Sustainable Growth – Alternatives Journal Series

The fifth and final post of our blog series on sustainable growth for Alternatives Journal will be coming out this Monday. So before that happens, here is a chance to recap the four previous posts.

1) Sustainable Growth: Oxymoron or Our Only Hope?

  • At least theoretically, there is no necessary overlap between economic growth and the physical throughput of an economy.

2) Sustainable Growth? Decoupling Material and Economic Growth

  • Decoupling breaks the connection between economic activity and material consumption, thanks to technological innovations that allow people to make money without using up new resources and harming the environment.

3) Why Growth?

  • While this decoupling is a necessity for either continued growth or a sustainable steady state economy, which many environmentalists advocate for, some level of growth is preferable, in order to avoid the profoundly negative fallout of complete economic collapse – and because it improves quality of life in developing countries.

4) Rent a Carpet, Save the World

  • Increasing efficiencies within closed loop systems provide an avenue for truly sustainable growth for at least the coming centuries.