability reporting, 277
International Organization for Standardization (ISO): ISO 14000 and ISO 26000, 277
ISO 14000, 277
ISO 26000, 277
Case studies of sustainability at the corporate level, 278
Wal-Mart, 279
Unilever, 281
Lessons from Wal-Mart and Unilever, 282
Can businesses with unsustainable products be sustainable?, 283
15 Sustainability at universities, colleges, and schools, 286
Curriculum at colleges and universities, 286
Sustainability curriculum at K-12 schools, 288
External benchmarking, 289
American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education, 289
American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, 290
Other external benchmarking organizations, 292
Internal initiatives, 293
Sustainability officers, 294
Sustainability committees, 294
Food service, 295
Student and faculty activism, 296
Index, 307
CHAPTER 1
Roots of the modern sustainability movement
Hurricane Sandy was a superstorm that devastated the coast of the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in October of 2012. It hit the most populated coastal region of the US near the New York Metropolitan area. Striking at night with deadly force, many were surprised by the strength of the storm and its far-reaching impacts.
In Manhattan, one of the five boroughs of New York City, flooding occurred in many areas, including the famous neighborhoods of the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and The Battery. Subway tunnels flooded and residents were without power for days. In Staten Island and Queens, other boroughs of the city, a storm surge destroyed entire neighborhoods and caused dozens of deaths.
Was this storm caused by global climate change? In just two years, the New York region was hit by two sizable hurricanes. This has not happened in the history of the city, which more typically experiences a sizable storm every half century or so (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 This home was damaged in Superstorm Sandy and is in the process of being lifted up to avoid future damage. Damage from hurricanes is increasing around the world.
After the storm, the Mayor of the City, Michael Bloomberg stated, "Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it may be - given the devastation it is wreaking - should be enough to compel all elected leaders to take immediate action."
But what action has been taken in the world to try to solve the climate change problem? How did we get to the point that human population is knowingly changing the world's climate? What historical developments have gotten us to this point? While there have always been waves of dramatic climate change over the history of our planet, what specific actions have caused the dramatic changes we have seen over the last 100 years?
The purpose of this chapter is to review the development of the modern sustainability movement from its roots in the nineteenth century to the development of international efforts to improve our world's environment. However, prior to getting us to this point, it is worthwhile to define the meaning of sustainability.
Meaning of sustainability
Sustainability can be succinctly defined as doing what we can now to preserve the environment for future generations. However, in practice the word has a much deeper meaning. There are three components of sustainability: environment, equity, and economics. The environment is an obvious part of sustainability in that we are striving to preserve and protect the environment. Equity focuses on ensuring that fairness in environmental decision-making are front and center as we move forward in the future. The economics component of sustainability focuses on the reality that we need to ensure that livelihoods are protected and enhanced as we strive to protect the environment for future generations.
These three components: environment, equity, and economics, are often called the three pillars or three "E"s of sustainability. All three should be part of any decision-making to ensure sustainable development for the future (Figure 1.2).
Figure 1.2 The three "E"s of sustainability: Environment, Economics, and Equity. Sustainability is achieved when the three are taken into consideration.
When businesses and green entrepreneurs think about sustainability, they use similar terms, but call them the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profits. For a business to be sustainable in the modern world, the profits are not the only consideration that must be taken. The impacts of actions on people and the planet are part of the mix. Businesses that embrace the tenets of modern sustainability are often considered green businesses.
Some businesses and other organizations try to embrace the popular environmental practices of our day and promote their efforts as green, but in reality follow unsustainable practices. Such discordant behavior is considered greenwashing (Figure 1.3).
Figure 1.3 This is the largest green roof in the United States. It covers the Rouge Factory that manufactures the Ford F-150, one of the least fuel-efficient personal vehicles on the market. Is this greenwashing or a real attempt at corporate sustainability?
In our modern world, it is difficult to avoid impacting the planet in some way. The study of sustainability teaches us how we as individuals, organizations, or societies can lessen our impacts so that we can leave our planet in better shape for the future.
As we will see in the next section, while the development of sustainability emerges out of the broad environmental movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it is deeply informed by the development of global economic and environmental agreements that caused deep concerns in the 1980s.
Nineteenth century environmentalism
It could be argued that prior to the western enlightenment and industrial revolution, most people in the world had an intimate relationship with nature. This was, in part, out of necessity. Most of us were farmers or found some way to feed ourselves off of the land and the bounty of nature. At the time, the Earth had a larger spiritual role in the life of man. The cycles of the moon and stars were more dominant in the non-electrified night sky and the life/death/rebirth annual patterns of nature provided metaphors for daily experiential existence in all of the major religions of the world. Such intimacy exists today in some corners of the world where the impacts of our modern age are light. Yet, for most of us, the seventeenth century enlightenment put our societies on a path of environmental decline and destruction, while at the same time providing amazing technological advances and allowing the creation of the middle class.
The growth in technology during the industrial revolution (lasting roughly from the middle of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century) transformed the world in tremendous ways. Urbanization increased and cities grew. At the same time, migration to industrial centers expanded and new markets throughout the world were sought. Europe and North America expanded their spheres of influence.
In the midst of this, many around the world started to question the value of the industrial revolution. Life was grim in many cities and the world started to see mass destruction of natural resources and the decline of air and water quality.
In North America, this critique emerged within the romantic and transcendental movements, particularly in the writing of Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden (published in 1854). The romantic and transcendental movements of the nineteenth century idealized nature. Adherents believed that nature helped to transcend the meaning of an ordinary life.
The art of the era is exemplified by the Hudson River school of art that showed man as an observer of grand scenes in nature (this effect was later utilized by Ansel Adams' extraordinary images of the American west in the middle twentieth century). Many of the romantic images of the time were of the northeastern United States or Canada.
This approach to art certainly grew out of other traditions of landscape art found throughout the world, but it uniquely influenced North American thinkers by elevating nature in glorious ways. Nature was depicted as wholly good and as a path to greater enlightenment.
It is this enlightenment that Thoreau sought when he decided to move to a cabin on the property of noted romantic poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson on the edge of Concord, Massachusetts, from his comfortable house in town. He lived simply and contemplated the meaning of life, largely away from the distractions of others.
His romantic view of the simple life is one that has been replicated by others for millennia - whether the hermit or the sage of the mountain. There is something innately human about seeking solace in nature. Thoreau, however, placed this experience squarely in the consciousness of the times by writing eloquently about it.
His work certainly influenced many others. John Muir, a Scottish-born American naturalist, was perhaps the person who most put Thoreau's writings into practice.
Muir was only eleven when his family moved from Europe to a farm in Wisconsin. He entered the University of Wisconsin when he was in his early 20s and quickly became exposed to the writing of Thoreau. While he never graduated, he took a number of courses in a variety of scientific areas, including geology, botany, and chemistry.
His strong religious background and his experience in the beautiful landscape of south-central Wisconsin certainly provided ample opportunity for him to see the hand of God in the works of nature. But as a young man, he set out and saw the world.
Muir completed a number of well-documented travels including a walk to the Gulf Coast of the United States in 1867 and a trip to California in 1868 where he was one of the first western explorers of the Sierra Nevada mountain region - including areas around Yosemite. It was there that he met Ralph Waldo Emerson, the leader of the romantic and transcendental movement. At the time, Emerson was rather elderly and in a slow decline of health. But each had a strong impact on the other.
With time, Muir...
